If you walk down Franklin Street on an empty stomach, you will be hard-pressed to not find something to eat — from the irresistible fry sauce of Sup Dogs to the sweet, creamy goodness of YOPO. When one has a meal plan, there is a decision to be made concerning what to eat: stay in Rams or Lenoir to hopefully make marginally healthy food decisions or venture out into the calorie, carb and expensive-bill-laden world of Franklin Street.
When the training wheels of a meal plan come off, students are left to, nutritionally, fend for themselves. It can be said the choice is still theirs — eat out every night or cook healthfully for themselves — but is it truly?
Chapel Hill is a food desert, which, according to the CDC, means it is an area that lacks access to affordable fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy. The variety of food we see on Franklin Street is usually neither healthy nor fresh. And, for anyone who has to eat there regularly knows, it is not cheap.
The closest of the three Harris Teeters in our area is a 2.2-mile drive from south campus — an intimidating distance if one does not have a car. To the closest farmers market, that drive is 3.6 miles.
The nearest source of food for most on-campus residents, attainable by a quick ride on the bus, is Franklin Street.
The University ought to attenuate the effects of this town’s food desert status by creating healthy food options on campus and further supporting healthy food initiatives already in place.
Can’t you imagine — a campus full of (not just Swiss chard in front of Davis but) tubers and nightshades and berries? Or apple trees and squash and field peas? Farmers markets that include a breadth of products beyond lavender soaps and pressed juice should be sponsored to come to give students a chance to purchase whole grain bread, eggs, dairy and meat. Adding purchasing diversity would help the college student that either has no transportation to the far-off super and farmers markets and those who do not have the time to leave campus for their food needs.
And just as if not more importantly, this would help the residents of Chapel Hill that do not attend this University — ones that have never had the opportunity of having the training wheels of a meal plan, ones that have absolutely not benefited from the college town economy that has bled through on Franklin Street.
