Courtney Muenchow | Staff Writer

I’m sure we all remember the complaints of last semester’s meals brought to us by Sodexo. Choruses of “pasta again?” and wandering through the cafeteria in search of something that looked good were an everyday event. The complaints recently, however, have changed. Does anyone miss pasta yet? These days, it’s not even worth asking what’s for lunch or dinner because the usual response is a dry retort of, “I bet they’ll have hummus.”

Despite these complaints, most of the student body eats in the cafeteria on a fairly regular basis. The reason that we all continue to eat there could be that the complaints are nothing more than privileged moaning. However, I think a more likely reason is that we were all forced to pay for a meal plan, whether it’s 10 meals, 14 meals, or the unlimited meal plan. In a country built on the freedom to choose, we at Buena Vista University have no choice in our meal plan participation. We have no choice but to eat at what has become the monopoly of BVU’s meals: Sodexo.

The requirement of a meal plan is both a violation of choice and a financial hassle. I’m sure we can all attest to the fact that tuition is expensive enough without paying for meals that we may not even want. Even the smallest program of 10 meals per week is over $1,800 tacked on to all the expenses we already pay. For some, that amount, or even the amount for larger meal plans, is well worth the money, but for others, it’s just too much. Imagine what a student could do with $1,800 extra in their pocket. Of course, they’d have to pay for their own meals, but with a smart budget and a few cooking skills, that money could be put to very good use.

Some students already shell out the cash for their own meals rather than go to the school’s cafeteria. With their own shopping list, they can buy and eat what they want rather than settling for pizza and fries for the third day in a row. For picky eaters, the meal plan just doesn’t make sense. It’s impossible for a place as small as BVU’s dining area to cater to every student’s palate.

Picky eaters aren’t the only ones suffering. Those with diet restrictions have a very hard time finding balanced meals that they can eat. Vegetarians and vegans are sometimes limited only to the hummus and salad bars. The two options certainly provide a few options for these students, but how much hummus can someone eat before they get sick of it?

Then, there are students with food allergies of all kinds. Some days, their meals may consist of very few items for fear that the main dish has something they cannot eat. Pizza or a cheeseburger are always a safe bet. That is, unless you happen to be lactose intolerant (there’s cheese) or have a grain allergy.

That being said, it should be mentioned that there is a way to opt-out of the meal plan program for those who do have a severe allergy or have chosen a diet that Sodexo can’t support. The process to this, though, is very difficult and requires a lot of work and convincing. The webpage describing the meal plan options does not even list the process to take in order to get out of a meal plan. A student has to email the right people and list their valid reasons of why they cannot have a meal plan. Note that if it is simply a choice of not wanting one, the claim will be denied and the student is forced to remain on the food plan, whether or not they actually use it.

There have been stories of success, but only in extreme cases where either a doctor has agreed that the student cannot eat the food here, or where the student has fought long and hard and has somehow managed to convince those in charge that they can survive better buying their own food.

I’m sure that BVU has the best intentions for its students through this meal plan, but it’s been shown time and time again that good intentions do not always lead to good consequences. Perhaps it’s time that the university takes a second look at its requirements for meal plans. Students simply do not want to waste their money on meals they don’t want or can’t eat.

In all fairness, Sodexo does its best in attempts to make everyone happy. They added a hummus bar when more vegetarian options were requested, and they did listen to the complaints of having pasta every other night, taking the pasta bar away and offering different options instead. It’s not entirely fair to label the place as all bad because it is attempting to satisfy the students of BVU. Don’t blame Sodexo, blame the monopoly that is the required meal plan.