You are what you have to eat
The sorry state of food services on campus
KERRI WOLOSZYN STAFF
It wasn’t until well into my university career that I found out that the food services on campus were controlled by a veritable monopoly known as Aramark. As with any monopoly, choices are limited and often substandard. I had been eating this food for three years and I did not realize it was being forced down my throat.
Of course, that is not actually the case. I could have brought food from home. I did have that luxury. What about all those students whose food options were more limited? What about all the residence students living on campus?
The current food services contract with Aramark will end soon and a new food services contract will begin in April of this year. As reported in the Manitoban, Aramark and food services competitor Sodexho conducted town hall-style meetings attempting to explain the current food service situation. The meetings also, seemingly, explored a renewed contract with Aramark as a viable option.
Many students have complained that the food on campus is too expensive and there is not enough choice. The lack of vegetarian- and vegan-friendly options has been a problem, as has Aramark’s love for Styrofoam and fervent insistence on over-packaging everything they sell. I really don’t need my six-inch veggie sub wrapped in paper and put in a large plastic bag, thanks.
Many residence students spend around $3,000 per year on meal memberships. Residents of University College receive a declining balance debit card to swipe whenever purchasing a meal at an Aramark location on campus. Speechly/Tache residents buy into a cafeteria-style meal plan at Pembina Hall. The meal programs are mandatory because cooking is not allowed in residence for, as the website says, “safety reasons.” These meal plans are also non-refundable, which means if you do not use all the money on the card you are not going to get it back. Of course, these students could go offcampus for food, but they should not have to.
But as it stands, Aramark has residence students in its pocket. There is little, if anything, a residence student can do aside from going hungry or paying extra for something else. Students are already paying for this food before they even see it.
For those lucky enough to have fridges and kitchens at their disposal while going to university, there are a number of things that can be done to show dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs. One is, of course, not to buy the food. Bring lunches or head up to Degrees for something a little different. Another is to make this dissatisfaction known to your friends. Like my third-year self, they may not even know about Aramark and the role it plays in what we are allowed to eat at U of M. These things do make a difference, however slight.
At the town hall meeting with Sodexho, the rival company to Aramark, there was a proposal not only to widen the variety of food on campus but also to make food services more green, healthy and organic. There was also promise of a new meal plan system that would carry balances through the entire year. These plans were somewhat similar to the plans outlined at the Aramark meeting. UMSU seems to be listening to the overall dissatisfaction, as do these large companies. It is now a waiting game until April to see what these promises will yield.
The world has its fair share of picky eaters. No food service company is going to make everyone happy. Perhaps the problem is that these large companies are trying to make money. Making cheap, unhealthy food that lots of students will eat is easy. Making a wide variety of healthy, affordable food that students want to eat is something else entirely. Would genuinely caring about the effects that this food has on both pocketbooks and bodies be asking for too much?
Kerri Woloszyn has a degree in film studies and is the Manitoban’s roving reporter.
