USG passes dining hall take-out container program

USC students are currently not allowed to carry food out from residential dining halls. However, a new resolution passed by the Undergraduate Student Government aims to change that.

USG voted 11-0 in favor of implementing a dining hall take-out container program at the USG Senate meeting on Tuesday night. Now that the USG Senate has passed the resolution, it must be reviewed by administrative officials before it can be implemented.

Senators Isabella Smith, Debbie Lee and Katie Bolton drafted the bill. According to Smith, this resolution is long overdue.

“This idea has been brought up pretty much every year, and nobody has really followed through with it,” Smith said. “We just wanted to make something concrete so that the administration would have to respond back to this. We know that this is a feasible program because other schools have done it.”

Many other top-25 schools, including UCLA, Stanford and UC Berkeley, have take-out options in their dining halls, according to their respective websites.

During the presentation of the resolution, the senators acknowledged that the cost of the take-out container program is still undetermined, but described it as “minimal.” Several senators also discussed whether the cost of the take-out containers would be dependent on a per-use basis or a flat rate. Though no clear answer was determined, the senators said that these questions would be addressed by the administrative officials who review it.

Lee noted the importance of the implementation of a take-out container program, especially to students who have limited access to the dining halls on campus.

“A lot of freshmen have requested this, especially because the dining halls close at 10 p.m. and most college kids stay up long past 10 p.m.,” Lee said. “Because of this, freshmen often don’t have access to food.”

Smith also discussed other motivations behind this resolution, such as the appeal to upperclassmen and emphasis on sustainability.

“If you’re on the apartment [meal] plan, you only get 40 swipes, or however many it is per semester, so it would be nice for [upperclassmen] to be able to take that food out,” Smith said. “This is also a sustainability initiative, because USC has an insane amount of food waste. An audit last year by the environmental board of one day at Everybody’s Kitchen found that people produced over 300 pounds of food waste.”

According to Smith, a previous hurdle involved in passing the resolution resolution was liability for the University if a student eats food after an extended period of time and becomes ill. However, she is confident that this will not be an issue.

“All dorms are equipped with refrigerators and microwaves so students have the option to take care of their food,” Smith said.

Lee had a more direct justification for the new resolution.

“It’s a need,” Lee said. “People have been demanding it.”