<p>Subway and Chipotle don't count. They're expensive as every other restaurant nearby campus. </p>
<p>What's the problem with good, cheap fast food? So what if it runs the other restaurants out of business. I thought we were broke students. Cheap fast food is the ideal meal for a college student, and Berkeley deprives us of this basic essential. </p>
<p>And it's not like the UC Berkeley area is very friendly area for new restaurants to open up. Every year I see new restaurants open up in the Asian ghetto and they always end up closing within the year. The only ones that had somewhat of a success are Chinese Express and Manhattan Grill. I can see Manhattan Grill closing soon though. Chinese Express is doing well because they actually give good portions at a reduced price, although $5 is still a lot of money, but comparing it to the other restaurants it ain't nothing.</p>
<p>Only the already established restaurants that have been here for a long time are well off. </p>
<p>Yeah, there's a McDonald's a few blocks from the west side of campus, but it's incredibly inconvenient to go there. Waiting for the bus or the long walk just isn't worth it, especially between classes.</p>
<p>People are always complaining about tuition, but they fail to realize how incredibly expensive the cost of food is. Even making your own food is expensive if you don't go to the incredibly inconvenient placed safeway.</p>
<p>Because people who go to Berkeley should be smart enough not to pay evil corporations to hire desperate people into wage slavery to torture animals to death in factory farms and help Monsanto monopolize our food system with patented crops that destroy biodiversity, bankrupt farmers, and produce toxic pesticides that slowly kill us all so that their buddies in the pharmaceutical and “health care” industries can profit.</p>
<p>And the food that people will actually buy here is expensive because you get what you pay for.</p>
<p>We’re all broke and busy, too, but what you do is throw some beans and rice in a pot or make a peanut butter or grilled cheese sandwich.</p>
<p>$5 is expensive for fast food? Either learn to cook or get a part-time job. You should also consider how bad eating all that fast food (especially super cheap fast food) is for your health.</p>
<p>Asian Ghetto is incredibly unhealthy. I don’t know what you’re talking about. They’re loaded with MSG and sodium. The Mexican places are filled with tons of unnecessary carbs and calories. You really also think these places use organic ingredients? They get their stuff from the same places as McDonald’s so please don’t bring up this liberal propaganda about the tyranny and greed of corporations. This doesn’t even matter though. I’d say it’s safer to eat fast food than get drunk and do drugs every weekend. </p>
<p>And since when do the majority of college students even care about their health? They don’t. They go crazy when they have meal plans and eat incredible amounts of food in the dining commons without regard to their health. They drink copious amounts of alcohol and indulge in drugs. This health reason is no justification for why fast food shouldn’t be allowed nearby campus. But this is all under the hypothetical scenario where you think fast food will kill you or cause you to gain 100lbs every year. It doesn’t. </p>
<p>When I can get full off a meal for $2-3, yeah, $5 is expensive. But Chinese Express is like the only restaurant that’s cheap enough to charge $5. Most other ones are $6-7. </p>
<p>I can’t forget about the recent trend of restaurants that are passing on the fee of using a credit card onto the customers. Or just not accepting credit cards at all. Ridiculous.</p>
<p>And you know there would be more part-time jobs available if fast food restaurants opened. Cheaper food and more part-time jobs. A win-win situation.</p>
<p>I fully understand that the majority of college students don’t care about their health. I’m saying that YOU should care about your health. I have nothing against fast food or fast food places being near campus. But your complaining about the lack of cheap fast food probably means that you’re eating it almost every day, which isn’t good. </p>
<p>As for the credit card fees, restaurants are passing the fee onto you whether it’s explicit or implicit (in the form of higher prices). They don’t just “eat” the fee. Theoretically, a restaurant that doesn’t accept credit cards should have lower prices than if it did, because they have lower expenses.</p>
<p>I think our in-campus places like GBC and Ramona’s just dominate when it comes getting snacks and drinks. Sure, they sell overpriced items, but we don’t really have a choice and we just buy from them and eat without thinking much about it.</p>
<p>I am well aware of my health. Like I stated earlier, the restaurants around us aren’t all healthy to begin with.</p>
<p>Fast food isn’t even really unhealthy anymore. They stopped using transfats and lowered sodium amounts. If you just stick within moderation you’ll be fine. And I wouldn’t eat it everyday…</p>
<p>At least fast food companies tend to publish what’s in their food.</p>
<p>I have no idea how much MSG and trans fat is in my Asian Ghetto food, but McDonald’s (1) doesn’t put that in their food and we know it, (2) publishes nutrition facts.</p>
<p>Legit restaurants are a different story. I’m only comparing fast food, with what students at Cal tend to replace with fast food.</p>
<p>I tend to be ultra-liberal. Let’s be smarter than throwing around the Fox news accusations, please.</p>
<p>I just wish I could get a good filling meal for under $5 that wasn’t unhealthy. Wonder where I can find that in California (or anywhere) without actually making myself food. Sigh I need to learn to cook.</p>
<p>^ What about Cheese ‘n’ Stuff (the sandwich place near Unit 3)? I went there all the time for lunch freshman and sophomore year. You can get a big turkey sandwich with a ton of veggies for just under $4.00. Sure, the food isn’t of the highest quality, but it was enough to fill me up every time. The only downside is that they close early, so it’s mainly a lunch thing.</p>