Bradley Campbell
The Corsair
Do you find yourself tired of eating the same old food on campus day after day? Do you find yourself yearning for something different? Well, you may have to keep dreaming about that for quite some time. Students and faculty wanting a broader range of food options are going to have to go off of the premises for their lunch and mid-day snacks for the foreseeable future.
Subway, the largest franchise restaurant chain in the world, came to Pensacola State College in March of 2011, but Subway didn’t arrive without a price.
Pensacola State signed a long-term contract with Subway to make them the exclusive food vendor on campus, leaving little room for alternative choices.
“The contract is for 10 years. Subway was very excited about the long term relationship,” said Angie Jones, Director or Purchasing and Auxiliary services.
The contract doesn’t allow Pensacola State to diversify and expand on the nourishment that is available on campus.
“Subway is exclusive to the College for food service,” said Jones. “Other vendors can be used for catering special events.”
For the time being students will be forced to hop in their cars, and tackle the bumper-to-bumper traffic in order to get something different than a sandwich, salad, or sugar-loaded snack from the numerous vending machines located on the grounds of Pensacola State.
“It’s a pain in the neck for students to have to leave campus for food,” said Butch Branch, L.I.F.E. Center coordinator and Student Government Association advisor.
Although Mr. Branch also said he is “very happy” about the addition of the Subway on the Pensacola Campus, it is still an inconvenience for students to have to leave campus, especially if one doesn’t have the transportation to do so.
In the not-so-distant-past, students and faculty didn’t have any other option but to go off campus for their lunch or a mid-day snack.
Subway does offer a reprieve from consistently going off campus to get food, and some do feel that Subway offers enough food options to keep students and faculty on campus satisfied.
Thomas J. Gilliam, Jr., Vice President of Student Affairs said, “Subway gives us good alternatives, because of the wide range of food they offer.”
Jones echoes Gilliam’s sentiments, “Subway offers a variety of healthy salads, breakfast items and subs on its menu,” she also said, “Subway is well known for their healthy choices.”
For the time being, students and faculty are going to have to make do with what is available and be grateful that we have anything at all.
“Food service is hard to come by on college campuses. It’s not attractive for a company to come in. There is limited traffic, limited sales, and profits are going to be low,” Gilliam said.