Do you get your money’s worth?
Everyday hundreds of Morningside students file into the “café” to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. However, are these students truly eating their money’s worth? Breakfast costs $4.50, lunch charges $7.55, and dinner rings in at $9.00. Most of these prices are more expensive than walking across the street and eating at Dairy Queen or Subway.
Although the dining hall provides buffet style eating, not everyone takes advantage of the many food and dessert options. The question remaining: should every student be charged the same amount regardless of how much they eat? Lexi Busch, a sophomore at Morningside, said, “I think it is unfair to pay the same amount when I religiously eat a cold turkey sandwich, and the football player next to me has three heaping plates of food.” Although it is the student’s choice whether or not to take advantage of the buffet, not everyone can eat his or her money’s worth in one setting.
Furthermore, Morningside requires you to live on campus for at least your freshman and sophomore year. First year students normally live in a dorm, with inconvenient or no access to microwaves and ovens, requiring students to purchase a meal plan. Even second year students living in an apartment are denied stove access and hot plates, also motivating them to buy a meal plan. Katie Weis, a sophomore at Morningside, said, “ I don’t think it’s fair that I pay extra to live in an apartment on campus, yet eating at the café or microwaving every meal are my only options.” Moreover, the college requires the purchase of a meal plan. However, do students realize how expensive these plans actually are?
In the 2009-2010 school year each meal plan cost $1,640.00 per semester. Currently, for the 2012-2013 school year each meal plan cost $1860.00 per semester. While the increase is only $220.00 over four years, most students are not eating any more than they did in previous years. Also, according to the trends from year to year, the meal plans will gradually become more expensive. Obviously with inflation prices they are doomed to rise, but the dining hall could make changes to make the meal plans more affordable.
Students should consider how much they eat and what they believe it is worth. Is there a way the dining hall could charge only for what you eat? If students paid for exactly what they eat, students would become more conservative. Which would then cut back on food wastes for the dining hall. Charging exactly what each student would eat could also prevent the “freshman fifteen” because they wouldn’t eat from buffet style dining for every meal.
College is already expensive enough for students, and anything that will cut that cost can be helpful. Morningside’s meal plan should be revised and take into account how much food a student actually consumes.