Sodas. Ramen. Chips. Frappuccinos. Donuts. Sugar-coated waffles. Nachos. Burgers. Fries.

These are some of the food options offered at Skyline College’s Dining Hall. But when it comes to healthy foods, options are very limited, especially if you’re just trying to grab something as you’re headed to class.

Now, Skyline does offer sandwiches and a salad bar as well as some fruit cups (when they’re in stock). But not everyone wants to pull out a full salad in the middle of class. It can feel very uncomfortable to eat a big meal in class in front of other food-less classmates and the professor who’s teaching. But sometimes, your in-class time is the only time you have to eat during the day.

Some people wake up late, skip breakfast to get to class, and then have work as soon as their last class gets out for the day. So they have to find something they can eat on-the-go. A sandwich sounds like a great option but the café can take too long when you only have 10 minutes in between classes and World Cup Coffee and Tea doesn’t stock very many sandwiches in their refrigerator.

A great alternative would be for Skyline to stock snack packages that could easily be taken to class and eaten in peace.

College of San Mateo already offers a healthy food option for students. For $5, students can buy a bottle of water, a sandwich and a piece of fruit. They even offer a discount on this deal if shown a student ID.

Skyline could probably offer a similar option for students who don’t necessarily think their body is a temple, but who still want to make some healthy choices. This would go a long way with students in a time crunch who just want something healthy to eat.

A 2014 study by the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior found that “59 percent of college students had food insecurities, or some concerns over accessing healthy options”. With students old enough to be making their own decisions, the food choices they grew up with can have an affect on the food choices they make as an adult with one caveat: that students have limited income and make many food choices based on what is cheap and available.

With that in mind, Skyline College could help students make healthy decisions by offering more healthy options. Considering that physical education and nutrition classes are a part of the curriculum for college students, it seems hypocritical to require that students take these classes but then not offer very many healthy foods for students.

Another part of the issue is the convenience factor of the food offered at Skyline. There aren’t many healthy options offered at the student store but often times, getting food there is the fastest option. World Cup Coffee and Tea can have a line stretching into the hallway in the mornings and the café seems to always be inundated with long lines due to the fact that there is only one cashier available. Additional cashiers at the café and the creation of a second line specifically for students who have class in 10 minutes would help students to make a healthy food choice and get in-and-out quickly.

The absence of portable, healthy foods on campus is leading some students to make unhealthy choices that, once a part of their habits, can have lifelong consequences and be hard to break. As students who pay tuition here, we deserve more healthy food options and it would be great if the college we are paying money to could make it easier for us to make healthy food decisions.