How the Chelsea Hotel failed to provide healthy and sustainable food
On your first day of school, figuring out what is available for you to eat should not be an additional stressor. After all, everyone needs to eat. Unfortunately for me and many other students who checked into the Chelsea Hotel–last year’s makeshift University of Toronto residence–finding healthy and affordable food close by was a challenge that led to overwhelming waste.
At first, there did not appear to be an issue. As a student with several allergies and dietary restrictions, it is normal for me to source out the options available to me in advance. In an email, Professor and Vice-Provost, Student Life Dr. Sandy Welsh told me that the Chelsea Hotel’s restaurant—Market Garden—would offer a meal plan operating on a declining basis (i.e. a meal plan commencing with a certain amount of money set to decrease with each purchase made) and that the UofT commuter meal plan would also be available to the students living in the hotel. I called both offices to ensure they had vegetarian and gluten-free options and was reassured by both that there would be something for me to eat. Not only was I misled, but my struggle to access food led to an excess of waste.
Market Garden only narrows the available options
When my residence move-in day came, my Mum and I spent the better part of the day unpacking and settling me in. By the end of it, we were famished and ready to check out the options at the hotel’s restaurant. Despite calling ahead of time and the bright green sign informing us that there were allergen-friendly meals available, an employee informed us that there was nothing to eat. Disappointed (and fairly hangry), my Mum and I spent the next hour or two searching for takeout places nearby where we could eat out. This inaccessibility was widespread in the Chelsea Hotel.
In an interview with one of last year’s Chelsea don residents, the don, who wishes to remain anonymous, describes the options for vegetarian and vegan students as “very limited” and “ridiculously expensive.” She recalls that she had been offered “fries and salad.” Luckily for me, I was yet to pay for the hotel meal plan—otherwise I would have lost a substantial amount of money.
Issues with the Chelsea Hotel’s Market Garden extend past misleading students. For both the students and residence dons, the prices of the food itself was too much for a tight student budget. In an interview, former Chelsea Hotel resident Kai Lacey tells The Strand that “the food at the Chelsea Hotel was a bit expensive, so in order to get an actually reasonably priced meal it did take a lot more [effort].” The ridiculous pricing of meals is a common consensus amongst residents, and the inaccessibility of an on-residence dining hall stressed and limited students. Without the convenience of having a warm meal available at their residence, students were forced to adapt to other means of getting a meal, such as the commuter meal plan, buying groceries, and frequenting nearby fast food restaurants.
The commuter meal plan was better, but not worth it for everyone
I did not purchase a hotel meal plan; however, I— like many other students—did purchase a monthly commuter meal plan. Most of UofT’s dining halls had something for me to eat on most days, and there were always salads. Lacey describes his experience with the commuter meal plan as “pretty good,” though he comments that it took a while to go get a meal due to the commute to dining halls. On the other hand, some students like Suri Huang, a previous first-year resident, tells The Strand she chose not to buy any meal plans because “I didn’t think it was worth it.” Students may only use the commuter meal plan in the non-privatized dining halls on campus, most of which are a fair distance away.
“Do It Yourself” meals are hard without space and appliances
Each hotel or “dorm” room was permitted one mini fridge and the common room had two communal microwaves. Having a mini fridge helped. I could buy a carton of milk to pour over my cereal in the morning and ingredients to make a sandwich or a salad. Prior to living in the residence, I was used to cooking, preparing my own meals, and packing a lunch, so the ability to have a mini fridge sounded promising. However, two issues quickly arose: the lack of space and no access to compost or recycling.
With limited space accessible to students to prepare a meal, groceries bought went unused and were eventually thrown out. As a vegetarian, I use a lot of ingredients that can and should be composted. To my knowledge, the Chelsea Residence did not offer recycling options, let alone compost. All my food scraps and recyclables—along with everyone else’s—got mixed in with the trash. The so-called organic waste could have been used to create compost; rather, it was added to the landfill.
The last resort: Fast food
With Market Garden never being an option to begin with, and with the commute to the dining hall or preparing a decent meal being impractical, students—myself included—found fast food a very convenient option. The fast food industry is known for its waste and throwing away perfectly good products. I rarely ate fast food prior to my first year. Yet, a few months into that year, I felt myself becoming reliant on fast food, an unsustainable diet fostered by an inaccessible residence environment.
When asked about how much fast food she consumed while being a resident at the Chelsea Hotel, Lily Yu estimated it made up “around 70 percent or more” of her diet. The estimate compares to the year prior to arrival at the UofT, in which Lily predominantly “ate homemade meals.”
Moving forward
Food waste, and waste in general, is widespread at the university, and is especially harmful when inaccessibility perpetuates it. Trying to combat food waste on its own will not be effective if the source of the problem goes unaddressed. As UofT advertises a supposedly sustainable campus, residences ought to be equipped with accessible resources. Inaccessibility to healthy and sustainable meals or adequate means of food disposal (like compost) are all contributing factors to food waste, ultimately fostering a wasteful community with unsustainable habits. The Chelsea Residence is back up and running for the 2022-2023 school year. One can only hope that Chelsea’s food is made more accessible to incoming first years.
