Food at Warwick – A critical failure 

It was in the holiday between years eight and nine that I first seriously considered attending Warwick. I was on a summer engineering course for three days, and a big selling point was that it meant spending three days on Warwick campus. This news of being unaccompanied by parents for three whole days alongside the freedom to do and buy whatever I wanted was music to the ears of my thirteen-year-old self. This was it; I was becoming one of the big kids.  

I strolled onto the campus I’ve now called home for five months, sure in the knowledge that I was about to soak up the university experience and return to school dazzling my classmates with newfound worldliness and maturity.  

One of the main things that reassured me I was on the cusp of adulthood was that, before leaving, my mum handed me thirty pounds, which at the time was like paying my rent for a month (which to be fair she has also done) and said I could buy any food I liked while on campus. While she didn’t say that in so many words, I knew she wouldn’t be there to stop me; no matter what I decided to buy, I had free rein.  

There are two problems with the food available on campus: one, it’s overpriced, and two, it’s often disappointing

And oh, Warwick did not disappoint! I stepped into the Rootes grocery store and faced limitless choices of sweets and snacks; there was even a booze section (now that I think of it, I’m pretty sure we weren’t even allowed to walk through there). That night, my eyes were opened to Japanese sweets I’d only seen before on YouTube and flavours of crisp I had never before imagined.  

What I’m trying to show you through all this (other than how cool and rebellious I was in my formative years) is that the food available on Warwick campus is ideal for a small boy with thirty pounds and no real concept of the money he’s spending, but for anyone else, no. 

There are two problems with the food available on campus: one, it’s overpriced, and two, it’s often disappointing. Food being disappointing is fine for students, in fact, there is probably no group of people more willing to tolerate disgusting food than British students, but expensive food, forget it. Expensive is pretty much the main deal breaker for students when looking to buy something, the one red line when considering a purchase and yet that’s exactly what Warwick gives us.  

Rootes does have a few redeeming qualities, notably the £1.79 can of Knight’s cider and potato dog. Benugo, though, is a clear-cut example of the savage hypocrisy of the kind of food available on Warwick campus

Places like Rootes grocery and Benugo are the hallmark of an institution being run for business and PR purposes rather than giving the people what they want. In Warwick’s case, Benugo is a good option for open days and passers-by. However, day-to-day, what the people really want is cheap crisps, chocolate, and cigarettes.  

I challenge anyone reading this to go to Rootes and buy three things they actually want, without spending more than five pounds. I’m fairly certain that a £3.89 sandwich, which, at best, could be called ‘okay’, is that magical combination of overpriced and saddening to eat, while also managing to please pretty much no one (with the notable exception of whoever my money is going to). 

I have been to Benugo only once, on a campus open day, and suspect that these open days probably account for a sizeable amount of their annual revenue 

Has there ever been a student who has honestly thought that spending £15 on an ‘okay’ meal is an effective use of resources? I have been to Benugo only once, on a campus open day, and suspect that these open days probably account for a sizeable amount of their annual revenue. Benugo caters to and is designed for visiting families who don’t know better and can be squeezed for that extra fiver. 

I find it an affront that the university claims to offer the best student experience, all the while delivering us a glorified corporate sham. A twenty-four-hour corner shop would provide a much more authentic student experience at a fraction of the cost, and yet here we are, forced every day to walk past a glistening restaurant selling food we cannot afford.  

Then again, Tesco is quite a walk…