Eat at Joe Bruin’s

By Cameron Zargar

Daily Bruin Contributor

During their first days at UCLA, most freshmen, already feeling
the pressure of adjusting to a major academic institution, also
bear the discomfort of being away from the familiarity of home
cooking.

For Lisa Kingery, a fourth-year art history student, this
adjustment has meant a growth in independence.

“You get away from home, all night you’re studying
and eating pizza,” Kingery said, referring to her freshman
year. “After you pass the initial flip-out period, you
realize that you’re the one who takes care of yourself and
that’s what causes you to grow up.”

For a number of students, adapting to life away from home is
less about growing up than about struggling to meet dietary
religious standards.

Muslim students, who must only eat halal food permissible in
Islam, Jewish students, who choose to keep kosher, and other
students with specific needs, often find few choices in residence
halls or in typical campus restaurants.

To accommodate their needs, these students who would normally
eat an average amount of the specific meat and meat products , now
rely more on vegetarian dishes.

Mohammad Mertaban, a second-year math and applied science
student as well as a practicing Muslim, said he felt the
adjustments he made while living in the residence halls have
improved his health, both physically and spiritually.

“It is beneficial to my health because I am forced to
refrain from meat,” Mertaban said. “I eat pasta, a lot
of salad, breads and cereals.”

Mertaban said he also felt the change has helped him in building
his character.

“The challenge has strengthened my faith,” he
added.

According to Mertaban, UCLA should cater to students who choose
to follow their religious teachings.

“I would like to see the proud institution of UCLA make an
effort to accommodate students with religious guidelines like
myself,” Mertaban said.

While the residence dining services may not serve halal or
kosher meat, the institution does pride itself on quality dining,
according to Charles Wilcots, Assistant Director of Dining
Services.

“There is a wide variety of various types of dishes for
everybody from sushi to mushroom sandwiches,” Wilcots said.
“We want to treat our restaurants as restaurants.

“UCLA has been recognized as one of the top ten colleges
in terms of dining services,” he continued.

While students generally do find a great variety of foods in the
residence halls, some students often grow tired of the repetitive
flavors of dorm food, according to Khoa Nguyen, a third-year
biology student.

Nguyen said that while, at first, he was enticed by the great
variety and buffet-like atmosphere of the dorm cafeterias, the
amusement has worn off.

“The dorm food is good for the first two weeks,” he
said. “Then after a while the menu repeats itself.”

Nguyen, though, has avoided various food groups offered,
choosing instead to rely on a mostly-meat, minimal-vegetable
diet.

“I eat a lot of meat, steak, mixing in fruit and
vegetables just a little,” he said.

According to Nguyen, his own diet and the observations he has
made on other students has indicated gender differences in eating
habits.

“Girls eat much healthier ““ they’re mostly
vegetarians,” he said.

Fawnia Cantu, a third-year chemical engineering student, also
noticed that while female students eat relatively light meals,
consisting of fruits and vegetables, male students eat foods high
in carbohydrates and protein.

“Girls are so weight conscious. All they eat is
salad,” she said. “Guys are packing on the pounds with
meat and bread.”

Not all female students fit the stereotypes associated with
them. Brighid Dwyer, a fourth-year sociology student, said that
“a lot of cookies and brownies” are a regular part of
her diet.

Regardless of eating preferences, the most common type of
grocery shopping for students living in apartments consists of an
outing to Breadstiks, a small grocery store located in
Westwood.

Employees at the store have noticed that numerous students pay
little attention to health guidelines, such as those suggested in
the food pyramid.

Jonas Ball, a Breadsticks employee and UCLA alumnus, said that
students mostly purchase spaghetti and boxed food, such as Top
Ramen and cereal.

Like the students, Ball said he too has noticed a distinction
between male students and the female students.

“Girls buy fruit and the ready-pack salads,” said
Ball. “Guys buy a lot of eggs, cold cuts and yogurt ““
you know, the high-protein stuff.”

According to Ball, women appear more likely to adhere to
nutritionists’ advice than men.

“(The men) probably don’t have the whole diet plan
down while the girls seem to have a better idea of the concept of a
balanced meal plan,” he said.

Christine Hill, a fourth-year English student, theorized as to
why the female students at UCLA eat healthier than their male
counterparts.

Hill said that cooking together with her roommates at home
instead of going to restaurants has contributed to her eating
healthier food.

“I coordinate what I eat with what my roommates
eat,” Hill said. “We cook together.

“In the apartments, socially, girls eat together
more,” she continued. “Guys may tend toward the quick
meal ““ fast food, or those frozen things,” she
continued.

As in the apartments, eating together seems to provide a sense
of community for those students in fraternities and sororities as
well.

While these institutions can often provide a feeling of kinship
away from home, the food students choose to eat does not
necessarily resemble home cooking, according to Aaron Kessler, who
graduated this summer with a major in business economics.

“I eat mostly sandwiches, turkey, peanut butter,”
Kessler, who lived in a fraternity house, said. “We cook for
ourselves.”

Like other students, Kessler’s eating habits have changed
from home, but they still adhere to nutritional standards of some
sort

“I try to stay away from fast food and foods high in
carbs,” Kessler said.