Not Your Parents' College Food

A fun article about a culinary competition between the executive chefs from several universities. (One wonders, though, whether it would make more sense for the competition to center on food the chefs could actually serve in a campus dining hall!)

On our college visits this spring we were quite impressed with the food, which is generally healthier, tastier, and provides more choices than my husband or I had when we were in college. Although many students might opt for the greasier food, there are plenty of good choices available every day.

At my daughter's college, USC, students can also have a change of pace by using "dining dollars" on their meal cards to eat at campus restaurants like La Salsa or to buy microwave meals, such as Lean Cuisine, to prepare in their rooms. Every dorm room comes with a mini fridge/microwave combination.

The L.A. Times goofed in this article, by the way -- the dining hall referenced at USC is Parkside, not Parkview.