Poorly Nourished Minds? The Sorry State of Food At The ANU

You might think that, being perhaps more refined and cultivated than the average Canberran (for argument's sake), and often not being particularly shy about voicing their opinions, the staff and students at the ANU would contrive to eat well. You'd be wrong.

Both of the Always Hungry team have been hungry at the ANU for periods of several years. These are the exasperated views of one them, who has now moved on to better lunches elsewhere.

Although it routinely claims to be among the world's top 20 universities in terms of research, unfortunately its on-campus catering is unlikely to be near the top of any league tables. All but one of the cafes, restaurants, and food outlets across the sprawling green fields and trees of Acton seem to be systematically incapable of consistantly providing quality food at a reasonable price - whether we are talking about student or professorial budgets - or for that matter any price. To be sure, some cafes do manage one or two OK meals for periods of time, before seeming to eventually, inevitably resume the standard offering of (overpriced) mediocrity.

To clarify, I contend that there are essentially two markets that are not being met. The first, is for a simple sandwich for a student's everyday lunch for, say, $5-6. These do not exist, and have not existed since Calypso became the god-awfully renovated Degree and upped its prices to pay for its contemporary-tacky decor. Second, all of the places catering in the $12-18 cafe-style lunch market - bar Chats in the art school with its risottos and Ocker-service - are problematic. At best, including the sometimes praised Gods, they will consistently have at least one or two dogs or lemons in their menu; at worst, all of their dishes are poor, almost all of the time.

This raises the questions of how and why? On over-pricing, a friend of mine involved with student politics once put forward the argument that, compared to alleged practices elsewhere, caterers on campus are unable to get away with underpaying their staff. I have subsequently put this theory to another friend who works in a managerial role in the hospitality industry in Sydney - who called bullsh*t. A more sophisticated explanation is required - anyone who has eaten in foodcourts or any number of cafes in Sydney or Melbourne knows that better eating at lower prices is possible.

It is perhaps then no wonder we routinely see the V-C choosing to entertain at Mezzalira.