New Meal Box plans allow students to cook a healthy meal at home
Liberty Dining presented a new option for a healthy, minimal effort meal on Jan. 22, designed to cater specifically to the busy lifestyle of commuter students, faculty members and any other students with access to basic cooking equipment.
The Savor Box — which contains one meal — is sold for a plus swipe, plus $1.99. Without a meal plan, the meal boxes can be purchased for $7.49. You can find the meal boxes at The Grid in the Montview Student Union, at Hilltop Pizza on East Campus and at Founder’s Food Court, located in the Liberty University Call Center on Nationwide Drive.
Each of the locations have their own weekly hours which can be found online. By checking Sodexo’s website, students can determine where the meal boxes are available throughout the week at the time you want to purchase one.
“The cool thing about this box is that it’s really more about a food experience than just a meal,” Rachel Sanders, Liberty Dining’s dietitian, said.
For students who have busy schedules and miss delicious, home-cooked meals, the Savor Boxes are a considerable alternative. All that is required is to take the box home and bake or cook the contents with the help of the recipe.
Each of the meal boxes are eco-friendly cardboard and made out of either corn or sugar cane. This makes the box easily compostable within two months. In addition to the packaging, inside each of the boxes, there is a recipe card including tips that share storage temperatures and expiration dates in order to maintain safety for consumption.
“We really want to drive home here that delicious and healthy can be in the same sentence and go together,” Ryan Wheeler, the unit marketing specialist, said. “They don’t have to be mutually exclusive.”
The Savor Boxes are currently on a six-week rotation where every week, a fresh meal will be presented and served throughout the week. At the end of the six weeks, the rotation will repeat itself.
Some of the meals within the rotation include the kale and grilled cheese meal, apple quinoa pancakes and chicken marsala.
“We thought through these meal selections for the sake of it being a well-balanced meal (with) a source of lean protein, a complex carb, non-starchy vegetables for fiber, vitamins and minerals,” Sanders said.
From the taste, to the appearance, to the cook times, the Liberty Dining team has worked together to modify all these characteristics for its customers, according to Sanders.
As of now, the Savor Boxes are not customizable. They were, however, created with the mindset of producing something more unique than any other meal option on campus.
“I think that this program is definitely here to stay,” Sanders said. “I think that as long as it’s a trend and something that our customers are interested in and want, that we will continue with the program.”
According to Wheeler, Sodexo has made this offer affordable while breaking even on all the Savor meals. Its main priority is to continue working with the community on a local level and provide good services to the students and staff.
In addition to the feedback slips inside each Savor meal box that allow purchasers to vocalize concerns, comments or ideas regarding the meal boxes, email libertydining@liberty.edu.