I think pretty much everyone who studies or works in and around these two university buildings know it; the canteens of Huygens and Snellius are just outright bad. The food is expensive, there are super long waiting lines when the actual break starts, usually all the food is already gone before the break starts anyways, there are little to no vegatarian or vegan options, the healthy food looks bad and usually only the unhealthy products get refilled. There was even a health incident in the Snellius canteen where some people got sick because they ate some salad that was expired. And not only that, the canteen is open from about 10am until 2pm. That's just way too short, especially since people have classes until 7pm since the new regulations. There must be some quality and affordable dinner options as well.

Healthy, affordable and good food is essential for a good working and study environment, helping with the development of your brain and keeping the people happy and healthy. People coming from abroad eating their lunch in these canteens get a bad impression of the facilities at this university, which would hurt the reputation of the institute as well. As someone who works in this industry, I can really see the feedback on the canteens from people who visit us.

With the rising of the prices in every sector due to inflation, now is the time to invest in giving these canteens an upgrade. A simple cook can substantially improve the quality of the food in the canteen, while keeping the price low. Don't just use more ready-to-make soup powders and more salads and stay open for longer, really change the quality and the opening times of the canteen drastically, and add dinner options that are available until 8pm at least.

With your vote, we get one step closer to this goal. The canteen services are provided by UFB, a university-wide organization. With only the votes from the Faculty Council, we are not there yet. Share this petition with people outside of the faculty as well, and ask them: do you want better food?

Share your stories with me about the canteen in your Faculty! How many people in your faculty that you know feel this way? What is your canteen like? My correspondence email is alken@strw.leidenuniv.nl