The Infamous Dalton Dash Strikes Again I know, I know, the employees of Dalton Dining Hall work hard to feed the students of Radford University. Believe me, I know this. I was forced to be submitted to two semesters of this "hard work" as a work-study assignment my first year at RU. Still, as hard as they work, and as much as they try, there is still something about the food in Dalton. The "Dalton Dash," as my friend so creatively coined the term last year, is the feeling one gets after consuming food from Dalton that makes one want to dash to the bathroom. Why, and I will ask again, WHY is the food so pitifully bad? I am one of those "rabbit-food" people who will actually deign to eat from the salad bar as a last resort, but when the situation has regressed to the point where the lettuce looks like it’s actually rotting on the salad bar, even I am repulsed. Why is it that every single time I go into Dalton, I leave with the urge to run for cover? Please, oh please, don’t try to tell me that the feeling is overeating. If it’s “appropriate” to tell you how big I am, I will do so. Oh, to hell with being appropriate. I am five feet tall and a size two, for crying out loud. I don’t even have to eat in Dalton to feel the effects of the Dalton Dash. If I so much as walk in there, I find myself dreaming of getting back to the room to my own potty since I have an intense fear of public restrooms (but that’s a whole other Vent article of its own). If I may say so, and I do, my biggest gripe is not always even with the taste of Dalton’s food. After working there last year, I thought if I saw one more piece of limp broccoli to put out on the potato bar, I would lose my mind completely. Without fail, the color is even cooked out of most vegetables in Dalton. Why? Why? Why? Aren’t college students one of the most malnourished groups in America anyway? Yes, this is in part due to our fascination with Papa John’s pizza. I will admit to having my little obsession also, but when I am broke on Sunday night and forced to eat in the dining hall since Muse is closed, shouldn’t I be entitled to at least a halfway nutritious meal? Overcooking vegetables and meats boils the vitamins and minerals right out of them and doesn’t do my health any good. The “juices” in Dalton are more comparable to Kool-Aid than to juice, not even having 25% of a daily allowance of Vitamin C in a serving. Could someone please tell me WHY we pay a thousand, some pay almost thirteen hundred dollars for on-campus meal plans? Some of us could put that money into a food account and buy our own groceries and eat a lot healthier. Sigh. I miss Mom’s cooking. |
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