<p>I noticed that in the comparison between Amherst and Williams, someone brought up the fact that Amherst has one Caf and Williams has multiple.</p>
<p>Is that really something to be considered heavily? Is the food in Val “bad” for a residential campus?</p>
<p>Thanksss!!</p>
<p>It’s famously bad. Or at least that’s a common perception. (I ate there only once, and it was fine, but my direct experience of it was way too limited to be worth anything.) My kid says some things there are really quite good, others terrible. He’s a picky eater though, so it may well be that he’s part of the problem.</p>
<p>One of the deans said they were bringing in a food consultant this year to work with the staff at Val to possibly re-work some of the dining options. I don’t know if it’s been long enough to see the benefit of that yet.</p>
<p>Anyway, if fine food is a big issue to you, then it’s something to factor in, talk to current students (be mindful complaining about the food at Val is something of a ritual, too). It’s not the best food… that’s for sure… and there is not the variety of multiple dining halls. To me, that’s not something that’s worthy of being a deciding factor in choosing a college, but we are not a family of foodies and in general fussiness about things like food gets on my nerves.</p>
<p>That’s just our family, though. I have dear, dear friends who invest a lot of thought and energy on the quality of their food. For some people it’s important, for others it’s not. You’re the only one who knows where you fall on that spectrum.</p>
<p>The Val is my daughter’s only complaint about Amherst. She has actually lost weight since going to college because she can’t find enough that she likes to eat at the Val. But she is also not food-adventurous and her choices are always limited. She even complains about the salads. </p>
<p>But she absolutely loves Amherst. So the lack of food choices at school doesn’t hamper her enjoyment of school.</p>
<p>I think the multiple dining halls also offer longer hours when meals are available. I know that is more of an issue for my S than the quality of the food. He is often immersed in school work and can’t get to dinner until 8:30. Williams has flexibility so he can still get dinner. I’m not sure if that is true at Amherst.</p>
<p>He is a skinny, skinny boy who eats a lot. Not a picky eater, but sometimes it is a challenge just getting enough into him.</p>
<p>My son doesn’t think Val’s food is bad. He says, “It’s OK. It’s a college cafeteria.” However, like Mythmom, he is annoyed that it closes at 7:30 PM. He eats dinner once but wants to eat dinner again later in the evening like 10 PM (and does). He’s not skinny – but at 6’4" and something like 210 or 215 and at age 19, his food consumption is impressive. I used to head to Costco once a week and now might go once every two weeks.</p>
<p>He does say that class schedules mean that everybody gets to Val at the same times and things are crowded and that if you can’t alter your eating times, meals are rushed. That might (or might not) be better if one had several different facilities.</p>
<p>He says that he is often happen to listen to an audiobook and eat lunch along, but that as the year has gone on, people he knows typically come and join him even if he is sitting in more remote places.</p>
<p>My D is not a picky eater, so she doesn’t have a problem with val food, except for it being repetitive. I agree that the hours are too short as well, last semester she had to put in a request for a “bag lunch” as she couldn’t get to the dining hall due to class. If I remember correctly, it was a sandwich, fruit, chips, and a soda. After a semester of the same lunch every day, she was over it. Her sport is off campus, and they sometimes barely make it back to campus in time for dinner. Like any dining hall, she has learned to become very creative with the stir fry station and the pannini maker.</p>
<p>On the plus side, she LOVES the fried eggs and the hard boiled eggs. Talks about them all the time!</p>
<p>My kid really likes the salmon, the turkey burgers, and especially he likes the desserts. (Family trait… the sweet tooth.) My D at a large state univ. actually has much better and wider eating options. I read somewhere about the economics of food plans at small and large colleges. It is very challenging for small schools to do dining options as well as large schools. Not impossible, though. Middlebury is well known for its excellent food.</p>
<p>Vegetarian son ate at all 3-Midd top options and huge variety, Williams very limited on a weekend-had to eat mozzarella sticks for dinner…Amherst “so-so”…</p>
<p>Thanks for the input everyone. The cafeteria food isn’t really a make or break it thing for me. I was just curious because Amherst IS in the middle of nowhere (somewhat haha) and I’m not that much of a picky eater - I’m just worried that maybe being out of my comfort zone might screw up my habits. I’m rather petite…but I like to eat a good meal. Haha.</p>
<p>Thank you very much for the responses! </p>
<p>P.S: Might sound like a stupid question…but if the cafeteria closes at a set time - what is a student to do when they want a midnight snack? Are there food joints near campus?</p>
<p>Schwemms is open til midnight every day of the week, til 2 Thursdays through Saturdays: wraps, burgers, fries, sandwiches, chips and dip, fruits, nutrient bars, juices and energy drinks, etc.</p>
<p>There’s always take out, of course, and most places deliver until very late–or early in the morning, depending on how you see it.</p>
<p>It’s very rarely bad. Most often good enough. Sometimes good.</p>
<p>It has improved this year.</p>
<p>miss murder, there are definitely food joints near campus. Some organized types also have a fridge and midnight food stocks in their dorm rooms. And you can pocket snacks on your way out of Val for later noshing.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t describe Amherst in the middle of nowhere. There are many off campus options. </p>
<p>Mozzarella sticks at Williams are at Paresky – the student union, not a dining hall.</p>
<p>I find the food to be not good (opposed to calling it bad). It doesn’t matter what I eat at val, (trying to be delicate here) I find myself hurrying back to my dorm to use the bathroom. The same holds true for the other guys on my floor. Possibly the food is saturated with MSG…I don’t know. I would like to see val’s hours extended. As GAMOM stated, those of us in a sport have very little time to head over to dinner after practice. Usually the guys on my floor head out to buy food or have it brought in about 11 at night (wings, pizza, sandwiches, etc). We usually get very hungry about this time, especially after studying. I find the dinners at val not sticking with me very long. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses. This certainly helps. I guess I’d have to try it for myself. Haha. It’s reassuring to know that there are a good amount of food joints around campus though!</p>
<p>To each gastronomic adventurist:</p>
<p>Food is what we eat and what we need to nourish our brains and our bodies before we enter our self-indulgent predisposition towards academic excellence. Thus dining halls, variety of menu, their vitamins and minerals, and diverse entrees satisfy numerous nutritional palates for what we call sustenance.</p>
<p>When a student population consists of diverse social groups, and by these, I mean diverse races, nationalities and castes, it presents numerous difficulties for the school dining staff to overcome. </p>
<p>Thus, what for one specific group would constitute gourmet faire, for another, perhaps a gastronomic disaster. Such measured thoughts for diversity and its diverse palates claims can ill afford a proper dining staff, and as such it overwhelms our gastronomic senses. </p>
<p>This claim is merely an interstitial segment of an overarching complexity confronting our diverse societal necessities, specifically, dining alternatives.</p>
<p>Perhaps we need an Obama moment to contemplate this conundrum and receive the intuitive gratification such gestures bring.</p>
<p>Blessings to you all and may you feast or famine.</p>
<p>If you’re on the meal plan, can you use the dollars on your card at local food joints?</p>
<p>I was on Amherst’s menu webpage a few days ago, and the variety doesn’t seem to be lacking. Is the quality of the food that people have a problem with? According to the Green Report Card, Amherst sources a lot of food from local growers, which I perceived to mean they would have a lot of fresh and healthy options.</p>
<p>Keilinger, Amherst has two meal plans. Most people are on the all you can eat in Valentine plan, 3 meals daily. The other doesn’t include breakfast, but gives you xxx amount of dollars (not sure how much)to use at Schwemms which is in the student center.</p>