Students want to get rid of the mandatory meal plan because it costs $11 for a slice of pizza and $5.82 for a granola bar
Emilie Hardie, a second-year student at McGill University, bought a pre-packaged salad and an orange juice for lunch on Monday at one of the school’s dining halls.
Tax free, it cost her $21.75.
She said, “It’s not fair to make students pay this much for every meal.”
Students say that the food prices at McGill are too high. For example, a slice of pizza costs $11, a single granola bar costs $5.82, and a 170-gram pack of raspberries costs $15.
Hardie said that when she was a freshman, she couldn’t afford to eat three meals a day on campus because food was so expensive.
She said, “I would skip meals, and I ended up with a kind of eating disorder, so I had to see a doctor.”
She said that many of her peers skip or cut down on meals, mostly because they have to buy a pricey meal plan that forces them to buy food on campus or waste the money. This plan is required for all undergraduate students living in the university’s residences that don’t have kitchens.
Hardie said that the base amount of the meal plan only pays for one to one and a-half meals per day. If students want more food, they have to empty their wallets to put money on their cards.
She is now a part of Let’s Eat McGill, a group of students who are fighting for more equal access to food, subsidized meals from the university, and an end to the mandatory meal plan.
“Options on campus shouldn’t be made for a certain group of people with more money.All students should be able to get them and pay for them “she told me.
Compared to supermarkets, there is a 200% markup
The McGill meal plan costs $6,200 for the eight-month academic year, which includes administrative fees. Of that amount, $4,725 can be used to buy food. When food is bought on campus, money is taken from the account, just like with a debit card.
The university’s website for food and dining services says that this base amount is “not meant to cover the cost of all your meals for the academic year.”
“You will probably need to add or add to your food dollars at some point, depending on how much you spend and what kinds of food you like,” the site says.
Lola Milder, a first-year student at McGill and one of the people who started Let’s Eat McGill, said that students shouldn’t even spend the base amount of their meal plan on food each school year.
“On campus, it seems like a given that the dining halls cost too much. “It’s almost like a joke, “she told me.
The university says that rising cafeteria prices are due to inflation, but she says that direct comparisons with local grocery stores show that prices are very different.
“When we compared McGill’s prices to Provigo and other supermarkets… we found a 200 percent markup or more,” she said.
“That’s a lot of money.”
Milder said that students go to restaurants outside of campus to find cheaper options.
McGill will change to an “all-you-can-eat” meal plan
McGill’s student housing and hospitality services (SHHS) said in a statement on Tuesday that it is “aware of the financial difficulties that many students face,” but prices must cover all costs, including the rising cost of food due to inflation.
However, it said that after a thorough review and in response to student feedback, the SHHS will switch from the current mandatory declining balance meal plan to an all-you-can-eat (AYCTE) meal plan in residential dining halls starting in the fall of 2023.
“With the AYCTE meal plan, students will be able to choose from a wide range of healthy and local foods based on their nutritional needs and personal preferences, instead of choosing meals based on price,” the statement says.
Still, Milder has her doubts, saying that this isn’t necessarily the answer to all problems.
She said, “I think it depends on price and how that is controlled.” “For instance, can students take their food with them or do they have to eat it in the dining hall? How much does this plan cost?”
She said that other well-known universities, like Concordia and the University of British Columbia, have helped pay for rising costs.
“McGill can choose to step in and subsidize student housing and hospitality services to protect students from this inflation,” she said, adding that she doesn’t agree with the university’s solution.
Hardie, for her part, wants McGill to work with students so that they can have some control over the food systems at the university, such as prices and food choices.
She said that this could be done by giving money to student-run cafes or grocery stores, which Concordia does.
She said, “We haven’t seen anything from McGill, the administration, or the board of governors to help pay for these costs.”
Let’s Eat McGill held a meeting Tuesday night on campus to talk to students about food insecurity and try to get them involved in the campaign.