New food and dining options are being implemented for students at CSU Bakersfield to avoid crowds as students return to campus after delivering courses remotely for the first three weeks of the semester (Jan. 24 – Feb. 11).  

Students living on campus struggled with on-campus dining as many on campus restaurants were closed, and limited food at the Runner Cafe. Students living on campus have also reached out to The Associated Students Inc. to try and resolve this issue or have more food options available to them during the school’s three-week closure.  

Jacob Roper, The Director of Natural Science Mathematics and Engineering handles social, economic, and academic issues for the students of NSME and has advocated for students to resolve the dining issue within the student dorms as well as dining on campus.  

“Nutrition is a very undervalued when it comes to student life, as students, we are not the best at taking care of our bodies, a lot of us resort to energy drinks, coffee, and quick meals, to keep us going, we don’t think about nutrition, and we already limit ourselves and limiting that limit is not good,” said Roper.   

With this issue, Wayne Narine, Director of Campus Dining Experience, relates new food options being implemented on campus to students and students living on campus to help this issue.  

One of the new programs will start next week (Feb. 21 – Feb. 27) according to Narine. Students will have the option to pre-order their meals and drinks from any restaurant on campus using Grub-Hub. An online and mobile prepared food ordering and delivery platform, and afterwards pick up orders at desired restaurants and avoid the crowds. This semester students will have no fee charge when ordering food, however, next semester there will be a 59-cent service fee added to your order.  

Narine also discussed other food options that will be implemented within the following semester and this current semester including new food preparation devices in The Runner Express, more food trucks, as well as a new dining room with more food options in the student dorms that will be introduced next semester.  

“We expect to see new variety of food trucks, throughout the week Monday-Thursday. We are also trying to install a new self-serving Micro-Market in student housing where food, snacks, and beverages will be compiled for students living on campus that will be available 24 hours, 7 days a week,” said Narine.  

Narine also states that students will also be able to use student runner card to pay for new food options at CSUB. Including food trucks, through the Grub-Hub app, and with the new Micro-Market starting next semester in the student dorms.  

Students will be encouraged to try out new food options coming within the following weeks of the semester and advertising will be sent out to students once programs have been fully tested and are ready to go.