Lunch blues

Although a coffee truck will come to WSU Vancouver a couple days a week this year, fresh and substantial lunch options on campus remain a seemingly distant dream.

Bribe My Belly, a local taco truck, had operated a couple days a week on campus last year. That is, until it was sold last winter to a buyer from Seattle, according to Vice Chancellor for Finance, Operations and Enrollment Jennifer Chambers-Taube. 

Following this, Chambers-Taube entered a new contract with coffee truck Bluum Coffee in spring, which has been extended through the 2025-26 school year.

Bluum Coffee will usually be on campus from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. this semester. They offer a selection of seasonal drinks, traditional hot drinks like mochas, lattes and cappuccinos, as well as a selection of cold drinks, like teas, Italian cream sodas, and iced lattes.

While a coffee truck is a step in the right direction now that Bribe My Belly is gone, the future of further options for fresh, filling and affordable food at WSU Vancouver is unclear, as Bluum Coffee offers beverages but no substantial food items.

Students are now back at square one for lunch on campus: the self-serve Cafe, which has been criticized for the absence of price tags on items and the fact that it is a grab-and-go convenience store with prepackaged items rather than a place where students can get hot, fresh and nutritious meals.

Chambers-Taube said that it is trickier than it seems to get food vendors to come to campus. First and foremost, the university must complete a Request For Proposal form, a document that businesses or organizations use to solicit potential vendors, who then make a proposal for why they should be allowed to sell their products on the grounds of the organization. This process on its own can take weeks to months, which may deter possible vendors from applying. Profitability is another major concern.

“Vendors don’t want to come because there are too few students, and they could be making more money elsewhere,” said Chambers-Taube.