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AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Officials name senior vice president, chief of staff
By Fiona Riley, Assistant News Editor • March 26, 2024

Kendrick Baker: Put local food options in District House

Cartoon by Juliana Kogan
Cartoon by Juliana Kogan

If you ask most students what they think of the food options in Shenkman Hall, they’ll probably tell you it’s all best eaten when you’re drunk.

Halfway through my J Street-based freshman year dining experience, my friends told me about the food court in Shenkman. I decided to check it out, eager to explore options other than the assortment available at J Street. But what I found discouraged me.

Instead of a viable alternative to GW’s dining halls, I found a handful of establishments that served generic, mostly unhealthy fast food. Now admittedly, I occasionally indulge in fries from Gallery Café, or a warm cup of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, but the potential of the food court in Shenkman has largely been unrealized, and now the University has an opportunity to avoid making that mistake again.

As we near next year’s expected completion of District House, an enormous new residence hall that will house 898 sophomores and juniors, the University will begin to look for potential tenants to fill the building’s food court. During this process, GW must try to attract locally owned businesses that promote healthy eating, rather than casual fast food.

Some might argue that students prefer options like Dunkin’ Donuts or Pita Pit, rather than healthier establishments. For some students, that may be true. But based on the overwhelming popularity of other veggie-heavy food options on campus, like Sweetgreen and Beefsteak, healthy food is something that students crave.

In fact, love it or hate it, Beefsteak is the perfect model for the food court in District House. Although the owner, chef José Andrés, is quite well-known, he is still a part of the GW community — much more so than the owner of any large restaurant chain. His restaurant also promotes healthy eating and provides vegetables that are as “farm-fresh as possible.”

To keep up that trend, the University should select healthy restaurants that use local food and are owned by D.C. residents. GW has been committed to sustainability since University President Steven Knapp came in 2007, and created a sustainability strategic plan in 2012. Not only has GW expanded its recycling and composting programs, but Knapp has also promised that by 2020, at least 20 percent of the food in J Street will be locally grown.

But since J Street is primarily used by freshmen, that just isn’t enough. The University should make sure that all students — not just those who use the dining hall — have access to locally grown, healthy food. For GW to truly embody its goal of making responsibly grown, locally sourced food available to its students, it must seek to fill the District House food court with businesses that match that mission.

By choosing the restaurants in District House carefully, GW can show students that local food tastes better, is more environmentally friendly, is better for you and is safer to eat. Food eaten closer to the source spends less time — and uses less fossil fuels — in transit, resulting in fresher and more flavorful produce. It also aligns with GW’s commitment to reduce its fossil fuel use.

Plus, it’s never bad to boost local businesses. By doing so, GW can support the local economy and use this as an opportunity to elevate small businesses owned by D.C. residents. Since the University is one of the largest landowners in the District, GW should try to give back to the city that has helped it become successful.

The food court of a residence hall is its heart — where students eat, hang out and study. In a neighborhood already dominated by chain restaurants, the University has an opportunity to promote D.C. businesses that serve local food, and give the heart of District House a beat.

Kendrick Baker, a sophomore double-majoring in political science and economics, is a Hatchet opinions writer. Want to respond to this piece? Submit a letter to the editor.

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