It is no surprise that Sodexo food has been a problem for Eastern students, especially these past couple of years. Students have been complaining about food and how it is not good compared to other colleges around the area or in other states. Fruit with mold on it gets served to students. Food poisoning has happened from undercooked chicken, and lettuce has been brown rather than green. Students have tasted food and spit it out because it tasted awful. The best options that Sodexo has given students is the ice cream sundae bar on Thursdays and chicken nugget Fridays.

Even with those two better options, there are not enough options available for students to pick from the rest of the week or the weekends. 

People with certain dietary restrictions are not given good options to choose from. They have the salad bar and a small food line section that offers some form of carbs, meat, vegetables and that is it. Even those without dietary restrictions have select options, especially on the weekends. There is the grill, the pasta and pizza hut, the salad bar and the sandwich section. The pizza and pasta section are only open during the week along with the sandwich section. The limited options on the weekends require students to use their own money to buy things they want.

College students pay hundreds of dollars for a meal plan but half of the kids do not use it because of the food that is offered at Eastern. When they do get food from the dining commons, they end up wasting it and their money. A lot of students get groceries and spend their own money to buy them while also spending their money on the meal plan they have to have. If Sodexo is going to cost thousands of dollars there needs to be better options.

Along with limited options, one of the better places to eat on campus is the cafe called Zime. Zime is only open on weekdays with shortened hours on Fridays. Having Zime opened on weekends would be a good start in fixing Sodexo’s food problems. Zime does get busy but having certain hours will help with that and it is the only place that Eastern students enjoy eating at because of the better options

 The other option to eat on campus, besides Zime and the dining commons, is Breezeway. Breezeway is only open during the weekdays and weekends from 7-11p.m and all they offer is fried foods and no healthy options for those who like to eat healthy while at school. There are no readily available options for those with certain diet restrictions and the concerns for cross contamination are high.

Sodexo needs to take into consideration those who have dietary needs when it comes to eating. A person should not have to walk into the place they pay tons of money for and not have any options to eat. A food service should be able to provide the best meals for their students. Not every student is able to afford grocery runs or ordering out, so all they are stuck with is the awful dining commons food. The pizza section would be the best available option but it is only open during the week. Having the sandwich bar and the pizza/pasta hut open would be another step in the right direction when it comes to Sodexo.

Making college kids pay for a plan they have to have means that Sodexo needs to step up their game. Either drop the forced meal plan so students can buy and make their own food without wasting money or give students better food options. One of the biggest drawbacks of Eastern is their food. If Sodexo were to fix this, things would start to look up but for now it is a huge problem that needs to be fixed. 

Hershey Chocolate Factory is one of the most famous candy manufacturers in the world. Between the park and the factory, Hershey’s name is known throughout the globe. Although this huge company seems to be a family friendly place, there have been allegations of child labor in the Ivory Coast in some of the cocoa plantations. Oliver Balch, a reporter for The Guardian, has said that eight children have come forward and claimed they were used for slave labor at these plants.

“Ivory Coast produces 45% of the global chocolate supply”, says Balch, “the production of cocoa in West Africa has been linked to human rights abuses….and child labor.” Hershey has promised to review its labor laws, but has not said anything else on it.

Hershey Chocolate Factory should own up to its abuse of children in their factories overseas. The low wage and harsh working conditions these children face should not go unnoticed. According to Bob Fernandez, a reporter for the Tribune News Service, Hershey was asked to join in regulating child labor in 2020, but it is still unknown whether they support this deal in Washington or not.

A huge company like Hershey has the power to influence other companies using child labor, if Hershey itself did. Ignoring this will only let the problem continue. Hershey Chocolate Factory needs to be held accountable for its action, rather than to let it continue. Hershey and other chocolate factories had made a pledge two decades ago to stop using child labor, but as of 2020, the use of child labor continues. Peter Whoriskey and Rachel Sigel, two reporters for the Washington Post, point out that Hershey is unable to identify which of their factories uses child labor. 

Not being able to identify which factories are using child labor reflects poorly on the company. It can be hard to keep track of 17 different factories across the globe but when it comes to child labor, they should be inspecting and reinspecting all those factories overseas. Hershey has said they want to get rid of their child labor, but have not taken serious, legal action in order for that to happen. It is easy to say that they are taking steps towards this but it is another thing to  act.

Ions speak louder than words, so Hershey should take steps to ensure that they will make sure child labor will be no more in their overseas factories and not just say they are trying to eliminate it. 

The Hershey website has put out a section dedicated to the child labor laws overseas, but it says that it is a “complex issue” and that no children have been forced to work in their cocoa plants. 

The lawsuit Herhsey faces as of February 2021 says differently. Hershey says they are monitoring these accusations, but has told the media they are not sure which plants are using child labor. The rest of this section goes on to talk about the diversity Hershey will have in employment and the education the children overseas will receive in the year 2025. It quickly glances over the problem at hand and goes straight into how Hershey Chocolate Factory will have more representation in the workplace, which is good, however this is not the issue at hand.

The rest of this page goes on to talk about providing the children in their overseas factories with schooling in order to combat this child labor crisis but without knowing which factories are practicing child labor, it is hard to put those childern into the classroom. Hershey’s company says they will have these resolved by 2025, but they are not investigating the plants that are using children to harvest their cocoa beans. 

This company needs to take action now, rather than have a four year plan to stop it. Children are being forced into terrible work environments. They are missing out on being children and are forced into being adults. Hershey and many other factories should re-evaluate how their products are made overseas and take action now rather than wait when it comes to child labor. 

Sources: Hershey Chocolate Factory, The Guardian, The Washington Post, Tribune News Service 

Fast fashion is one of the easiest ways for college students to get cute, affordable clothing for cheap prices compared to name brand companies. Fast fashion, as said by Rashmila Matiti, is described as “cheaply produced and priced garments that copy the latest catwalk styles and get pumped quickly through stores in order to maximize current trends.” This may seem like a great way for college students to save money when they are already spending so much for school with textbooks, tuition and supplies, but fast fashion does more harm than good for the environment.

 

H&M, Zara, Shein and Forever 21 are well known fast fashion companies that many people shop at, especially college students. While the clothes may be cheap and fashionable, the way they are produced is harmful. These companies, according to the UN Environment Programme, are the second biggest water consumers and they are responsible for 8-10% of global carbon emissions. To put this in perspective, they produce more carbon than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. 

 

Ngan Lee says that “these companies use 700 gallons of water to produce one cotton shirt and 2,000 gallons of water to make one pair of jeans.” They also dump the water from the textile dyeing factories into the streams and rivers leading them to pollute the water.

 

Not only do these companies have a negative impact on the environment, they also are made of low quality materials to make production cheaper. College students may be saving money, but the odds of these cheaply made clothes lasting a long time is slim. Since trends are constantly changing, consumers are buying more clothes than they need to “fit in”, says Lee. The clothes that go to waste are then sent to a landfill and then burned, releasing pollutants into the air. At the end of the day, these companies have unethical production practices and there are better alternatives for college students to save money by buying name brands. 

 

Since sales racks have such good deals, they are a great place to check out when shopping. In addition, the clearance rack is another great way to save money on clothing. Thrift stores are another way to save money and thrifting is a huge trend in the media currently which appeals to college students. If students have found themselves not wearing certain clothing items, they can sell them online to get more money to save and spend. These ideas are easier ways for college students to save money, support ethical brands and buy cute clothing.