By Matthew Laurrie
Features Editor
I’m declaring To-Go Container-gate at Bona’s.
Approximately three weeks ago, I gleefully bounced into the Reilly Center Café after class to order my usual Buffalo chicken wrap, but to my utter shock and horror, I discovered the RC had abolished to-go containers. Frankly, I was so distraught I couldn’t even eat in the RC that day – something very unlike me.
Instead of packing food in containers that make it easy for Bonnies on the go to transport their food, people now receive their chow in a paper tray wrapped in no less than ten yards of cellophane. My food gets cold, my curly fries get soggy and I get angry.
Amy Vleminckx, senior food service director, discussed the rationale behind eliminating to-go containers from the RC Café.
“As part of our ongoing efforts to support environmental stewardship and reduce waste we’ve started wrapping customers’ food, because many students ask for food to go and then sit in the dining room and eat it,” Vleminckx said. “With sustainability in mind, we were trying to find a way to reduce the amount of to-go containers being used.”
Nothing whets my appetite quite like finding a piece of plastic in my cheeseburger and chowing down on some mushy god-knows-what. What’s next, eating food off the floor to eliminate waste altogether?
I’m all for ensuring people are environmentally conscious, but I’m not going to hug a tree just so some one-star food establishment can tout itself as eco-friendly.
What’s the difference between a paper to-go container and a paper container wrapped in cellophane? A lot of unnecessary hullabaloo. Let’s just go back to the old system.
Also, as of Wednesday, Francis Café and Café La Verna still have stacks of to-go containers behind their counters. If food services want to institute a new policy, let’s ensure there’s some consistency.
I think I speak for many Bonaventure students when I say I pay a lot of money to go to school here. I think I deserve a durable container to hold my food, and I know I can be trusted to recycle the materials afterward. Also, I don’t think it’s anyone’s business whether or not I get a to-go container and eat my food in the RC. I paid for it – allow me to eat my food in all my to-go container glory.
Vleminckx explained the manager in the RC Café has reported favorable feedback about the recent adjustment.
“The manager of the location says very few students have voiced displeasure with this and a fair amount of students have made positive comments,” she said.
I’d love to meet the students this manager cites as content with the new policy. I have yet to encounter one person who finds the flimsy makeshift cellophane monstrosity convenient.
Food choices are few and far between at Bona’s to begin with. I don’t necessarily want to walk an eternity from my dorm in Robinson Hall to Francis Café or eat a burnt burger with a stale bun in the Hickey. Often times, I’ve ordered food in the RC with the intention of eating it later in the day. Those days are long gone, and I’m not pleased.
I am respectfully asking RC management to reconsider its decision and reinstate to-go containers, which make stopping for food convenient for busy Bonnies.
As someone who spends an absurd amount of Bona Bucks in the RC, I truly hope I can swipe my card as a more satisfied customer in the near future.
