Morningside’s meal plan pricing has upset some students who do not think they are getting their money’s worth.
Kylie Kneifl, a nursing student at Morningside, said, “It irritates me that I pay $9.00 for supper and only eat a cold sandwich.”
Morningside College offers four different meal plans each ringing in at $1860. The first, offers 140 meals in the dining hall per semester, and $175 worth of flex points that can be used in Bucks or in the Spoonholder. The second, offers 120 meals in the dining hall per semester and $250 in flex points. The third, offers 19 meals in the dining hall each week and $25 in flex points. The last, offers 14 meals in the dining hall per week and $75 in flex points.
Shiran Nathaniel, general manager of Sodexo, gave insight into the factors that make up the meal plan. Students have to understand Sodexo only receives a portion of the money students’ pay for each meal plan. Sodexo comes up with a number factoring in participation, food costs, employee pay, etc. then gives that number to the business office where they factor in maintenance and other costs. Finally, a definite number is decided for the meal plans.
The dining hall provides buffet style dining. Although not everyone takes advantage of the many food and dessert options, the dining hall provides a variety to best satisfy everyone’s needs.
Sodexo puts in “monotonous breakers” like Valentines, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, Mardi gras, and cuisine from around the world to change up the everyday food options. Sodexo also manages the individual menu items in order to offer different options from day to day.
Nathaniel said, “It’s like eating at your favorite restaurant three times a day, eventually you are going to get bored with it.”
Students want to pay for each meal individually. However according to Nathaniel, that is not an option. He said, “We would never be able to cover costs if students pay for each meal.”
Sodexo would be unable to prepare food and staff without knowing how many students would eat in the dining hall on any given day.
Nancy Seeman, a junior at Morningside, said, “Students, myself included, think they are only paying for the meal. We forget about all the other items that factor into the costs.”
Waste has also become a serious issue. In the past, Sodexo did tray-less days or weeks to prevent waste. Two years ago 260 pounds of waste resulted with the use of trays, and 120 pounds of waste without the use of trays.
Less waste could help control costs and even allow Sodexo to put more money back into the program.
Student Heath Center Director Carol Garvey, R.N., B.A., said, “In many ways I think there are too MANY options. The buffet that is offered every meal is very different than what your family meals looked like at home before you came to college. Dessert options offered at every meal seem way over the top as well as all of the sugary drinks. Personally, I would love to see Morningside move to a school garden and raise (on campus) a large percentage of the food served in the cafe. Maybe work-study jobs to tend the gardens.”
Vonda Hilliard, a Sodexo employee, agrees with Garvey, “I think the students have too many options, and they do not take advantage of the sack-lunches.”
Carol also had an interesting outlook on the pricing she said, “I like to describe the pricing, in my opinion only here, like insurance money is pooled to balance for all. Do I think some students will eat more than the average and some less than the average~ yes. But in order for the food service to pay their workers as well as buy the food to serve 1000 or so students on a daily basis, this is probably the best option to assure enough food for all. Shipping of food is a large expense, so back to my campus food garden, fresher and no shipping fees.”