Stop the Spice!

There is currently a growing grassroots movement among students around the food being served at Mines Market. Salt, and even more startlingly, other spices, are used daily in meals prepared by the Mines Market staff. The behavior and culture of preparing salted food are now being put down by a coalition of students calling for blandness to be made the Mines policy. The group calls themselves the Undergraduates Against Flavor (UAF) and is seeking new recruits daily to join candle-lit vigils for those impacted by seasoned food, to sign petitions, and to urge Mines leaders to take action.

           Should hard-working, dedicated CSM students be subjected to any trace flavor or the sting of salt? Some students have argued that Mines Market is as bland as it gets and that the anti-flavor crusaders have done enough to protect the student body from enjoyable meals, but the UAF disagrees. They seek to ban all aspects of flavor that take away from the healing power of blandness.

           Blandness in all food is clearly the way to create a satisfying, wholesome diet that balances the four bodily humors and creates a stronger student work ethic. For centuries humans have been trading salt and spice to be rid of it and instead get more valuable goods. The Puritans of old knew the dangers of seasoning, as did Europeans of the Middle Ages, but somehow seasonings of all kinds have made their way into the diets of modern students. Mines Market is not doing enough to prevent the spread of flavor from rampaging through the school and taking everyone down.

           The Undergraduates Against Flavor, and their tireless lobbying to campus Administration, have already succeeded in getting all condiments out of Mines Market. Campus officials seem happy to work with the UAF to not only satisfy the craving for bland food but also to save school money that would be thrown away on flavoring agents purchased for Mines Market. The never-satisfied Undergraduates Against Flavor are not done with their crusade. They need more student support to reach the end goal: a total and complete ban of all spices from campus. The white whale in this mission is Mines Market but the UAF could be expanding their agenda to other campus-provided food in the near future.

           Some more radical students in the UAF call for a total and inflexible ban of spices and seasonings on campus. Will there be those students, and even faculty, who illegally trade in cinnamon and chili flakes? Perhaps, but that is a risk the UAF and their growing numbers are willing to take to receive the blander food they demand from CSM cooking staff.

           All students must take initiative and take control of their on-campus dining by saying no to the spice. Sign the petitions, put up posters, join sit-ins on Mines Market, knock on the door of PCJ and demand the bland! Only the student body can create change from within, and we must band together with the UAF to vote yes on blandness.

           Be on the lookout for the next targets of the collation: other food vendors on campus, and any outside food that is brought in by students, staff, or Golden residents. This proposed “Patriot Act” style control over food on campus will only prove to serve the student body and seems to be gaining headway with Mines Administration.