It is no secret that the on-campus college experience is one that comes with a high price. Sure, for an in-state resident attending a state school the cost is more affordable, but there’s still a list of fees longer than the naughty and nice list. That being said, food is one of the most costly out of them all, especially for a freshman. Oswego State, like some schools, requires that all first-year students must have the full meal plan. This gives the students an unlimited amount of swipes and meals in any of the on-campus dining halls as well as $80 laker dining dollars. All in all, the full meal plan costs $2,575 per semester, which is $5,150 for the full year. If students are effectively paying for this food ahead of time, then it only makes sense that they should be able to take it out of the dining hall. However, despite having unlimited meal plans, students are limited to one cup or drink and one snack. If Oswego truly valued their students’ money, they would not stop kids from taking their for food with them, and perhaps even develop a to-go food system.
College life is among the busiest. Between classes, homework, clubs, sports, and work, students find themselves hectically prioritizing to cram the most into their days which are not nearly long enough. Of course, students, like everyone else, have to make time to eat. Although it would be nice to live in a utopian world where everyone had the time to sit down and eat all of their meals, the fact of the matter is, we do not. That being said, if students at Oswego want to eat a full meal they have to stay in the dining hall to do so. This is inconvenient for students with busy schedules that do not allow for a leisure lunch. As a result, students will skip eating, grab a bag of chips as a meal, or try and sneak out five cups stuffed with food. If students are required to pay good money for subpar dining food, shouldn’t they at least be able to take it outside the dining hall? Additionally, the dining hall is only open certain hours throughout the day. Subsequently, it would be nice for students to be able to take food with them from the dining hall that they can eat later when dining is not open.
A reasonable solution to this would be for the school to provide a to-go container that fit a full meal inside of it and allow students to take out one with them upon each visit if they wish. By doing this, students would be getting the most out of their money and would help kids cut back on ordering food off-campus.
One of the motivations for ordering greasy delivery food that has numerous consequences for our health is convenience. If the school made it more convenient for students to eat the dining hall food off campus, they would be providing a deserved and paid for service to the students of SUNY Oswego.
Photo: Taylor Woods | The Oswegonian
