Grassroots’ is the newest addition to the Union food court, which offers soups and salads for a lighter meal. Grassroots serves soups and specialty salads, with vegan/vegetarian options. Students can choose from their specialty salads or create their own.
Their specialty salads consist of the Asian Salad, Caesar Salad, Greek Salad and Spinach Salad. They also offer various options for protein including tofu and salmon.
“Students and staff asked for a healthy food option so we answered,” Retail Dining Manager Lisa Parrish said. “Grassroots is a healthy fresh option for your dining desires. Created right before your eyes and prepared on site daily.”
Grassroots has healthy ingredients, along with a diversity of choices.
“All of our ingredients are fresh and healthy,” Kilu Sherpa, employee at Grassroots, said. “We have many different types of dressings to go with the salads too. We even have garlic bread to go with our salads and soup!”
They bake their bread daily on campus and make their garlic bread and croutons on site to provide unprocessed alternatives.
“We also make the butter for the garlic bread ourselves,” Sherpa said.
She also added that she cuts the lettuce daily before service hours to ensure their freshness.
A vertical garden is in the service area, where they grow their own variety of greens, using their produce to serve their customers twice a month.
“It is nice that our customers can see their food grown right here,” Grassroots employee, Trixie Latitia, said.
In order to give students more options to eat fresh throughout the campus, they make packets of their specialty salads every morning and distribute it to various locations all over. Their salads can be found in Book and Beans, CJ’s store and Encore.
Other options that the Union Food court offers are Panda Express; a gourmet Chinese food franchise, Pita Pit and Los Vaqueros, which serves fried chicken and nachos. The addition of a salad bar gives students an opportunity to have a nutritious and fulfilling meal.
“It’s nice that now we have a light option for when I don’t want something more hefty like panda (express) or a pita,” UW student, Venkat Madhyanam, said. “It gives me a chance to eat healthier and watch my diet.”
