Limited access leaves on-campus residents choosing between safety, cost, and convenience.
By Jessica A. Valencia, Co-Managing Editor
I think it’s pretty fair to say there aren’t a lot of food options on campus. There are food stands in the Loker Student Union, but a person can only eat so many plates of carne asada fries at Green Olive. Plus, the stalls shut down around 9 p.m., and LSU is closed on weekends.
For students who live on campus and may be food insecure, that leaves few options for after-hours dining.
I live on campus, but don’t have a car. My roommates do, but coordinating trips to the Walmart or Aldi at the SouthBay Pavilion isn’t always possible. If I want to go there on my own, I have to plan around bus schedules.
Although I can order meals or groceries from third-party delivery services like Doordash or InstaCart, that gets expensive quickly. Every dollar counts, especially when you’re trying to make ends meet.
While the school does have services like Teddy’s Pantry, which supports students’ basic food needs, it is only open for a few hours three days a week, from 12–5 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
Availability isn’t the only issue. Some students struggle to find food options on campus that meet their dietary needs and offer quality taste.
“When you get into the options, it gets complicated,” said Brandon Edeal, a senior audio engineering student who lives on campus. “Like shrimp or even protein, meals can lack flavor.”
Even for students without dietary restrictions, on-campus dining options can become repetitive and are often considered junk food. And I won’t even go into the vending machines
CSUDH could easily solve some of these problems, I think, by offering at least one dining experience that is open until 10 p.m. and on weekends for students living on campus. The university could also partner with a campus dining vendor to stock a refrigerator with prepared meals, allowing students to pay with their ID number or a credit card and access food all day, even outside regular dining hours. The approach might also help reduce food waste at the end of the day.
The closest dining option with round-the-clock availability near campus is the 7-Eleven at Avalon Boulevard and Victoria Street. But 7-Eleven doesn’t offer much in the way of healthy, filling food. The healthiest choices are prepackaged salads.
I don’t think a diet of Sour Patch Kids, Takis, Slim Jims, day-old reheated pizza, and Red Bull is particularly healthy for the growing mind of a college student.
Besides the cost of delivery, drivers sometimes have trouble finding and entering student housing.
“Certain delivery apps do not let students adjust the pick-up spot or have designated pick-up spots,” said Annie Apanay, a senior clinical science student who lives in student housing. “Some students have to walk to meet drivers at a different location.”
To enter any of the housing complexes, a key card is required. That forces students to leave their secure housing to meet delivery drivers on empty, poorly lit sidewalks to pick up their food.
“Unlike other apartment complexes, university housing does not offer a gate code, making it extremely difficult to get food directly delivered to your doorsteps,” Edeal said.
Instead of spending money on new housing accommodations for more students, CSUDH should focus on ensuring that current residents have round-the-clock access to hot, nutritious food.
By improving access to hot meals after hours, Toros living on campus would be better supported. They’d also save money and avoid having to meet delivery drivers in dark, unsafe areas.
This isn’t just about convenience, but about care for students’ well-being. It’s hard to focus on your homework when your stomach is growling—a nourished student is a successful student. Such initiatives could go a long way for students on campus and benefit the entire Toro community.