There’s something wrong with Skyline College’s Fresh and Natural food vendor. No, no, I take that back. There are many things wrong with Fresh and Natural. Some that are trivial problems, and others that won’t be solved easily.
     For example, one trivial problem is that the turnstile at the entrance of the cookery is a one-way turnstile. Yes, the turnstile is probably one-way to help stop those students who are inclined to five-fingered discounts from running away unnoticed (or at least the ones who don’t know it’s one-way).
     But for those students like myself who prefer having at least two exits in any given room, and who have to find out the turnstiles are one-way, the hard way (by actually walking into the noisy turnstile, then nearly falling over in front of the entire cafeteria), the least they can do is put up a “one-way” sign.
     This would prevent many embarrassing accidents. And speaking of signs, would it kill someone to post the breakfast hours? Many people have surely wandered into F and N craving bacon burritos, and have been dismissed for not knowing the breakfast hours.
     Does anybody on campus besides the F and N staff know the breakfast hours? Clearly, breakfast hours, and lunch hours, and any other important hours should be posted in an obvious place in the cafeteria, because most students and staff are not clairvoyant.
     Yet another problem that can be fixed easily, is the mislabeled prices (again, on those signs). I always, and I mean always leave F and N paying more than I expected to. Why is this? Because, according to the staff, the prices are incorrect.
     A few months ago, I went into F and N to buy a side order of nacho cheese for my friend. The menu says that extra cheese is 35 cents. “I can totally afford this,” I thought. So I placed my order, and because I knew that the prices are usually wrong, I asked the worker who was filling my order how much the cheese would be costing me.
     “Seventy-five cents,” she said. Surprised, I quipped, “But the sign says that it’s only 35 cents.” “That’s for a slice of cheese,” she replied. I looked at the menu, and for a slice of cheese, the price was 30 cents. I told the worker this, and she almost didn’t believe me.
     When she realized that I wasn’t lying, she said, “Well, those prices are wrong.” “Well, could you please fix them?” I asked. While this was just one isolated incident, there have been many more, and there will be many more until they list the correct prices.
     Now, I’ve had to deal with other things aside from poorly labeled menus, such as bad hygiene on the part of F and N’s employees. For example, having a cook swat at a pesky bee with the same spatula he’s using to cook your hamburger, or having a careless worker handle meat products without gloves–little things like that.
     To that I say to the employees, would you like me to do the same to your food? Probably not, so take better care in handling mine. These problems, so far, have easy solutions. The problem of the actual pricing, however, will not be easily solved. Before F and N came along, one used to be able to purchase combo meals, consisting of a sandwich, fries, and a soda for $5 or less.
     Now, there are no such combo meals, and with the confusing prices, you end up paying much more for what was $5 worth of food last semester. The food isn’t even that much better, to tell the truth, and it seems as though students and staff are paying for the name, Fresh and Natural, rather than the products they are named after.
     As it is, I can barely afford to eat there, so I usually don’t, opting instead for the Little Debbie snack cakes in the bookstore (which are 25 to 75 cents each), that will probably contribute to me getting a heart attack by the time I’m 30.
     I’m not suggesting the school get a new vendor, because at this point in time it would be too much of a hassle. Skyline needs to work with what it has, for better or worse.
     But the fact still remains; Fresh and Natural needs much work before it can live up to its name.