When looking at the dining options at NIU, we must ask ourselves if they meet our needs: Are there enough healthy options? Are you satisfied with the food we receive?
As a vegetarian student at NIU, I am unsatisfied with the dining options. Personally, it is very hard for me to find food on campus that I enjoy. I’m tired of eating cheese pizza and fries every day.
There are focus groups, made up of students and staff, that make decisions about our dining options, according to Daniel Koenen, executive director of Campus Dining Services.
Focus groups are different people from different demographics gathering together to discuss products and to see how well said product would do before it is launched to the public.
“In 2017, during the planning stages for the Holmes Student Renovations, focus groups met to discuss what brands the community would like,” Koenen said.
Instead of Qdoba, we could have had Chipotle, Panera or Jimmy John’s, but those companies do not franchise to non-traditional sites, which are smaller spaces with high foot traffic like college campuses.
New restaurants could be added on campus once NIU’s contracts with Einstein Bros. Bagels, Starbucks and Qdoba end.
“When contracts are over with Starbucks and Qdoba, one or two years out, we will reevaluate the brands,” Koenen said.
These are the types of things that a focus group would meet to discuss.
When asked about any changes made because of the focus groups, Koenen stated that no changes have been made since the 2017 renovation of the Holmes Student Center.
Then I began to wonder if students have a say in our dining options on campus and how they are chosen.
When asked how these focus groups are chosen, Koenen said he reached out to housing, the Student Government Association and different areas of campus to find students to be a part of the focus groups.
The focus group members stay consistent during specific topics such as “brands, meal exchange options and hours of operations,” Koenen said.
Certain topics could include adding new menu items or making changes to the dining services/options. It also depends on the place and time or based on what’s being talked about.
I believe because of the focus groups there have not been any recent changes made. Students should be allowed to put a new food advisory board together. This would allow students to have more say and for changes to be made based on the students’ demands and wants.
Dining services could include more options that are actually tasty for vegetarians besides cheese pizza and fries. They could make more retail options around campus, for example, what Stevenson offers, giving students a chance to get food they actually like instead of just being stuck with what they give us. They could allow suggestions to be made from students with dietary restrictions.
It feels like they don’t really give us a lot of options and just throw something at us.
