Idea Napkin No. 1

I'm Artemis Magliveras and was born in Greece. As a student majoring in Chemistry I was always interested in learning about food chemistry. I got more aware of how important having a healthy lifestyle is when I went through a period in my life where I wasn't as healthy as I wanted to be. I would exercise more than usual and, thus, lost a lot of weight. I didn't understand how important it was to keep a balanced diet with a balanced exercise. That deteriorated my health in some way. From that day on I was more aware of my limits and the food I was eating. This means I started to eat more, even if I didn't feel like eating, because I knew my body needed more energy than I thought it did. My father would also cook Asian and Indian food, which made me more interested in other cuisines. My aspiration is to raise awareness on how to eat more healthy and how important exercise is for one's health. So far, I have good communication skills and have gotten more involved with food, through cooking and winning an award for a recipe database I came up with some friends.

Since last year, I've been concerned about the food that is served on-campus and believe that students' choices are very limited. I think that my business idea of creating a new restaurant on-campus would make a lot of people happier. It will improve their college experience by offering them a more diverse menu, including meat, vegetarian and vegan options. Each day there will be one different cook from a different restaurant in Gainesville, cooking for UF students. The menu will be accessible on-line, as well as the option of ordering one extra plate for half price to-go. Students that get their meal will also get coupons with discounts from different supermarkets in Gainesville. This will encourage them to buy groceries and cook for themselves, too. In all, my service will provide students with healthier options at lower cost. This is the reason why students will pay for my service.

The cooks will be cooking for students during lunch and dinner, so that if students miss lunch and get there later, they can still get dinner. The restaurant will serve people of diverse backgrounds, especially vegans and vegetarians. All students need food that will boost their energy instead of depriving them of it. And healthy food does exactly that. As an international student, I always missed my homemade food so I really like the idea of multicultural food.

Although the service that I provide can be copied by anybody, the combination of my service and the environment is what makes my product unique. Young people in Gainesville have created a healthy lifestyle spirit by exercising a lot and cooking at home. This means that the community is very much aware of what means to be healthy. The campus, however, does not provide them with the appropriate supply to meet the demand of the students.

My goal is to get service from cooks in Gainesville, while at the same time sponsor their own businesses and, thus, create a collaborative relationship between us. This way both UF and other food services in Gainesville will benefit. My business idea would work upon UF's approval and funding.