Cerritos College has limited food options available to students across campus.
Many students believe that the college should offer more meals that are inclusive and, nutritious.
The food court has a few options to eat from including, La Mesa and The Blender where you can get breakfast and lunch.
La Mesa serves pancakes, breakfast burritos, chicken fingers, and burgers.
The menu has healthy food options like the Garden Panini and while it’s full of veggies, ideal for vegetarians, it is not fit for vegans or someone who eats keto or has a gluten intolerance.
Other menu items include salads, an acai bowl from The Blender, and their many smoothie options.
Students without dietary restrictions have endless options for what to eat while on campus.
There are more grab-and-go snack options than actual meals on campus.
The Culinary Arts Cafe which is open Tuesday-Thursday has a menu that offers higher quality meals with whole foods and better ingredients. With the constant changes on the menu, it is unclear when they will offer food that fits within student’s diets.
More nutritious food is not the only concern for the food options here on campus.
Other food options are important for people with dietary restrictions such as Vegetarian/Vegan, Lactose intolerance, Gluten Intolerance, Peanut Allergies, and Religious food restrictions.
You would think the campus would have more than what La Mesa and the Culinary Cafe have to offer.
Darlene Espinoza, a Political Science major, says “I get that we’re just a community college but even another small option would be good”
Students here spend a lot of time on campus and should always have a food option that fits within their diet.
“I don’t see any options for vegan or gluten-free food, when you go to a restaurant the menu always has a V and GF, it doesn’t have it here on campus,” says Danika Yi, Culinary Arts major.
Should the campus open a new cafe? Should they add new menu options?
“I feel that there should be some other resources outside the food court maybe throughout campus so they can offer other options for students”, says Culinary Arts Chef Instructor, Maria Zambrano.
Zambrano mentions that the Cerritos culinary program does do its best at trying to accommodate and it has been improving over the years. “They offer vegan and vegetarian options and do their best to accommodating to any type of allergens”, said Zambrano.
