While catching up on my twitter feeds, I noticed a rather interesting article from rayfilwong’s blog, Campusfork: UC Berkeley students protest Panda Express. Apparently a group of 40 students last week protested after Panda Express expressed interest in setting up a restaurant on campus, though given the take from SFGate and the Daily Californian, there was no one unifying reason why there was so much hubbub over this. Varying reasons such as it being a chain and thus less likely to be willing to negotiate for healthier/vegetarian food options, to the amusing comment that “people can already eat cheap, indigestible Americanized Chinese food on campus,” were brought up. The issue of authenticity is something I find rather curious and a moot point, but that’s a topic for another post.
The lack of a unifying protest that would be a rallying point against Panda Express (which by the way is run by a Chinese American family down in LA) weakens the argument against a Panda Express at Berkeley, and the reputation that Berkeley protests everything simply for the sake of protesting doesn’t help either. Panda Express was already willing to provide healthier alternatives for the Cal campus, and they are leasing a space that apparently is notorious for being impossible to rent out, so honestly it seems like a win-win situation for everyone involved.
And I’m a little partial to the orange chicken, even though it used to be a lot better when I was in college when they actually put in the dried orange peel in the chicken. But I digress.
(Flickr photo credit: illinoisoases)
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11 Comments to “UC Berkeley Students Protest Panda Express”
Yan wrote:
I’m in China right now and I’m actually REALLY craving American-Chinese food. General Tsao’s chicken on some fried rice sounds amazing right now.
Posted on 09-Mar-09 at 9:21 am | Permalink
Efren wrote:
haha, yeah, I get my moments too. orange chicken on fried rice will take care of that for a good 2-3 months.
Posted on 09-Mar-09 at 9:24 am | Permalink
Kim wrote:
Panda Express—great cultural cross-over fast food! One both of us can agree on… Wife won’t generally eat at Mickey-D’s- even in China…I will, I will!
Posted on 09-Mar-09 at 9:40 am | Permalink
Rayfil @ Campusfork wrote:
Efren,
Can’t agree with you more. I too am partial to orange chicken. But the positive just as job creation and tax dollars are positive notes.
As a UC Berkeley grad, I believe that the orange chicken truly taste better than most of the dish by the mom and pops.
I have seen restaurants come and go at UC Berkeley.
In this climate, the focus is on creating jobs and vacating the spot.
keep writing!
Posted on 09-Mar-09 at 2:07 pm | Permalink
daniel wrote:
the “WTF” tag is correct
Posted on 09-Mar-09 at 2:58 pm | Permalink
Moye wrote:
I am team orange chicken for life. I know it’s not authentic Chinese food but it’s still better than McDonald’s or Subway.
I can’t wait until they try to protest against PinkBerry!
Posted on 09-Mar-09 at 3:20 pm | Permalink
Efren wrote:
Yeah, I think that’s why the “anti-chain” argument doesn’t make a lot of sense, since there are many progressively run chains which jibe well with Berkeley and SF, and we all remember the Red Mango fiasco with Yul Kwon.
And like I’ve said before, I think boycotts are too simplistic of a tactic to get your point across since financially it’s just used to generate more publicity and increases sales. It’s funny how a bunch of well written, snail mailed letters (NOT emails since those are likely to get thrown out) speaks a lot louder than random protests that aren’t cohesive and make people feel good while doing absolutely nothing to change a perceived injustice.
Posted on 09-Mar-09 at 3:30 pm | Permalink
Jessica wrote:
Lame. They have good food!
Posted on 09-Mar-09 at 9:48 pm | Permalink
Tom wrote:
Coverage seemed to be a bit slanted by the Berkeley reputation, but there have been a credible groups of students at Cal for almost 20 years who have consistently opposed franchises on campus. Aside from the bookstore, there never has been one. Past attempts to let in chains would have meant the pushing out of the local vendor owned and operated eateries that occupy the basement now–one of which has been there for more than 20 years. It might seem innocuous, but it really is about the character of the campus and the way the student owned operations have managed to go a different route when all others never even had the chance to choose.
That said, I’m going for some orange chicken right now.
Posted on 10-Mar-09 at 9:14 pm | Permalink
Yelena wrote:
I signed the petition against it just because I really don’t like Panda Express, I got sick every time I ate it. And I disagree that the spot has been hard to rent out, a restaurant owner in lower sproul said the university is trying to drive her out by doubling her rent in order to make room for Panda Express. There is plenty of cheap healthy food in lower sproul and I really don’t want that to be displaced!
Posted on 08-May-09 at 1:26 pm | Permalink
westcoaststyle wrote:
Panda Express is your typical Chinese chain restaurant to cater to the American palette. If you think there's anything authentic about the food…. I'm sorry.
Posted on 08-Aug-09 at 11:05 am | Permalink
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