Emerson’s dining facilities’ nutritional value and hours trouble their student-athletes.
Because they need good food to sustain them in their academics and athletics, student athletes take a unique perspective on the subject. The five Boston campus dining facilities offer a plethora of food options for athletes to choose from, but how do the athletes feel about these establishments?
Emerson’s dining facilities—the Dining Center, the Max, the Backstage Deli, the Lion’s Den, and Paramount Cafe—offer students with meal plans their main source of food and nutrition while they are at school. The college’s athletes are no exception to this reality.
Henry Kagan, a first-year student on the Emerson baseball team, has the most faith in the Max.
“I’d say the Max usually has my go-tos,” Kagan said. He usually reaches for a caffeinated drink and a snack with carbs before he takes the field, both readily accessible at the Max.
Beyond the Max, Kagan contends that all the dining establishments at Emerson could be improved with “higher-quality protein.”
“There’s always grilled chicken stuff. It’s just a matter of how repetitive and how enjoyable it is,” he said, noting that he would appreciate more beef and steak as protein options in the Dining Center.
Kagan often finds himself at the Grate and Griddle station, located in the lower level near the entrance to the Lion’s Den, when eating at the Dining Center as it offers easy protein options besides chicken.
Lorena Rivera, a first-year student on the Emerson volleyball team, also enjoys the consistency of the Dining Center’s Grate and Griddle along with the Wood and Stone station to fuel her for games.
“I like the things that they have at the grill because they never really change,” Rivera said. “If there’s nothing good on the regular menu, then I’ll get something from the grill.”
Rivera points out that when “there’s nothing good” in the Dining Center, a lot of students favor the Grate and Griddle station, because otherwise they would have to leave and spend their own money at nearby restaurants with different options.
Although she thinks that the items on the regular menu in the Dining Center could use improvement, Rivera explains that “nutritional-wise, it’s good.” Rivera mentioned that the salad bar offers a consistent option for students as well, even if she neglects to reach for it.
The Max is also a good option for food, according to Rivera. “The Max has yogurts, cheese, the things in the fridge that are good to eat before games.”
Rivera’s sole comment on making improvements in the Dining Center and other Emerson establishments that serve food was that “they should make fruit accessible all day.”
Lily Nguyen, one of Rivera’s first-year teammates on the volleyball team, agrees.
“I wish that they had fruit all day. I would like to eat fruit before our games, but I can’t really because they don’t have it,” Nguyen said. After breakfast on the weekdays or brunch on the weekends, only a small bin of self-serve fruit is available for students, other than the limited waffle toppings at the gluten-free station.
However, Nguyen’s most pressing issue with the Dining Center revolves not around the food offered, but the times at which the facility is open.
“I think the biggest issue is the hours,” said Nguyen, “especially when there are away games.”
The volleyball team’s bus would arrive before the Dining Center opened on weekends, making it hard for the team to find a quick and easy place to eat before their games. Sometimes, when they came back from the games as well, the Dining Center would be closed, so the team’s only option would be to go to the Max, where they would be forced to spend Board Bucks if they did not want one of the meal-swipe options from the grill.
Nguyen also feels that sometimes the meat options offered at the Dining Center do not look appealing and she wishes that there were other protein options. Specifically, Nguyen troubles herself with the fact that the Dining Center does not offer peanut butter. Because of this, Nguyen changed her pre-game meal habits.
“I used to eat peanut butter toast at home all the time before I had games; it’s a really easy way to get protein,” Nguyen said.
In reference to the grill at the Max, first-year softball player Sofia Holden said, “It’s all fried.” Although she wishes that the options at the grill were broader, Holden still frequents the Max as one of her main dining options.
“I get drinks from the Max to have the next morning,” she said. The C-Store at The Max works for her as an on-campus option that offers caffeinated drinks before her practices and games. However, the C-Store at the Max does not open until 11 a.m., so if Holden forgets to purchase her drink the night before, the Emerson dining facilities cannot help her.
“All my practices are extremely early, so nothing’s open,” she said. Still, Holden is able to make the best of the situation with her teammates, as they usually attend breakfast together post-practice.
