One of the hardest parts for a student attending a college away from home is leaving the home cooked meals in exchange for a dining hall that doesn’t have the same persona as their home kitchen.

Although Southern’s dining hall and café offer a variety of options for students, do they truly accommodate the melting pot of students here on campus?

Every college campus is contracted to a certain vendor who serves as the primary food supplier for the entire campus.

Missouri Southern’s primary food provider is Sodexo.

Here at Southern, Sodexo seems to do enough to get by, but as any teacher on campus would agree, getting by being mediocre is just plain unacceptable.

If Sodexo were a student, I highly doubt they’d be passing their midterm or final grade.

“When dealing with Sodexo, the atmosphere is extremely pleasant, but the quality of the food is lacking,” said sophomore Evan Northup.

Northup, as well as his peers, agree that the service outweighs the quality of the food, rather than the two being at equal levels of satisfaction.

In addition to the lack of quality of the food, Sodexo’s selection in the Lion’s Den is lacking in the fresh food department.

“I think in order to accommodate to more people, Sodexo should serve more fresh foods,” said freshman Salena Perez. “With athletes and people wanting to eat healthier, their food can be greasy and not fresh.”

While the Lion’s Den may lack fresh food, the dining hall succeeds in having not only a complete salad bar, but also foods that can be more appealing to those looking to eat healthier.

“Honestly, I think we should have an intervention with Sodexo and start trying different companies,” said sophomore Haden Walker.

The root of the problem is never the service, but rather the company. Sodexo serves food that could be improved not only on the taste, but also in the overall quality. Maybe the issue can’t be solved within Sodexo; maybe what we need to do is test other vendors to see what the students want. Honestly, doesn’t this University run off the money of the students? Without students paying for the food, our Sodexo wouldn’t receive business.