Barren of Berries

I'll admit it: I'm a picky eater, especially when it comes to fruit. My mother is a yoga/Pilates/workout machines/health nut, so growing up I was lectured daily on the great powers of berries: They're full of antioxidants, they reduce the risk of cancer, they increase brain power — who wouldn't want that? — and, most importantly, they are naturally delicious. These endless lectures made berries lose their appeal, so I never really ate them that often — until, that is, I found myself on this campus.

Fruit in general is no doubt a step to a healthy lifestyle. When I eat fruit, I feel better about myself than I do when I eat a chicken quesadilla from Frist. When I miss a workout, I like to think I can compensate by eating more fruit that day. However, for those students who have always eaten healthily, or for those students trying to refine their diets, I feel that the fresh fruit options on this campus fall a bit short. It gets particularly hard to eat fruit regularly when your options are not particularly tasty or when they lack variety.

The FDA recommends that adults aged 18-25 have at least two cups of fruit a day, and a cup is equivalent to an apple the size of those served in the dining halls. Speaking of those dining halls: They always have suspiciously shiny apples, bruised pears, oranges committing identity theft by not being orange and only sometimes bananas. I’ve been told multiple times the apples are full of preservatives, but before coming here I had yet to know how true that statement was. Like most students, as I leave the dining hall I snag a piece of fruit — or two or three — for later, slip them into my bag and promptly forget about them. When I was cleaning my bag out the other day, I found an apple I had snagged about a month ago smiling back at me in that same shiny red.

But hey, there are practical reasons for the dining halls being barren of berries on the average day. Berries, kiwis and mangoes are relatively more perishable, more expensive and not as commonplace as the classic apple. If the University is going to shell out for the fruit, they need to be assured that the fruit will be consumed within a few days, as otherwise it will all go to waste. Furthermore, the shelf life of berries is no more than a few days — a week at most if you are willing to eat those overripe berries. And since berries are fragile, they tend to burst pretty easily. Most people are unwilling to even pick up slightly bruised bananas or apples, let alone eat those tasty imperfections.

That's no excuse, however, for the weird combos you find at the beloved Wawa and Frist, the C-Store and Studio 34. Besides Frist's cups of squished grapes, fruit from these on-campus dining establishments also comes in vacuum-sealed, over-priced packs comprised of a few slices of underripe apples or mangoes, accompanied by blocks of cheese, pepperoni — what? — crackers, caramel — no complaints there — or peanut butter.

However, fresh fruit options do exist: The CJL’s parfait bar is wonderful, on par with their delicious chocolate cookies. It features granola, blueberries, cantaloupe and honeydew, preserved strawberries and, this past week, mangoes — yes, mangoes. Eating clubs like Cap and Terrace also offer a delightful amalgamation of watermelon, blackberries, blueberries, kiwis, melon, cantaloupe and mangoes. And finally, at Fruity Yogurt, you have a choice of toppings ranging from raspberries, blueberries and blackberries to kiwis, mangoes and sliced bananas, all washed and ready for you to eat as if you were back home.

Good fruit is definitely out there — it just takes a little longer to find it. I guess another downside is that our campus does not have an easily accessible grocery store. It’s undisputed that the University takes great care of its students, but it wouldn't hurt to give us some fresh fruit — I don't think they'd receive very many angry emails. Students want to be healthier without trapping themselves in a "Jersey Shore"-esque gym routine. Eating fruit is pretty easy, and we'd enjoy it if we had more options. They might be just berries, but absence makes the heart grow fonder: You tend to appreciate things a lot more when they aren’t around.