Assignment 9

Testing the Hypothesis 

      University of Florida students and staff spending too much money and time on food due inflated prices and long lines.

 

Proposed Solution: A market much like the P.O.D. on campus except the food is set up buffet style with healthier options such as a coffee bar, salad bar, oatmeal bar, fruit and vegetable stand, etc. 

Inside the Boundary 

Who: UF students and staff who buy food on campus

What: spending extra money and time on food 

Why: inflated prices and long lines

Outside the Boundary

Who: UF students and staff who bring their food to campus

What: The existence of hunger

Why: too many students and staff eating food from shops on campus create long lines. Due to the need to eat for everyone, they can get away with inflating the prices of food. For example, regular 8  oz bottle of water at the P.O.D. is $1.99?!

Interviews

Person 1: A second year business major 

     Since I live on campus without a car, I find myself eating most of my meals on campus. Many times I am looking for a quick breakfast before class and do not have the time to go to the dining halls on campus. I often times go to the hub as this is the closest to my class but the Starbucks line is always at least 10-15 minutes long. As an alternative I go to the P.O.D. but find myself spending at least $8.00 on a snack and a coffee. 

Person 2: PhD student in microbiology and genetics

     Coffee is an essential part of my day, I can not function properly without it. Most days I have enough time to make a pot of coffee at home before classes but on the days I have been running late to class I decided to just go to a Starbucks on campus. The line was ridiculously long that it would have made even more late than if I had just made my own at home. I decided to go without a cup of coffee that day and it completely ruined the whole day for me. Like I said I can not function without and all day I could not for the life of my focus on lectures and ended up having to go back and listen to them the next day because I didn't retain any of the information. I also made so many mistakes on my experiment that it ended up just being a waste of my day. 

Person 3: A first year psychology major

     I live on campus in a dorm and I am still figuring out how to grocery shop for myself and meal prep. I find myself most days buying food on campus and end up spending $10-$20 a DAY on various meals around campus. I know I could go to the dinning halls but many times it takes time out of my schedule to eat there and I am just looking for a quick snack. I am also disappointed in the meal options on campus as they are many times unhealthy. The P.O.D. sometimes has apples or oranges but those always seem untouched and dusty to me. Most days I am just looking for a coffee and a banana but standing on the Starbucks line is insane in the morning. 

Person 4: A second year biology major

    I have a very busy schedule with taking Chemistry with lab and Biology with lab, I find it very hard to find time to go shopping for food. I am constantly spending money on food from campus and honestly I am sick of wasting my money. I find it very upsetting that UF doesn't provide better quality food to their students. I would love to be able to go and get a bowl of oatmeal in the morning and put whatever I want it and not have to spend $5 on one from Starbucks. With the students busy schedules you would think they would provide an option that was easy to pick up as well as good for you. I am tired of Chick-fil-a and Subway, you can also tell from my stretched out pants that that is all I have been eating lately. They told me about freshman 5 but I never thought it would be because I just won't be provided meals that are good for me. 

Person 5: A second year psychology major

    I live off campus and I am kind of getting the hang of buying my own meals and stuff but my biggest problem is breakfast. I am always rushing out the door and don't have time to make myself coffee or grab a snack so I end up going to the P.O.D. The prices always shock me like the other day I needed a charger for my phone because I needed it to help my study and I bought a charger there for $21 and it isn't even a nice one. I don't have a meal pass or anything so I never go to the dinning halls and eat mainly from Starbucks, the P.OD., Croutons, and the shake mart. I try to find meals that are good for my but I find it hard to eat clean meals without buying my own food from Publix.


     I found that a lot of people are unhappy with the meal options on campus, finding themselves wasting time and money. I also found not many people utilize the dinning halls on campus which is interesting to me. I believe multiple markets that serve healthy options in a buffet style would make students much happier with their choices in food.