Early in the morning, the Portable Feast is crowded with students because it has food choices worth waking up for. Students from residences and other early birds are buying food and hurrying to their classes, some of them eating on the spot.
It is their routine to come to the college early, spend the day studying, and refresh themselves with healthy food and the many eating options to consider.
“I like sushi,” said Huong Linh Tran, a teaching English as a second language program student. “I think it is good to have many food choices at the college that can be suitable for more people.”
Tran isn’t the only one reaching for healthier choices.
“I don’t often buy food from the cafeterias, but when I do, I buy a chicken burrito,” said Inyoung Heo, a computer programming student. “I enjoy it.”
“There’s a great variety of vegan food at the college,” said Matteo Taddei, an international business economics program exchange student.
Staff are enjoying the increasing number of gluten-aware, vegetarian and vegan options at the Algonquin cafeterias as well.
“The college is getting better about food options over the years,” said Karen Kavanagh, coordinator and professor of the advertising and marketing communications management program.
“When I started teaching full time in 2011, I had no idea of the vegan food available but now there are instructions given on the food.”
The college offers a variety of food options that attract students’ appetites, so they are willing to buy food from the cafeterias. Moreover, there are identity stickers on the meals for gluten-aware, vegetarian and vegan options.
This was not something common years ago, but every year the food options keep on improving.
Still, there may be some room for improvement.
“They have one or two stands of vegan options. I want them to get to two,” Kavanagh said. “It would be great if the food and hospitality department had vegan cooking classes.”
She is, however, pleased with what the college offers, and its openness to adjust to demand.
“Being a vegan is being prepared because the cooks might not have the choices you want so sometimes you have to plan ahead, but Algonquin has a lot of food options and Algonquin is open to questions about them too,” said Karen Kavanagh.
At the same time, the Algonquin community can find vegan food sources at local restaurants like Little Jo Berry’s and other local food sources.
“If you don’t have vegan food you can always find snacks that they have from the local restaurants,” Kavanagh said.