Gracey Beckett – guest column.

I sincerely believe that I, as a Linfield student, am being done a great disservice by Sodexo dining services. I am consistently shocked by how seriously I am being, well, ripped off by Linfield dining.
Not to start a pity party here, but I am a student who is able to go to Linfield only because of the scholarships I earned. I know this is true for many other students, as I am just part of the 97 percent of Linfield students who received financial aid from the college this year. Speaking as one of the many “poor, starving college students,” I can say that I try to hold on to my pennies whenever I can.
I think that a significant amount of the student population is unhappy with the food served at Linfield and the price they are forced to pay for it. Many students aren’t aware that the cost of their meal plan includes pre-paying for 9 meals a week, and that each of these meals costs between $6.85 (for brunches) and $9.70. (The “special” dinners are $9.70. All other dinners are $8.90.) This means a minimum of $76 a week is spent at Dillin. OK, maybe that’s not too bad, but let’s think about what you’re getting out of that $76. I find it important to keep a couple of things in mind.
First: There are very few people who actually eat all 9 of their meals. Many cannot put the time aside every day of the week to go to seven dinners and two brunches. Even more common than that though, is that they simply cannot stomach Dillin food nine times a week, four weeks a month, 7.5 months a year—it’s just too gross.
This brings me to my second point: I don’t think I am alone in my opinion that the food served at Dillin is often seriously lacking in quality. With the exception of the brunches, I certainly wouldn’t say that I get my money’s worth for the caliber of food I’m receiving. Sure, occasionally there will be a tasty dinner. However, we’re all familiar with the “Wow, I’ve tried a bite of everything, it was all really gross, so I guess I’ll fall back on the dependably mediocre pizza AGAIN,” phenomenon. There have been times at an AYCE (all you can eat) meal where I have tried one of everything, found all of it unsatisfactory in some way or another, thrown away the food thus wasting it – and left Dillin, still hungry. Thinking about all the food I’ve wasted at Dillin, just because I didn’t want to finish something that I thought tasted disgusting, makes me really sad.
Of course, I feel guilty when I don’t show up for an AYCE dinner, as I know I’ve prepaid $8.90 for it. Every time I miss an AYCE meal, I’m essentially throwing away money. I was led to believe that if you miss one meal, and bring a guest to a meal the next day, it evened out. However, I read the fine print on the meal contract and found that this is untrue. You are actually charged $8.90 in food points for a guest, even if you haven’t used all your AYCE meals in a week. So, in essence, you can never make up a meal you’ve missed in order to get your money’s worth.
I know I’m not the only one upset with the food at Linfield. There are numerous facebook groups stating students’ unhappiness with the quality of food at Linfield. To name one: “We pay $35,000 a year and this is the best food you can come up with?” Indeed, Sodexo, is this the best you can serve us?
I really do think that there are several possible solutions to the problems with Dillin food.
1. We could switch to an all points system, meaning there would be no pre-paid, buffet style meals. I know that a lot of other colleges have systems like this. Sure, all of the food would still be overpriced, but at least we would enjoy what we were eating, and there would be more room for a smaller meal plan if necessary.
2. Sodexo could improve the quality of the buffet style food. I know—it’s a shocking proposal, isn’t it? I’m just getting really tired of rarely enjoying what I’m eating.
3. Sodexo could not only improve the quality of their food, but not force us to prepay for 9 meals a week. There could be a meal plan option for, say, 7 meals a week. If someone ate more than 7, the money would come out of their declining balance points.
I am attempting to speak for the Linfield students who believe they are not getting their money’s worth for the generally atrocious quality of food served at Dillin. I think it is high time we let Linfield know how unhappy we are. I, for one, get very upset when I pay for bad food.