CMD Campus a Food Desert Once Again

 At Santa Monica College's Center for Media and Design, affordable meals are in a state of limbo.

As Santa Monica College (SMC) resumed on-ground classes, students at the Center for Media and Design (CMD) have returned to find that the popular EveryTable fridges, which boasted healthy food options at affordable prices, have been removed.

According to Santa Monica College’s Vice President of Business and Administration, Chris Bonvenuto, "As of now, EveryTable has declined to provide the refrigerators with so few people to use it."

"The District is continuing to look for solutions that provide affordable food options. However, to date, we have been unsuccessful because of the small number of people, students, staff and faculty presently at CMD." Bonvenuto said.

Santa Monica College Foundation President and SMC Dean of Institutional Advancement, Lizzy Moore, spoke to The Corsair about the EveryTable Partnership at CMD. “The campus Center for Media and Design is really what one might call a ‘food desert.’ There is no place to walk to for anyone to grab something to eat,” Moore said.

Moore further explained that the food trucks serving students at CMD are expensive, whereas EveryTable offered "A snack for two dollars, a meal for five dollars and just very affordable healthy choices." At least one food truck serving CMD students lists entrees on their menu for no less than $13 and as high as $19.

In order to address the scarcity of affordable food at CMD, the Santa Monica College Foundation designated a space at the CMD campus and enlisted the help of SMC students to design a lounge.

Business major Emily Sabinas, on her computer near the closed Everytable cafe at Santa Monica College's Center for Media and Design in Santa Monica, Calif. on Tuesday, August 31, 2021, the second day of classes on ground after returning from the COVID-19 Pandemic closure of campus. (The Corsair | Blake Thornton)

EveryTable partnered with the Santa Monica College Foundation to provide snacks and meals for students, ranging $2.00 to $5.00 dollars, via the lounge, and opened on Feb. 25, 2020. “Then covid hit. And everything got shut down," Moore said.

The partnership between EveryTable and the SMC Foundation has been ongoing in order to provide meals for food-insecure students via the Project EveryTable meal service, which is a part of SMC Foundation's Meal Project program.

"It's important for students to know that if they are in need of assistance for food security that there are many programs and services that are available right now to support them," Moore said.

Students facing food insecurity are encouraged to get in touch with the Santa Monica College Foundation Meal Project/EveryTable via email at foodsecurity@smc.edu.

Students can visit Pop-Up food pantry Bodega every Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the first floor of Cayton Center Complex for fresh produce, grains, proteins, and shelf-stable foods, as well as essentials for infants and toddlers.

Featured