Bad food seems to be a staple of college life. The proliferation of photos of ramen noodles humorously posted on the Facebook pages of newly arrived freshmen may stand as testament. As we all know, Ratty food is no exception. Though Ratty food will never be close to gourmet, having been mass-produced for maximum consumption by students, it seems to me that students like to taunt the Ratty for more than just the quality of its food. As expressed in a recent Brown Daily Herald editorial ("Please sir, can I have some more?" Sept. 19, 2012), students are often fed up with the cost of the available meal plans. To better understand the situation and possible solutions, I sat down with Gretchen Willis, the director of Brown Dining Services.
While the editorial board has made many salient points, I believe they unfairly paint BDS as greedy or inconsiderate. What the editorial board has missed is that BDS makes no profit on the students' meal plan, and that the setup of their meal plans was intended to maximize utility for the entire student body. Part of the reason the meal plans are so expensive is because of the University's commitment to well-paid labor, quality local food and "greener" to-go containers, which I'm sure Brown students support.
But this does not address the fact that an individual meal credit is cheapest for those who purchase the highest plans. This is because the meal plans' price consists of two separate costs. The first is a baseline cost, which goes mostly toward labor. Everyone pays the same baseline regardless of which meal plan they are on. On top of that, everyone is charged a second cost that varies depending on their meal plan and goes towards the actual food.
In effect, the lowest meal plans are subsidizing the highest meal plans so that more underclassmen can afford the highest meal plan. Those who want to purchase the lowest meal plan may think this is unfair, but what we need to take into consideration is that lowering the costs of the lowest meal plans may cause the price of the highest meal plan to skyrocket. The costs from a cheaper lower meal plan must be made up somewhere. Notwithstanding, I do believe the editorial page board is right to insist that the meal plans be more equitable. Everyone should not be paying identical baseline costs. Even if that means the highest plans will be more expensive, it is simply fairer, as long as the increase is not dramatic. In fact, if the lowest meal plan was cheaper than it is now, it is possible that it would be more attractive to sophomores and juniors who have left the meal plan because of how expensive the plans are.
Compromise is feasible even given economic constraints. I encourage students to engage BDS in making these changes, and even more importantly I encourage BDS to engage more students in their decision-making process. If students show a true desire, BDS may even consider allowing students to use their meal credits off-campus at local restaurants. This is a business model that has already proven to be feasible, given MunchCard's success. It could lower the labor and food costs for BDS and encourage even more upperclassmen to remain on the meal plan.
There are other changes that can easily be made to the meal plan to make it more affordable for students. For example, many eateries require students to pay only in points rather than meal credits. This discourages students from eating there because their points may be more limited than their credits. As Willis explained, this plan is applied mostly in small areas that cannot handle huge crowds - the Blue Room, the libraries and Little Jo's. This is the logic behind the 4 p.m. timestamp for credits at the Blue Room. Specifically, this avoids the huge lunch rush. I believe that 4 p.m. is far too late. Instead, the University should have a small window of time when only points can be used - for instance, between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. - and allow credits all other times. Libraries and Little Jo's should have the same rules so that students can use meal credits if they so choose.
Again, students need to engage BDS to express their opinions, and at the same time BDS needs to respond to students' concerns. Compromise is possible - as long as both sides of the debate come to the table with a rich and balanced understanding of the situation, concerns and constraints at hand.
Alex Drechsler '15 is a sophomore who still loves his ramen noodles. He can be reached at alex_drechsler@brown.edu.
