Texas State offers cafeterias, dining halls, coffee shops, convenience stores and fast food options for its student body. However, an on-campus grocery store full of healthier options and affordable produce would be a beneficial addition to campus life.
College students have earned a reputation for unhealthy eating habits. Considering they struggle with time management and money, busy schedules often become a priority in their lives and they forget to allow enough time to eat. This results in students choosing to eat fast and easy food. By offering a grocery store to its students, Texas State would be promoting a healthier lifestyle at students’ convenience.
The majority of food options offered by Texas State are catered to students on a time crunch. The opportunity to make a trip to a grocery store in town can be difficult for some students who don’t have time or a car. Having an easily accessible store on campus would eliminate the barriers to a healthier diet that some students face.
Meal swipes take pressure off of on-campus residents and encourage the mentality of unhealthy eating habits. Students who live on-campus can quickly head down to Jones Dining Center and grab a meal at Panda Express or Cheeburger Cheeburger instead of cooking a healthier meal.
For ultimate convenience, a meal plan method could be implemented alongside the grocery store system and it could accept both dining dollars and credit cards. Adding this feature to the store would motivate students to consider cooking and preparing healthy meals for themselves.
Students who live off-campus could benefit from this addition as well. Most off-campus students don’t purchase meal swipes for the semester despite Texas State having a commuter meal plan, so they are solely depending on their out-of-pocket money to get them through the week. Unlike on-campus residents, students who live off-campus have access to a more private kitchen environment and could be a prime customer for a low-cost grocery store.
San Marcos is littered with a variety of grocery store locations. In fact, a small H-E-B branch is only a walking distance away from campus. Texas State could collaborate with local markets or grocery stores in the area, such as the H-E-B near campus, to reach low-cost agreements in aiding the student body with fresh and affordable products.
Some organizations on campus have taken steps to confront the issue of providing students with grocery items. For example, Bobcat Bounty is a student-run food pantry at Texas State that began in 2018. They run a grocery store-style pantry every Thursday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in room 187 of the Family and Consumer Sciences Building.
Faculty from the Food Security Learning Community noticed an opportunity to reach an ignored market. Texas State should expand the project and make it an actual store that the entire student body could easily access any day of the week.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) opened Tech Mart, an affordable grocery store connected to their dining program. MIT students were finding it difficult to make trips to local grocery stores for a variety of reasons. The university has since reported a weekly turnout of around 400 students. MIT is a prime example of the benefits a grocery store could bring to our campus.
Texas State provides plenty of food options around campus and accommodates a variety of different palates. The cafeterias also consistently offer a plethora of flavors for the students. Although Texas State’s student body has great resources for food on campus, it would be beneficial to have a campus grocery store catered to offering fresh produce, and not just convenient food.
An on-campus grocery store would bring opportunities for better student health and would be an overall upgrade to Texas State’s campus image. Students need to have opportunities to indulge in healthier habits, and Texas State should help facilitate that.
– Laura Nunez is an advertising sophomore