Nutritious food is more expensive, but students are demanding a more affordable meal plan that includes healthier options.

AU TDR

About $14 for half a sandwich and a bag of chips– that is how much a meal swipe is worth at American University. Not only is the cost of a meal swipe disproportionate to the amount of food a student receives, but the lack of nutrition provided by a meal swipe is also not sufficient.

“The lack of food we get for a meal swipe is outrageous,” said Sydney Wishnow, a sophomore at the university said, “Not to mention the healthiest option on campus is Freshii and a few weeks ago students found bugs in their food.”

Aramark is the company responsible for the majority of dining options at American University. These dining options include the main dining hall, Terrace Dining Room, as well as a number of outside vendors run by Aramark employees, such as Pi & Fry, Elevation Burger, Global Fresh, Freshii, Starbucks, and the campus food supplies store (P.O.D). The other food options available are student-run coffee shops or small sandwich stands owned by local outside vendors. Among the dining options named, students, like Sydney Wishnow, feel the lack of nutritious food provided by the school is unacceptable.

American University’s contract with Aramark is coming to an end, as rumored around campus. Students are anxious about what the next dining corporation will dominate the school. With the possibility of American University terminating their contract for food services with Aramark, new food providers are being considered to be the dominant dining option for the University’s students. In a public release to the entire student body, American University wrote the following requirements that providers must achieve to become the school’s dining partner:

  • Provide high-quality food with fresh preparation methods and strong nutrition.
  • Offer a wide array of national, regional, and locally-owned dining options popular with the community.
  • Address a broad range of community preferences and needs. Including vegetarian, vegan, high-protein, low-fat, gluten-free, Kosher and Halal options.
  • Prioritize customer service, including expectations for freshness, hygiene, a welcoming environment, and hours of service that support the student lifestyle.

This release was published two weeks after student Alyssa Bailey shared a video, on Facebook, of a cockroach crawling through the bread stand in the Terrace Dining Room.

[Video courtesy of Alyssa Bailey]

After this video was released, other students posted their own experiences with AU dining services. Many of these posts included videos of bugs in food, or complaints about unhealthy, unsanitary dining options. Students are hesitant that the standards will be met accordingly since the school’s current food provider is not following those standards. A huge point of contention for the students is: “Why are we paying for insufficient food plans?”

Earlier in the year, the administration considered raising the cost of meal plans, but due to student backlash, the dining office withdrew their decision to increase meal plan prices. In the coming months, students are wondering how the next steps on the university’s dining will unfold. The question arises whether American will be able to provide more nutritional dining options while keeping meal plan prices remain the same. Ann Marie Powell, the head of dining services at American University, has no comment about potential vending options after the Aramark contract ends.

“AU Dining is committed to providing excellent, healthy services to our student customers,” said Amanda Schlink, American University dietitian. Schlink is confident that healthy, affordable dining options are important to the administration and will be considered in the coming months as the American University dining staff selects the next food provider for the school.

According to Powell, around 30 percent of American University’s students are on a meal plan in Spring 2019. Freshmen and first-semester sophomores living on campus are required to have a meal plan and make up a large percentage of students who have meal plans. Compared to other schools, 30 percent if relatively low when it comes to students enrolled in a meal plan.

“People who are made to get all these meal swipes are tied to the on-campus options that aren’t good and not nutritional enough,” said rising Junior Nicole Narvaez. “I think a part of a good diet is variety, and AU doesn’t offer that within the meal plan. We have Subway, Elevation [Burger], Pi & Fry, and everything but they’re all basically the same.”

Not only do students feel cheated out of healthy options on campus, but they also are not hopeful the dining service can improve. “ With TDR for example, the healthy stuff like vegetables look healthy but they’re all frozen and just reheated,” Narvaez added.

Healthy students [Image courtesy of e-konomista]

Healthy is a somewhat subjective term. Eating healthy is so dependent on personal body weight, height, gender, sleep schedule, etc. But, for the purposes of analyzing healthy options at American University, this graph compares the nutritional value in a meal deemed generally healthy by Harvard dietitians.

Marion Nestle, food journalist, and professor at New York University, frequently writes about the nutritional options, or lack thereof, of college campuses. Her main comment is, “food insecurity is one of the largest problems I see on campus regarding dining options.”

Food Insecurity is the ability to access quality, nutritious food that is affordable. This is not an American University specific problem, but rather a general issue throughout most universities. “Just provide more money for the dining service,” Nestle said, “Just a little more money can make all the difference in the food quality.

Nestle also recommends a healthy, balanced diet that should include a lot of variety. “It sounds cliche, but it’s true,” she said. Below are some charts comparing different vendors on campus. While it is difficult to definitively say all food on the American University campus is unhealthy, it is fair to say, given the choices and student habits, there isn’t much variety in dining options. Additionally, as Nestle mentioned, money always plays a role and food insecurity is a food epidemic that also affects American University.

When comparing a typical meal from each vendor on campus, the number of calories, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, sugar, and protein do not vary greatly. However, when compared to the recommended nutrient intake for each meal, the calorie count varies from a too-low 180 (Vegan Burger wrapped in lettuce from Elevation Burger) to a too-high 735 (Chicken tenders and curly fries from Pi & Fry). The recommended calorie count for a meal is about 550.

Another concerning factor from the meals provided by these on-campus vendors is the high levels of sodium they have. The recommended sodium intake for each meal is 750 milligrams, but only half of the options come below it. The rest exceed the recommended amount quite significantly with levels like 1930 milligrams from Subway’s Pastrami Melt and 1714 milligrams from Pi & Fry’s chicken tenders.

This chart depicts a healthier meal on the AU campus and a recommended meal by dietitians. In many of the categories, such as, “dietary fiber” and “protein” the on-campus option is lacking. These nutritional categories are important for overall general health. Across the board, this on-campus healthy option is inadequate in nutritional value by the standards of leading dietitians.

“It doesn’t really surprise me that the healthiest options on campus are not actually that healthy,” Niko Camacho, senior at American University said, “just because a lot of what is served is mass produced.”

Ideally, students should be eating the “healthiest” possible meal each time if they are on a meal plan, but this is typically not the case. Students opt for fast, convenient, and tasty food that usually end up being a substantial proportion of their everyday meals.

“Do you seriously think that students are going to get veggie burgers every day?” said student Yi Lin. “ We usually grab chicken tenders from Pi & Fry on the way to class.”

This visualization shows a typical meal a student has compared with a recommended meal by dieticians.

Pi & Fry’s chicken tenders prove to be the highest in calories out of all the meals included in the initial graph, depicting nutritional facts from typical food providers on campus. This option contains a little more than three times the amount of recommended fat and more than double the sodium.

Out of all the data collected about the on-campus meals, students are not receiving the nutritional intake that they need. Cost and convenience are factors that American University must consider when deciding what the vendors will serve, but students are demanding higher quality food with nutritional value for the price they are paying. The administration had very little response, though they keep insisting quality food at a quality price is the main concern for their student customers, the university attendees remain frustrated with the current dining options on campus.