This rant should be prefixed with the notion that I am, first and foremost, a proud and content member of the Edinburgh College of Art, made grateful and excited daily by its grand architecture, decorative statues and passionate lecturers. This being said, there are some aspects of the college that me and some of my fellow ECA students have noticed might benefit from some willing feedback.
Unsurprisingly, one of our main areas of concern is with the café, the place where one often finds themself post-lecture, scrummaging for a caffeine boost or a tasty, brain-fuelling lunch. Of course, those of us using the ECA café are mainly students, most of whom are living off limited budgets. This is a fact that the college must surely have known when setting prices in the café. A quick wincing glance at the menu when I first visited was all I needed to realise that I will indeed be packing lunch on days where I stay on campus, as opposed to opting for a balsamic beetroot and garbanzo bowl for their cheapest price of £5.75. I know cheese and tomato sandwiches have been done before, but might vendors ask themselves, is this the kind of innovation ECA students really want to see? Instead of the cheapest snack option being a small organic Nakd fruit and nut bar for £1.60, might we all be happier if given the option for a nice, chunky energising flapjack for, say, 75p. In the knowledge that Sainsbury’s sells packs of four Nakd bars for £3, my question is really why the choice has been made to make our beloved ECA campus the site of rampant, predatory profit-maximisation.
Furthermore, the notion that students’ laptop use should be restricted in the campus café seems inherently objectionable. If we are to give in, and pay £2.40 for a shot of espresso, we should really be able to stay and enjoy it without worrying that we are taking up tables for others during ‘busy lunch hours’ from 12-2pm.
Ultimately, the consensus among my friends is that the ECA cafe should be more tolerant of the fact that many students will (obviously) want to work on-site at lunchtime, irrespective of customer turnover, and help busy students in their daily quest to find something filling to eat that wouldn’t, upon purchasing, annihilate their weekly budget and or send them into immediate overdraft.
Photo provided by Hannah Doran for The Student