This was a necessary event to go. Especially now in the midst of prelims and essays and applications and stress- it was a reality check. I was reminded of how lucky I am to be here. I think we all forget how lucky we are everyday to be a student at Cornell, we get caught up in the negative and stay stuck in the bubble, and just forget our place in the bigger picture, in the context of the university, of food scarcity, of privilege.
Cornell Dining is #1 in the state of New York, it’s in the top 8 and 5 across the country, it’s something of honor. While Chef Daniel was raving about our system, I remembered I heard someone complain the other day that his tortellini with artichoke & asiago wasn’t as good as the one he had in Venice. And then I realized that too many people just don’t appreciate what we have here.
Too many people do not eat as well as we do. They don’t get options in hours, in location, in dish; a lot of college students cannot afford to eat, let alone eat as well as we do. It’s a privilege to live in West Campus and eat in these dining halls. I’m not saying there are areas that can be improved and that we should stop complaining (I encourage it!) or forget about the food insecurity students living outside of West Campus face- but we should also remember to be thankful every once in a while. A lot of people crave our place.
I can completely empathize with you. Although I sometimes complain about Cornell’s food options
(especially on West Campus), I openly admit that I take it for granted. Simply put, a lot of us don’t know how good we have it!
The comment you made about the student complaining about the tortellini is very important. Sometimes we just take our food for granted and don’t really understand how privileged we are to get certain types of food. A lot of hard work goes behind making the food everyday, and we should appreciate that.
I think we’re all guilty of complaining about the food here once or twice, especially when comparing it to the comforts of a home-cooked meal. However, as you say, there are many people who would love to be in our position. We have so much food available to us as well as a variety of options to accommodate everyone’s ethical, religious and health needs. One of my friends who attends another school is a vegetarian and usually cannot eat at her dining halls because they provide very little options to suit her dietary needs. I am definitely appreciative of the food security I have here and that Cornell Dining takes the time to provide so many options for us.