Hundreds of drinks line the walls, each giving you a tailor-made sensation like no other. Smatterings of sugary snacks make themselves available to you, all with the simple swipe of an Iowa One card.
But where are all the healthy options?
The University of Iowa has been praised for its dining accessibility, offering detailed nutrition pages, in-depth allergen cards, and macro trackers for food on its website.
However, one blind spot the university has is its lack of nutritious options in the C-Store locations.
As many know, the university offers Flex Swipes in student meal plans. Because they are already paid for, Flex Swipes are essentially free meal tickets students can use during the semester, consisting of one entrée, two sides, and a drink.
Unfortunately, many of the options that the Flex Swipe covers are higher in sugar, fat, and calories. The average Flex Swipe may consist of a walking taco as an entrée, Cheetos, a Grandma’s Chocolate Chip Cookie, and a cherry coke. This comes out to 730 calories for the sides and drink alone.
For context, the Food and Drug Administration states that the healthy caloric intake for the average American is 2,000 calories a day — around 1,800 for women and 3,000 for men. These are considered “good calories,” meaning they are high in nutrients.
On the other hand, much of the Flex Swipe-accessible food available in the C-Store contains what are known as “empty calories” — food that has little to no nutritional value.
The C-Store does provide nutritious options like fruit cups, salads, and granola bars. However, the difference between these and the unhealthy ones is that healthy products are not as Flex Swipe-accessible.
Other Flex Swipe food options are simply not appealing or are stocked infrequently. The fruit cups are a prime example of a technically healthy choice that may prove to be otherwise.
Although fruit cups are restocked fairly frequently, they are almost always two or three days removed from their expiration date. This results in withered, mushy, and discolored fruit.
Salads and sandwiches are also available, but they go so quickly early in the week that students cannot get them later on.
The disparity between Minute Maid drinks is also noteworthy. Drinks like the Minute Maid cranberry, apple, and orange juices still cost money, while traditionally sugary drinks like Minute Maid lemonade are available for Flex Swipes.
Now, nobody is going to argue that Minute Maid anything is the healthiest option in the world, but not only do the 12 fl. oz Minute Maid juices contain less product than the 20 fl. oz lemonades, but they also contain more nutritional value.
The C-Store does offer water as a Flex option, but it’s Dasani, a brand that has admitted to adding salt to its product. Some researchers say the sodium’s health effects are negative, while others say it’s safe to drink. However, the fact that the conversation is so polarized in the first place is telling.
Many of the drink options available in the C-Stores can be linked to who the UI is sponsored by: Coca-Cola. This means there is an incentive to sell not only Coca-Cola products, but also secondary brands they have acquired as well. Two of these brands are Minute Maid and Dasani.
If we can have Dasani and Coke sodas available through Flex Swipes, there must be a way to make more nutritious options, like juice, accessible as well.