Boxed food lunches

[Billfred]

I had the picnic chicken on Thursday. It was so bad that I explicitly mentioned it as part of a larger email to FIRST.

The turkey wraps I had the other two days were fine, as was the boxed sandwich after Einstein.

[Cynette]

Overall, the boxed lunches and the finale version of the boxed lunch were poorly done and not well received by our team. I personally found them bordering on just gross. I selected the salad for one day and once again at the finale. To find my salad placed on top of the napkin and plastic ware with a water bottle smashed up against it seemed very unsanitary. And it made my cookie at finale very soggy. ICK. As a vegetarian option these meals were not nutritional, nor was there enough substance to provide energy to last to dinner.

For $9 a meal, there seemed to be more value expected than received.

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Cynette

Overall, the boxed lunches and the finale version of the boxed lunch were poorly done and not well received by our team. I personally found them bordering on just gross. I selected the salad for one day and once again at the finale. To find my salad placed on top of the napkin and plastic ware with a water bottle smashed up against it seemed very unsanitary. And it made my cookie at finale very soggy. ICK. As a vegetarian option these meals were not nutritional, nor was there enough substance to provide energy to last to dinner.

For $9 a meal, there seemed to be more value expected than received.

As a vegetarian I couldn't find a vegetarian option at all. I saw people with them but couldn't find them at all.

[torihoelscher]

I hope they do something different or at least cut the dome prices in half so that we dont have to deal with the disgusting food that was there. I really felt sick everytime I ate their boxed lunches.

[sanddrag]

This has been a problem for as long as I can remember. I can't believe people still buy them. Make other plans. No mass-produced food at an arena is ever going to be good.

[torihoelscher]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

This has been a problem for as long as I can remember. I can't believe people still buy them. Make other plans. No mass-produced food at an arena is ever going to be good.

I did not know that the food would be that terrible. I thought the chicken sandwich would be hot not cold and that it would taste like chicken not nothing. (tasted like air)

[davidalln]

Let's... let's not talk about the food at championships. Please. Makes me sick thinking about it again.

[WarpSpeed10]

My turkey and chese sandwich was... edible. The cookie was pretty cool with the edible St. Louis FIRST logo. However, I'd rather stand in line at Subway for half an hour talking to other teams. It was a much more enjoyable experience.

[AcesJames]

Five or six member of 176 got sick Saturday night or Sunday morning. We suspect that it might have been the food; specifically the boxed meals. Almost all of us purchased the preorder lunches, and all of us had the finale boxed dinner. Many of our students were throwing up in their hotel rooms Saturday evening, and even during the trip back on Sunday.

I don't think we'll be doing these boxed meals again soon.

[nighterfighter]

Originally Posted by AcesJames

Five or six member of 176 got sick Saturday night or Sunday morning. We suspect that it might have been the food; specifically the boxed meals. Almost all of us purchased the preorder lunches, and all of us had the finale boxed dinner. Many of our students were throwing up in their hotel rooms Saturday evening, and even during the trip back on Sunday.

I don't think we'll be doing these boxed meals again soon.

When students from multiple teams report being sick from the food, that is a problem.

Everyone except me on our team got the box after Einstein. Luckily everyone only took one or two bites, and we went to get REAL food.

If people were getting sick from this, there DEFINITELY needs to be multiple emails sent to FIRST regarding this.

[Alex Dinsmoor]

Originally Posted by AcesJames

Five or six member of 176 got sick Saturday night or Sunday morning. We suspect that it might have been the food; specifically the boxed meals. Almost all of us purchased the preorder lunches, and all of us had the finale boxed dinner. Many of our students were throwing up in their hotel rooms Saturday evening, and even during the trip back on Sunday.

I don't think we'll be doing these boxed meals again soon.

If this was truly the case (which by reading the posts it seems to be), there not only should be a letter (or call) to FIRST (as mentioned in the post above), but you should contact either the dome or the St. Louis health department about this issue. When people's health and safety is compromised because of provided food there is a much larger issue than "the food tasted bad". The health standards of any state, if met, should not allow such events as this to happen.

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

No mass-produced food at an arena is ever going to be good.

Quoted for truth. Does anyone even slightly doubt this?

Anyway, the Saturday cookie was not at all bad. Must've been an Archway cookie...

[torihoelscher]

Originally Posted by AcesJames

Five or six member of 176 got sick Saturday night or Sunday morning. We suspect that it might have been the food; specifically the boxed meals. Almost all of us purchased the preorder lunches, and all of us had the finale boxed dinner. Many of our students were throwing up in their hotel rooms Saturday evening, and even during the trip back on Sunday.

I don't think we'll be doing these boxed meals again soon.

I wont be doing them either. Some people on our team got sick as well. We should email FIRST definitely.

[c-parent]

This is way too much illness that MAY be related to the boxed lunches, or other problem within the venue. Contact the local health department with known info. They will want to hear about it. Contact info for health department in city of St. Louis can be found here:

http://health.mo.gov/living/lpha/cou...LouisCity.html

They can provide you with information on how to officially report the problems/illnesses. If a number of people have contacted the venue about the illnesses, they should have already contacted the health department.

[PayneTrain]

I didn't even go to championships this year, and I am absolutely mortified. In 3 years of FIRST (not a long time, but bear with me) I've only succumbed to venue food once, and it's because the gap between selections and elims was 15 minutes.

Still, moldy food? I checked my salad at dinner tonight, and I'm 15 hours from St. Louis and 3 days removed. Like all things in FIRST, I hope, best case, everyone can at least take a lesson from it. If not, maybe you'll develop a higher immunity to foodborne illnesses. Maybe.