CSUN Meal Plan

Jasmine Hunn

Professor Slobod

English 113B

6 Mar. 2012

What Good is a Meal Plan?

            Millions of students a year apply to colleges that are far beyond what their budgets can afford. They are forced to pay thousands of dollars, for occasionally useless items, one of which happens to be a meal plan. Meal plans are for college students living on campus. Students dine in a cafeteria setting, normally buffet style and swipe their cards to get in. They range from about 300 dollars if a person only wants to eat about one to two meals a week, to about six thousand dollars for students who want the maximum number of meals a week. Whatever the case, these meal plans serve tremendous problems for students, affecting them financially, and affecting their health. Although there are the negatives to the meal plan, there are also some positives. However, college campuses should not offer meal plans to any students; not only are they expensive but also they are waste of students money, and can effect students’ health.

            When students come to college they rarely think about what is being served in the cafeterias. They are elated to be away from home, and are trying to figure how they will spend their free time now that they do not have an authority figure watching them. At California State University Northridge, the cafeteria is well designed, to look like a restaurant. There are different areas that serve different food selections. There is a dessert side which caters to the students desire to chow down on sweets whenever they feel necessary. This side of the cafeteria also has machines where students can get coffee and other type of coffee varieties, which happens to be one of the more popular areas. They also have the area where many of the main food dishes are served, along with a salad bar for students that prefer healthy foods. There are also two other areas, the sandwich station, and the breakfast station. The cafeteria is the most common used facility for students living in dorms, but is the food really worth the price that is paid?

                 At most universities meal plans average around three thousand dollars or more, however, the students may not be eating what they are paying for. According to Bee Wilson a British food writer, “meal plans actually infantilize their rich clientele, or "customers", as the universities now refer to them.” Many meal plans offer a variety of food options claiming that all of the food is great tasting, but in reality many students are disgusted by what they are being served. For example, eating in the cafeteria one day, my friends and I came across a food item that was called beef lamb, it looked so bad that we decided take a picture of it to complain. “Once you are in the meal plan system you are offered all the culinary choice in the world -- gluten-free, egg-free, kosher, even "brown bag" meals "to go" when you are too busy to sit down, and late-night "brain break" meals to help you study -- everything except for good food,” writes Wilson. What Wilson just wrote is what my friends and I have been experiencing for our first semester of college. There have been times where the food has been well, yet the horrible tasting food by far outweighs the days where decent food as been served. For meal plans to be this expensive students should be able to have food that tastes decent, and will have everyone coming back for more. Meal plans are really expensive, yet students do not even eat the portions they pay for.

The portions that students receive in cafeterias does not equal or compare to the price range that students pay. “Meal plans create hideous waste of food, as well as money. On the one hand, there are the students who mooch into lunch, having just woken up, and eat a single bowl of Fruit Loops for their $10 lunch,” that is a unreasonable amount of money just for a bowl of cereal (Wilson). Colleges are now reducing portion sizes to help with the high demands of food, nonetheless, the prices of the actual meal plan remains the same, “As the cost of food has soared, many dining halls have focused more on reducing portions and less on eliminating popular dishes,” states J.J. Hermes author of article, “Soaring Food Prices Squeeze Dining Hall.” The method in which they use to reduce portions sizes is taking away trays and using plates where students well be limited to what items they put on their plates (Hermes). I don’t think that this method is fair because the students are the ones that are paying for the food, yet they are not being served the amount they should get for what they purchased. Universities should instead make a set price for foods and have students pay for what they are actually going to eat otherwise they are stealing money from the students. Not only is the meal plan pricey, but it can also cause nutritional problems because many students do not eat right.

            Many college students eat foods that can affect their health and most of the time the meal plan contributes to those problems. I stated before that students are being ripped off because they are not being charged for what they are eating. Food amount plays a big role in college students’ life. If students do not like what is being served then they are forced to only a little amount of food. I can relate to this from my own personal experience, sometimes I am left to only eat a bowl of cereal or maybe a plate of rice more than twice a week because what is being served does not look appetizing. The requirements for a healthy diet are “45 to 65% of calories from carbohydrate, 20 to 35% from fat, and 10 to 35% from protein,” according to doctor Lori A. Smolin and dietitian Mary B. Grosvenor authors of Nutrition: Science and Applications.  Additionally, a person is also suppose to have two to three servings from the milk, yogurt, and cheese group, and from the meat, poultry and fish group, three to five servings from the vegetable group, two to four servings from the fruit group and six to eleven servings from the bread, rice, and pasta group (Smolin, Grosvenor). Most college students do not get half of these dietary needs. For such a high price, the food that is being served should at least taste well, thus the students will want to eat more and will start get the proper nutrients that is needed for survival. Cafeterias do have food options that fit the daily nutritional needs, but since many students do not eat right its makes the meal plan worthless. And because students eat less or more then what is need they are not getting they right amount of food.

            Although meal plans are costly, they can sometimes be convenient, and really does help when students have absolutely nothing left. At times I have had literally only had bag of chips, and this is when the meal plan has been an essential item in my life. Meal plans are very convenient for students that do not have food in their dorms, or do not have transportation to go out and buy food for themselves. Another reason why having the meal plan is beneficial is because the actual cafeteria is a great place to meet new people. The design of the cafeteria makes it look like it is a real buffet style restaurant with different areas for different foods. It has a lounge type of area that even has a TV where students can eat and mingle with others. Lastly, the meal plan is great to have when studying forces students to stay up late and students gets hungry. Though having a meal plan creates many new friends, and is convenient for students, the negatives definitely out weigh the positives.

            Meal plans on college campuses are worthless, and therefore campuses should not offer them to their students. Meal plans are very expensive, and many students are paying for this out of pocket, thinking that the benefits may be great. Yes, having the meal plan can sometimes be good, but lets think about what it really does. Being on the meal plan makes students have to eat cafeteria food if they do not want to buy their own. This food is mostly bland and dull foods that most of the students do not like. This leads to students ultimately eating less affecting their health, which can have horrible affects. Additionally, students have to pay for small portions of food for an expensive price. In order to help these problems, universities should have set prices that way students are paying for an adequate amount of food. They should also try and better the food by using ideas from the students or other members who work in the cafeteria.