Hello everyone,

The purpose of this thread is to come up with menu changes for 1280/ChipWagon!

After a very heated SRA meeting last night, the general consensus of the Board of Directors is that students need to be more proactive about what they want to the MSU to do -- which is a bullshit cop-out on their part -- but suffice to say I bring it forward for everyone on MacInsiders to come up with suggestions to be integrated into the menu.

The more specific the better, as this list will see the desk of the Board of Directors by week's end, so that hopefully some tangible changes can be seen by the end of the year. If you want more halal; say it. If you want more vegetarian dishes; say it. If you want more deep-fried options... well just say it for fun.

Thanks to everyone for their contributions!

Vegetables. I don't care if they're frozen before they're prepared. but something with vegetables would be awesome. I HATE how there aren't really options for vegetables on campus. A stir fry perhaps, with optional add-ins of meat and/or tofu, but I could see that as being competition for Wokery and Made in Japan

While I like 1280, they don't have any decent priced sandwiches. Basically, if you eat at 1280, you're eating a full, hearty meal. Sometimes I want something cheaper and smaller.

- Stirfry with chicken
- Fruit or vegetable containers at a decent price (they are ridiculous at La Piazza)
- Wraps and sandwiches: egg salad, turkey lunch meat, tuna, real chicken breast
- Pasta salad
- Soup (can be made with any leftovers from 1280 kitchen)
- Bread/vegetabes and dip (ranch dressing, spinach dip)

THANK YOU to whoever brought this idea forward. More healthy food choices are needed on campus.

OK, well, I know that there has been a lot of people saying that they want a cheap, healthy option available on campus foodwise. Whether people would actually buy that remains to be seen.

Bridges is one of the only places that serves healthy foods on campus, and they're pretty expensive. And to be honest, some of the food isn't even that healthy there because they love to deep fry. If 1280 had more options that were vegetarian, non-deep fried, and affordable, I'd probably eat there more.

http://www.helpguide.org/life/fast_food_nutrition.h tm <- This website goes over common dishes at restaurants, pointing out which ones are healthier, and which are unhealthier. Items from the healthy side would probably be easy to implement. Even having more foods steamed or grilled instead of fried would help.

And in general, there should be more vegetables. There really aren't a lot of options at 1280 where you can get those required servings of vegetables. There's even less for fruit, but I can understand why that isn't a good fit for a fast food restaurant.

although it is a bar, mcmaster has a large muslim and jewish population, i suggest offering a menu with halal/kosher items. I for one know that many muslims would be interested in getting good tasting food on campus.

I would like to see more things high in protein that doesn't have bread or starchy carbs. I guess it is a lot to ask for, which is why I bring most of my meals to school with me.

My main issue is that if you want protein on campus, you usually have to get it with some sort of bread or carb as part of the price, and I dont like wasting food, or wasting money on food I don't want.

Examples of things I would want:

-Chicken/turkey strips that are not deep fried and breaded (and DO NOT come with fries as part of the price), heck, if this came in a salad it would be fine as long as there was enough chicken

-beef, either ground or un-ground, but not in bread

-eggs (that dont come with potato or bread), I know I could get this, but I would gladly use the chipstand in the morning instead of lapiazza/commons

-tuna/salmon (not in a sandwich, or smothered in mayo), I'd be happy with even cans here

-Any of the above with steamed or roasted vegetables (i.e not fried) in a meal would be nice

-Cottage cheese (with the eggs I guess, also something that could be sold at union market)

Don't get me wrong, I love carbs, but it is next to impossible to get protein on campus without an insane amount of carbs to go along with it. Even the protein bars at UM have ~40g of carbs for ~20g of protein.

If any of the above were sold on campus, I might buy them everyday, especially when I am too busy to pack 3-4 meals for the day.

The idea behind the Halal thing is that:

1) Chip Wagon is NOT doing well at all, it hasn't done well ever since it was introduced.

2) The Board Of Directors seem open to the idea of anyone taking over the space and giving them rent instead of them running a failing Chip Wagon service.

3) There has been an informal talk between the owner of the house of games and the VP Admin in regards to him opening up a halal food station(Basically stuff Basilique sells, Shawarma etc) where Chip Wagon is. However that offer counts for nothing unless he gets a formal written proposal in.

4) They will also be open too other parties with tenders for the Chip Wagon space

5) I would personally assume that Halal & Kosher food would be a slightly higher priority because of the presence of an award winning vegetarian outlet (Bridges) On Campus. Because Vegetarians and people who practice religious dietary limitations are similar in the sense that they simply cannot eat regular meat.

1280 according to my knowledge does a absolutely poor job of Halal/Kosher food; NO options at all for that

I'm not entirely sure but someone mentioned last night that the only vegetarian option is deep fried.

I also believe Mr Wright has more information about a proposal/request to get more Halal & Vegetarian food that was thrown out/not considered by the Executive Board. Which from what I heard looks disappointing.

p.s: Healthsci it is known as a "restolounge" during the day & it is run by the "Students" union so you have EVERY right to demand diverse options for food. When the renovations were being done and the MSU threw $400,000 on 1280. Some members of the BOD often say "Tell us what you want from 1280, it is OUR Service" etc etc

Originally Posted by Matt Wright

After a very heated SRA meeting last night, the general consensus of the Board of Directors is that students need to be more proactive about what they want to the MSU to do -- which is a bullshit cop-out on their part

That wasn't what the Board of Directors said. They said that SRA members such as yourself need to tell them what you want and communicate the student input that you're receiving. Unfortunately none of the Board members are mind-readers, so they don't always know if students want a certain thing - it falls on us as the Student Representative Assembly to communicate that to them.

That being said, I think that this thread is a great idea and personally would love to see more vegetarian options.

Kosher/Halal would be phenomenal, as would food that's nut free. I know Bridges has some great options but they cook certain dishes with peanut sauce which isn't a real option for those with severe nut allergies. As well, having food options for those with dietary needs being more accessible (i.e. More things being open longer/on the weekends) would also be incredibly helpful.

https://www.msumcmaster.ca/servicesa...nu/choices.htm

Feel free to voice your opinions here as well!

It's brand new! and fun!

Originally Posted by huzaifa47

3) There has been an informal talk between the owner of the house of games and the VP Admin in regards to him opening up a halal food station(Basically stuff Basilique sells, Shawarma etc) where Chip Wagon is. However that offer counts for nothing unless he gets a formal written proposal in.

a shawarma place on campus would a) totally clean up, as there isn't really any other competition and b) be delicious and amazing.

also, as far as bridges being healthy- maybe compared to some other places on campus it is, but a lot of their stuff is still fried/full of carbs/not as healthy as they would have you believe.

It would be nice to have more vegetarian options at a cheaper price. Also I like the idea of having shawarmas and stuff instead of chip wagon =)

Originally Posted by neila.b

also, as far as bridges being healthy- maybe compared to some other places on campus it is, but a lot of their stuff is still fried/full of carbs/not as healthy as they would have you believe.

Originally Posted by A.Marlowe

And to be honest, some of the food isn't even that healthy there because they love to deep fry.

:p

6char

Basilique on campus, make it happen Matt Wright.

not gonna lie, i totally had to urbandictionary '6char'
and it is not on there. what's all this slang you kids are using nowadays?