The Pryz or “Pryzon” Student Restaurant is where all Freshmen and Sophomores must eat due to the required unlimited meal plan. When one goes to college, he or she no longer has the luxury of home-cooked meals or the access and convenience of fresh produce. Truthfully, many students barely have time to even prepare a meal if they had the choice. The only feasible option for CUA students is the Pryz and sadly after a long day of classes and endless assignments, who wants “Pryzon” food?
HerCampusCUA wanted to do some investigative work before making broad claims that the Pryz is bad or unhealthy. We sent one of our writers, Roisin Gibbons, on a seven day assignment. Roisin was asked to try her best to eat healthy for one week straight and create a food diary of her meals. Please find her food journal below:
11/4:
- Breakfast: whole wheat toast with peanut butter and an apple
- Lunch: wrap with turkey, pesto, and lettuce
- Dinner: salad with carrots, broccoli, chickpeas, egg, grilled chicken, and Italian dressing (did not add lettuce because it looked too old and gross)
11/5:
- Breakfast: bagel with peanut butter
- Lunch: plain pasta with cheese
- Dinner: salad with chicken nuggets
11/6:
- Breakfast: toast and peanut butter
- Lunch: sandwich with pesto, turkey, cheese, and lettuce
- Dinner: salad and grilled chicken
11/7:
- Breakfast: bagel with peanut butter
- Lunch: wrap with hummus, turkey, and lettuce
- Dinner: grilled chicken
11/8:
- Breakfast: pancakes and an apple
- Lunch: caesar salad
- Dinner: wrap with turkey and hummus
11/9:
- Breakfast: bagel
- Lunch: salad and grilled chicken
- Dinner: pasta (three pasta stations!!!!)
11/10:
- Breakfast: breakfast sandwich
- Lunch: wrap with pesto and chicken
- Dinner: salad and grilled chicken
11/11:
- Breakfast: bagel
- Lunch: pasta and grilled chicken
- Dinner: omelet with ham and cheese
Roisin explained that approximately twenty minutes after each meal, she would feel hungry again. She wanted to eat a snack but was hesitant because her calories would add up fast. Roisin felt that she ate a ton of carbs and that students around her faced the same dilemma. One evening the Pryz had a total of THREE different pasta stations. She got very sick of eating the same thing every day, which studies show can cause weight gain even if the food is healthy and calorie conscious. Roisin was unenergized throughout the week and expressed that she wasn’t receiving the proper nutrients that her body needed to be healthy. She was HANGRY.
Throughout the week Roisin interviewed multiple students and asked them questions such as: Do you think the Pryz food is healthy? Does the money you pay to eat in the Pryz equate to the quality?
“The food is not healthy. You have the choice between carbs or carbs and when I’m paying for $500 or so worth of food I expect variety and healthy options.” -Sydney Rexing
“No I don’t think the food is healthy unless you always go to the salad bar. However, the salad bar is not always fresh. I think there is too much variety in the way that they try too hard to be outside the box. Stick to the staples. No, I don’t think we pay up to standard.” -Matthew S
“Most of the food at the pryz is not healthy, and it’s very hard to find the healthy items. This is mostly because they don’t post the nutrition facts about each dish, except for on a tiny card which no human can read.” -Katie Olsen
“We have one of the lowest ranked food courts and one of the highest ranked tuition costs.” – Tara Vallach
So the consensus is that majority of students are not pleased with the Pryz due to lack of healthy options, bizarre exotic dishes, and high price for low quality food. It is important to note that students are grateful for all of the Pryz workers and the ability to get unlimited servings and to-go boxes. Unfortunately, those fantastic components do not mask the issues with the Pryz.
Here are a few suggestions that we would like the Pryz management to consider:
- Create the Pryz daily menu based on recommended nutritional values and necessities for young adults set by the United States Department of Agriculture.
- Have more fresh produce options at all of the stations, especially the salad bar.
- Take a survey at the beginning and end of each semester to see what type of food students like and to measure the Pryz’s progress.
- Focus on increasing protein and vegetable dishes rather than three different pasta dishes in one night.
- Display all nutritional values for every meal and all ingredients at the stations such as the salad dressing, jam, or soft served ice cream.
HerCampus CUA decided to do an expose on the Pryz to promote awareness about health and the nutrition of students. If a large majority of students are unhappy with the Pryz, why do we continue to pay an exoberant amount of money for a service that is unsatisfactory? It is imperative that young and growing adults receive the proper nutrition, so that he or she can have the energy to excel in school and feel good about their bodies. Why should CUA students be forced to neglect their nutritional values and needs because the Pryz is not up to par?