Strangechord

Here at Portland State, we have this great little cafe that just opened the beginning of Fall term. It’s located in the basement of Smith Hall and called Food for Thought. What makes it so great (to me) is that it is a student run co-op that serves mainly organic, locally grown food and the dishes are more akin to the type of meals I cook at home than the food that’s served in the main university food court upstairs. And it’s cheap! For instance, after Soc. class on Tuesday, I had a lunch of curried chick peas and cauliflower with brown rice that was to die for - $3.50! I’ve also tried their baked tofu sandwich, vegetarian lasagna and black beans with couscous. Mmmm….slow food…with just the right seasonings.

Every Tuesday and Thursday morning (my campus days), I also grab my coffee there in my cheesy little purple Linux to-go mug that Jeremy picked up free at some tech conference. The coffee at Food for Thought is organic, fair trade, shade-grown, and super-yummy - the works. No long lines either, and you can skip the register altogether by just dropping your dollar into a pay container. I see students standing in long lines upstairs at the little Starbucks counter, to pay twice as much for bitter, exploited-worker grown coffee - ugh.

Finally, one of the best things about the little cafe is that it’s not so little. It’s located in a roomy basement room and there are tons of tables to sit quietly at and eat and study. Cafes like this give one hope.