Sac City Express » Coffee

Fast food fatality

Bianca Botello — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 17:40:28 +0000

Food is fuel for our bodies. Without it, our bodies can’t run as efficiently as they’re supposed to. Students, with their busy lives, need to especially pay attention to staying energized and healthy. As students rush in and out of classes all week long and all hours of the day, during their down time, they look for a place where they can rest, relax and refuel.

United Coffee House was one of those places for students. Conveniently located on Sutterville Road right across the street from City College, the coffee house was a place where students could grab a cup of joe first thing in the morning, or sit down and eat a fancy grilled cheese and sip a cream soda during their lunch hour.

Sadly, United Coffee House won’t be serving any more of its espressos or grilled cheese sandwiches. The small, family-owned business recently closed down, around the same time a new KFC and Long John Silver’s duo opened next to the vacant coffee house.

This is great news for the new KFC and Long John Silver’s duo, whose neighboring competition no longer exists, but it isn’t the greatest news for students. This means one less convenient place for busy students to buy quick, healthy food so they can maintain healthy eating habits.

This issue shouldn’t be new to anyone, and it does not just affect students, but the entire nation. According to an article, “The Fatty Truth” on uscollegesearch.org, containing American fast food statistics, the number of fast food restaurants has doubled since 1970. The fast food industry feeds 77 million of 307 million Americans on a daily basis. In other words, the fast food industry feeds at least 25 percent of the American population every day. This is insane!

In health class, we were taught that ideally, the average person should consume up to 2,000 calories per day. A fast food meal can contain more than one’s daily recommended calorie intake. For example, according to a diagram on uscollegesearch.org listing popular fast food items, a triple Baconator, fries and a large Coke from Wendy’s is 2,170 calories. Surprisingly, KFC made this list twice! The KFC item with the most calories was the Double Down with mac’ n ‘cheese, one biscuit and a large Pepsi: 1,700 calories.

Considering the number of calories these meals contain, they should leave people feeling satisfied for the rest of the day, but that is often not the case. The body needs three balanced meals throughout the day in order to function properly. And fast food is not very filling, so one meal that contains either half, or more than half of one’s recommended calorie intake is not nearly enough. So one will most likely eat another meal or two as the day wears on, which can lead to a person consuming more than 2,000 maybe even 3,000 calories a day. These high-in-calorie meals are what had helped pave our nation’s way toward morbid obesity, diabetes in adults and children, and death.

Time, convenience and money are three major factors that determine where people will eat lunch. United Coffee House, for example, was a popular eating place among students because of its convenient location, and menu items that fit the budget of the average college student. Now KFC and Long John Silver’s, located across the street from campus, are highly accessible for students.

Nationally and universally, fast food places are infamous for their record timing of producing products and equally famous for their low prices. Whoever is responsible for placing a KFC and Long John Silver’s across the street from a college is a genius. These two businesses are targeting their ideal prey: students who need food fast, and for a price that won’t burn a hole in their pockets.

There are, in fact, other places to eat in the area that are a lot healthier in comparison to KFC and Long John Silver’s. Besides the campus cafeteria, which has healthy food choices, Chipotle, Subway and Togo’s are in the area, though they are a bit farther from campus. This is where convenience comes back into play. Students will most likely choose what is convenient over what is healthy.

Students need not do that. They should not take the easy route by walking across the street and purchasing one of Colonel Sanders’ or Long John Silver’s fried delicacies. Students should instead make time in the morning, or the night before to pack a balanced lunch, or visit one of the neighboring restaurants that provide healthy alternatives.

Oh, Snap!Picture Of the Day-03/02/11

Online Staff — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 05:19:13 +0000

Swamped with students looking for warm comfort from the storm outside, City College's Metro Cafe serves "Cynthia" a hot, frothy beverage Wednesday morning. Photo by Kate Paloy

Would you like coffee with your cream and sugar?

Camille Anglo — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 04:51:00 +0000

City College student LaJoy Bush enjoys a latte in the quad. Bush has been drinking coffee since she was 7 years old.Photo by Jesse Charlton

It’s just another part of the average college-aged woman’s day: classes, work and a GCB.

GCBs, or gourmet coffee beverages, are sweet coffee drinks with an avalanche of whipped cream and caramel on top. They’re the source of the queston, “Hi, would you like some coffee with your cream and sugar?”

But experts warn all that sugary sweetness could pose significant health threats.

Among female college students in their 20s, GCBs contributed to weight gain in those who habitually indulged in them, according to a 2004 study conducted by Simmons College Department of Nutrition in Boston. In the study, participants consumed at least 2.5 GCBs a week, with calories
ranging from 180-500 calories per beverage.

Jeff Christian, a registered nurse at City College, says that it’s no surprise that drinks such as Starbucks Frappuccinos are tied to weight gain because they increase a person’s recommended caloric intake for the day.

“There is limited nutritional value, and individuals who drink a GCB [and] then go have breakfast or lunch are potentially taking in more calories than they are expending,”
Christian says. “Those nutritional choices can lead to an increase in weight if the individual is not balancing the calories they take in versus the calories they burn through exercise.”

GCBs not only contribute to increased weight gain, but also leave people over-stimulated from a caffeine and sugar high, according to Nadine Kirkpatrick, a City College nutrition instructor.

“The main danger of overindulging in coffee drinks is probably exceeding your body’s need for calories per day and then storing the extra calories as fat,” Kirkpatrick says. “A secondary point of concern is caffeine content. You may be overdoing it and feel jittery, or you may feel a headache coming on when you don’t get your caffeinated drink. A third item may be the massive sugar load you are taking in.”

Even though dessert drinks are loaded with calories, they aren’t the only factor for weight gain among female college students, says Charlene Bondoc, a City College kinesiology major.

“Coffee alone can’t be the reason why women are gaining weight because there’s so much fast food out there, there’s no time for us [college students] to go work out every day,” Bondoc says. “A lot of [students] aren’t eating right either. There’s a bunch of [students] living off of Cup of Noodles.”

Instead of these GCBs, the best foods to consume are something organic and homemade, according to Christian. He also recommends that exercise be incorporated into a woman’s lifestyle if these drinks are in her diet.

“Purchase a blender, go to a farmer’s market and buy some fruit, get some low fat milk, ice and make a fruit drink,” Christian says. “If you are going to use some of your daily caloric intake on a drink, then make sure to burn those calories with some form of exercise.”

Christian says when it comes to GCBs, remember the golden rule of all things whipped, creamy, and delicious: Everything in moderation.

“Life is short, and it is important to do things that make you happy,” Christian says. “But it is important to find happiness in making choices that also bring you health.”

Caffeine, caffeine, where art thou?

Genevieve Jerome — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:35:26 +0000

Walking into United Coffee House, my nostrils are immediately filled with alluring scent of fresh, strong, dark coffee, perhaps a little too strong.

United Coffee House has a strange scent and their coffee is unlike anything I have ever smelled before. The coffee does not smell like the seductive scent of Peet’s Coffee & Tea, nor does it smell like a candy factory, the way Starbucks smells.

They say they sell organic fair trade coffee, and boy, they were not kidding, it smells like the fertilizer in my backyard.

Although the walls are filled with awesome paintings by local artists, the coffee is profoundly below par. United Coffee House may be filled with comfy chairs and have tons of room, but their coffee tastes like the earth, literally.

I’m all about organic coffee growers and the need to support local farmers; however, I’m also all about delicious tasting coffee.

Their coffee is not for students who enjoy a sweet, fattening frappuccino from Starbucks from time to time or a simple soy chai latte from Peet’s Coffee and Tea.

Organic coffee is supposed to be delicious and pure like the ground it grows in. United Coffee House’s coffee reminded me of a really bad batch of fruit that spoiled over a week’s time.

Although the owners, Tiffany Colby and Harginer Sighn, were extremely kind and upbeat, it took Colby at least five minutes to make me my drink. Now for students in a rush, this is anything but good.

Before making me my drink, Colby asked me how I like my coffee. I told her strong, very strong. I was indeed expecting a strong, bold cup of coffee but instead I got a mucky, sea-tasting, batter-of-mildew-like substance that eroded the taste buds in my mouth. It took every ounce of my willpower and all of my acting chops not to spit the coffee right out of my mouth.

Not only does their coffee taste bad, but their prices are anything but fair.

Sandwiches are $5.95. One word: expensive.

Students can expect a small cup of plain coffee to cost them $1.75 and a blended Frappee costs $4.15. The catch with these prices is a small cup of coffee is smaller than a small or tall size at Peet’s or Starbucks.

The coffee is French pressed with a pressing tool for bringing out the most flavor. The process is a great idea if you have the time, energy and patience in the morning.

For a coffee shop to French press all of its coffee is a horrible business maneuver because it takes unnecessary time and energy, and causes a line of people to stand impatiently at the coffee bar, awaiting their order.

Although I didn’t enjoy the coffee at United Coffee House, I must give them kudos for a welcoming atmosphere.

United Coffee House is located across from City College.

But a warning: enter at your own risk.