USC needs effective meal programs


Take out food paper bags and boxes with an outline of a grocery basket around it. Tan background. Outline of food on the bags.
(Kristine Nguyen | Daily Trojan)

“I had another protein bar for dinner.” I often send my mother this text, accompanied by a litany of complaints about dining hall food. By no means am I espousing this less than nutritious eating style, but it serves to highlight my resounding dislike for USC food. Admittedly, I have a very limited palette because of dietary restrictions, so I understand that I’m pickier than the average college student.

The basic level meal plan, the Cardinal Plan, costs $3,315 and includes 19 meal swipes per week. I’m often left with upward of 12 meal swipes by the end of the week. Based on conversations with my peers, they too often find themselves in the same boat. Unfortunately, all these unused meal swipes are deemed negligible by the end of the semester. While I try my best to use them for my friends without a meal plan who are struggling with food insecurity, I still end up with leftover swipes and feel like I’ve wasted my money. 

It’s important to note that a tenet of USC’s mission aims to promote “selected forms of public service.” Under the current meal plan, USC simply collects students’ money and does nothing with the remaining swipes, thereby situating the school as a money-hungry institution. To uphold its mission statement, USC should instead seriously consider adopting a new meal plan system.

After freshman year, it’s common for upperclassmen to opt for off-campus housing. With this comes the newfound responsibility of grocery shopping and cooking. It is understandably difficult for many college-aged students to contend with rent, tuition, groceries and all the supplementary costs of living in Los Angeles. USC can help mitigate this financial burden by revamping their meal plan so swipes roll over until one’s senior year. 

USC should also alter its meal plan because dining options on and around campus are often too expensive for students to afford. For example, I sometimes splurge on a simple SunLife oatmeal and small Dulce coffee in USC Village, but this breakfast usually turns into a $20 endeavor — hardly sustainable for the average college student. The meal options on campus are similarly overpriced. For example, for the better part of the year, I bought a small overpriced Annenberg coffee each morning. At $6.07 for a small iced coffee that takes me a few sips to finish, Annenberg’s prices exceed that of Alfreds or Kreation, quintessentially posh L.A. coffee shops. 

As of late, I recently discovered that Literatea accepts meal plan swipes for coffee orders. And while I’m overjoyed that I no longer have to dedicate all my money to overpriced Annenberg coffees, it’s ridiculous that I’m ostensibly paying the meal plan equivalent of $10 for a small drink. While C&G Juice Co. also has a meal swipe option for coffee and acai bowls, all dining options on campus should have more flexible options for students to choose how they want to spend their meal swipes or dining dollars. Whether it is with meal bundles or special combos, the University must ensuring that students are able to get enough food per meal swipe.

USC’s current meal program is riddled with flaws. Students already pay a whopping $85,648 in tuition costs. They shouldn’t be expected to shell out even more money to simply get a daily, nutritious meal. Therefore, to better cater to the students’ financial needs, USC must completely amend its meal plan and price options.