This semester, new organic food options became available at San Diego State. However, while student and faculty response has been very posi- tive about these new alternatives, others are not as enthusiastic about the change.

The Aztec Market’s inclusion of an organic section, the introduction of Olive Oil café, which features vegetarian and organic options, at West Commons and Peabody’s Organic Coffee are recent additions to the meal plan this year. Although organic options at The Aztec Market are more expensive than non-organic items, the price gap is no as significant as it is off-campus. Non-organic sandwiches at Aztec Market range in price from $2.99 to $3.39. In the organic section, a variety of sandwiches are priced at $6.99, which is $2.70 more than the highest non-organic option. The decision to decrease the cost of pricier organic foods was meant to accommodate student life. Re- duction in pricing at SDSU is possible because the organic section is small and the non-organic sections bring in enough revenue to compensate for the difference. “The reason we are going organic is to improve customer satisfaction, not fi- nancials,” SDSU Dining Services Director Paul Melchior said. “We have our students in our best interests.” However, the turnout of a par ticular product, Seabirds organic sandwiches, has been less than ideal, according to Melchior. The organic vendor delivers a minimum order of 240 sandwiches per week.

Aztec Market and Convenience Store General Manager Cherie Witchell says about half of the sandwiches end up spoiled. “And the numbers aren’t getting better,” Witchell said. “They’re actually getting worse.” Seabirds offered samples of its sandwiches to students at the beginning of the semester and plans to return to campus in October for a second sampling. “We want to offer organics on cam- pus, but the only way we can offer it is if people buy it,” Melchior said. “We can’t buy it just to throw it away. That’s not good for anybody.” The story of success comes from Olive Oil Café’s arrival at West Com- mons. The vendor, which began its history with SDSU at the campus farmers market, branched out from its Imperial Beach location.

Olive Oil Chef Jennifer Jones said the company’s ingredients are 70-75 percent organic Serving organic bread would have caused prices to skyrocket for students and staff.

“A lot of students don’t know what organic means,” Jones said. “They think it means healthy, but they don’t know it also means no hormones and no pesticides.” Olive Oil Café, which is entirely vegetarian with some vegan options, uses greens from eight lo- cal farmers markets around San Diego. According to Jones, eating local ingredients is better for both the local economy and environment because trucks aren’t trans- porting food across the country. “You can go next door and get twice as much food,” Jones said. “But at the same time, you are getting something that was made across the country, months ago and came in a bag instead of cheese that we sliced this morn- ing that came from a farm 20 minutes away.”