BY: KEGAN MCCALLUM, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
St. Bonaventure University has five options for on-campus dining: Cafè La Verna, Hickey Dining Hall, Freshens, Rathskeller, and Yellas.
The Hickey Dining Hall and Freshens are the most popular of the five; as well as the only two that allow students to pay with meal swipes. The Hickey is a buffet; while Freshens presents itself much more like a healthy restaurant. Freshens portrays itself as healthy, when in reality that could not be further from the truth. Freshens serves rice bowls, artisan melts, burritos, flatbreads, and smoothies. With a name like Freshens, it would imply they are serving fresh and healthy food.
“That’s what they try to do; they want you to think it is healthy,” said Jackson Chudzick, ‘26.
That is exactly the image Freshens is trying to portray, Freshens’ slogan is “healthy eating, better living.” Their slogan is widely misrepresentational of how healthy the food and drinks are at the restaurant. Smoothies are by far the most popular item at Freshens, and the Freshens meal swipe program allows two items which leads people to instinctively order food and a smoothie. Smoothies are normally categorized as a healthy drink, or at least healthier than their frozen milk competitor, milkshakes.
“They present the smoothies as healthy,” said Mannuel Castro, ‘27.
Freshens smoothies contain 61 to 82 grams of sugar, which varies drink to drink. If one were to order a Going Green smoothie from Freshens, one may pat themselves on the back for eating healthy, while in reality they just consumed 61 grams of sugar, which is only four grams of sugar less than a 20-ounce bottle of Coke. Or if one were to order a Bangin’ Berry smoothie, completely unaware that their smoothie contains 82 grams of sugar, just three grams less than a McDonald’s large Vanilla Milkshake.
Freshens protein smoothie contains 73 grams of sugar and only 29 grams of protein. Well, at least the smoothie contains protein you may think. Freshens only uses plant-based protein powder. In 2025, it was discovered that a majority of plant-based protein powders contained more lead in one serving than it is safe to consume in a day.
In a 2025 Consumer Reports article, Paris Martineau wrote, “Nearly all the plant-based products CR tested had elevated lead levels…A single serving of these protein powders contained between 1,200 and 1,600 percent of CR’s level of concern for lead, which is 0.5 micrograms per day.”
But that is just their smoothies, another one of Freshens’ staple items are their artisan melts. Their melts all contain 960 to 1,220 calories, for reference, McDonald’s Big Mac is listed at 580 calories. That is less than 50% the calorie count of Freshens Grilled Cheese and Bacon.
“I have barely gone to the Hickey this entire school year. I live off campus. When I eat on-campus I like Freshens because I know there will always be a semi-healthy option,” said Daniel Casper, ‘26. Casper was shocked after finding out that his healthy meal of a Banging Berry smoothie with a Buffalo Chicken Melt was over 1,400 calories and contained 89 grams of sugar.
“That is actually devastating,” said Casper.
The Hickey Dining Hall gets the most foot traffic by far among any of the dining options on campus, being the only traditional dining hall for the university. The Hickey offers a wide variety of options.
“I only really go to the Hickey in the morning and get eggs,” said Chris Florentino, ‘29.
The morning is the healthiest time to go to the Hickey, with the grill serving eggs in any way you would like. After 11 a.m. the Hickey transitions from breakfast, replacing the egg station with burgers. A Hickey burger patty contains just 14 grams of protein and 400 calories, according to their distributor, Aramark. A Mcdonald’s cheeseburger contains 15 grams of protein and is 300 calories.
Students can choose healthy options at the Hickey. There is a salad bar and the True Balance station, which is always serving some kind of meat with rice and vegetables. Students must be extremely conscious of what exactly they are eating; if not, they risk falling into a trap of constant and ignorant unhealthy eating.
When people go to Mcdonalds they know exactly what they are getting ready to eat. Many view going to McDonalds as a cheat meal or dirty pleasure. Students who are going to Freshens are under the illusion of healthy eating, with no clue how much sugar they are consuming.
The main two dining options on St. Bonaventure are full of wolves in sheep’s clothing. Foods that bring in students under a false pretense of health; only to have the same, or worse nutrition as the Mcdonalds down the road.
This article was produced in last semester’s JMC202 News Writing class: Prices are from May, but the pattern should still hold.
