<p>Isn’t this kind of unfair … people who’re fasting can’t use any of their day meals until sundown. And then when they try to break fast, the dining halls are closed. Do they get a refund?</p>
<p>Dining halls don’t close until 8, after sundown. That, and there are plenty of other late night dining options on-grounds. So, no, there is no refund</p>
<p>Yeah but that’s 1 meal for every day … 7 meals a day, whereas first years this semesters are required to take out at least a Plus-13. Plus really, you have to wait till sundown at 7:00 or 7:30 or something and that’s kind of pushing it cuz you only have a narrow window in which to eat.</p>
<p>You should discuss this with someone from dining. I mean, there’s a kosher “kitchen” for a reason (why would they have put that in if people had not complained about compulsory dining plans - same kind of issue, not being able to eat the meals they prepare). They could have late nights at at least one dining hall…</p>
<p>Runk operates late night until 10: [Welcome</a> to CampusDish at University of Virginia!](<a href=“http://www.campusdish.com/en-US/CSMA/Virginia/Locations/RunkHallDiningRoom.htm]Welcome”>http://www.campusdish.com/en-US/CSMA/Virginia/Locations/RunkHallDiningRoom.htm)</p>
<p>As for breakfast: buy some milk and cereal or something from a C3, eat before sun-up. And sunset, currently, is 7:20pm. If you’re in the Ohill doors by 8, you can eat. There’s plenty of time to get there.
No offense, but your religion is an option and this University has 13K students, it cannot cater to all individuals’ needs. Lots of students have un-used meals at the end of the week and semester, just be lucky it’s only one week of missed meals.</p>
<p>Well it’s an entire month. </p>
<p>What I’m saying is there has to be an option to opt out of the dining plan during fasting month since first-year students are <em>forced</em> to have one. </p>
<p>Also, if you <em>buy</em> from a C3, you’re using your own money, you’re not using any meals. So assuming you get to the dining halls on time in that precise window (never mind if you have something that overlaps that one-hour window), you only use 1 meal a day, max.</p>
<p>The University has a lot of fasting students – I think this just shows the unreasonableness of the compulsory nature of FY dining plans.</p>
<p>You can use Plus Dollars at C3, that’s part of the dining plan. And if you’re complaining about having to use your own money for meals, that’s exactly what you would be doing if you didn’t have a dining plan.</p>
<p>The purpose of the mandatory dining plan is the whole first-year experience and get you into a dining hall to socialize. And I’m sure it’s a small minority of people who are fasting out of the first year population, much less of all the students that have a dining plan. There’s ways to work around this, be flexible.</p>
<p>Sorry if this sounds mean, I’m really not trying to – but I haven’t seen a post lately from the king of the dining-whiners – was galosien busted for an illegal rice cooker?</p>
<p>Again, wish there was a “Like” button</p>
<p>Not to be insensitive, but there is absolutely no reason you should be able to opt out. You have more than enough options to eat food provided by the dining plan (Meals or Plus dollars). Just because you’re fasting and don’t want to drag your ass to the dining hall within the hour before it closes, or go to Runk for late night doesn’t mean you should get a refund. </p>
<p>Also, 1 meal a day is common. I frequently just have Starbucks for breakfast, work through lunch, and just have a big dinner - I’m certain I’m not alone. If you’re worried about wasting meals, go to O’Hill for dinner, and grab a late night box at runk. </p>
<p>You are making the conscious choice to observe ramadan, like shoe said, the university cannot cater to every single need of a small minority of the population.</p>
<p>I don’t really observe Ramadan (except for Eid, lol), but ARAMARK seems intent on imposing its paradigm of eating on everyone else.</p>
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<p>People also make the conscious choice to be vegetarian or be mindless organic food nuts, and I’m sure they are in the minority.</p>
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<p>There’s this nifty concept called “cooking”. People can cook fantastic meals for under $10/week, unlike the 125 dollars/wk a FY dining plan would cost you. You can bake an entire egg custard pie for under $1 and feed 4 people with it. </p>
<p>I don’t get this thing about plus dollars. Plus dollars are a ripoff. And you certainly can’t feed yourself with them.</p>
<p>The thing is, fasting people have to spend additional money to cook at night simply because there isn’t any real food past 8 pm. And I’m sure nonfasting people who are night owls also have this problem – they’d like to cook their own meals but they’ve already spent a lot on a useless dining plan.</p>
<p>1) The University requires the plan. Not ARAMARK
2) Vegetarians are a significant number, but, ALL OF THEM complain that there aren’t a ton of options on-grounds for them. So, ARAMARK doesn’t cater to them either. And there’s is a life-long, every day deal. You have to deal with it for a month. Big deal. So you lose, MAXIMUM, 6 meals a week. You could easily use all of them though
3) You cannot cook for 4 for under a dollar. Nice try. I’ve been cooking for myself for two years now and it’s not possible. You average $3-5 per meal, easily, per person.
4) You can feed yourself with plus dollars. I, and many others, did/do. Most people run out of plus dollars first in fact
5) Use a C3. Go to Runk late night, get a to-go box. I’m a BIG night owl and I found ways to keep myself satisfied all the time. Plus, most people don’t eat a huge meal at 2am.</p>
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<p>a bit of flour, a bit of milk, a few eggs, a stick of margarine … ding, delicious custard pie. </p>
<p>There’s also the good ole “chop up scraps, leftovers and random vegetables and throw them in a slow cooker with some spices and tomatoes” strategy. It’s delicious when it comes out. That costs more than 1 dollar, but then again you make multiple meals when you’re done.</p>
<p>And how healthy is that? And I guarantee you that all of that does not cost a dollar. If you expect to get by in life just eating that and eating “leftovers”, you’re going to make a rough transition to the cook-for-yourself-world.</p>
<p>I have a friend at Harvard that does split pea soup pretty cheaply and other things with dried beans and lentils, but that is very dependent upon having a kitchen/slow cooker readily available…</p>
<p>Shoe, there’s also curried fruit with jasmine rice (all cheap if you buy in bulk), kinda like Indian achar; whole roast chicken that lasts you 2 days; rice, chicken soup and cilantro…</p>
<p>If you buy in bulk you can really drive costs down.</p>
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<p>Well, </p>
<p>I used about 11 fl. oz milk –> $0.19
4 eggs ==> approx $0.30
4 cups of flour => approx $0.25
a stick of margarine => approx $0.18
a cup of sugar => approx. $0.20
a dash of vanilla and pandan ==> approx. $0.01</p>
<p>total: $1.13</p>
<p>Okay, now that I’ve actually worked it out, it’s kinda a little over, but it doesn’t really detract from my point.</p>
<p>4 eggs would be a dollar alone. Butter would be almost a buck. You’ll need bakingware. You’ll need a kitchen. You’re looking at $4-5 to make all of this. Not to mention thousands later in life to unclog your heart.</p>
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<p>Where do you buy your expensive eggs? Whole Foods or something? I buy my eggs in large packs and they don’t generally expire for a month or two. Milk can be frozen. </p>
<p>You don’t need butter. Margarine is a good substitute, and adding few dashes of cinnamon/nutmeg, or heck even chicken broth can make up for the lost flavor. </p>
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<p>Yay for living in a dorm!</p>
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<p>I once made a late-night feast for my friends / study group for under $8 worth of ingredients. Fried chicken, spicy sauce, coconut milk rice, etc. Moist oatmeal cookies. They loved it but they couldn’t finish all of it in one sitting, so we saved it and finished it the next day. </p>
<p>And it’s remarkably laborless: plunge the bird ($4 on offer) in spicy brine, store in fridge and wait several days (the brine’s pH and saltiness arrest decomposition); when you have friends over in a few hours, just take it out, dredge in flour, herbs/spices and chili powder (a 5 minute job) and toss in oven for 60-75 min on 375F. </p>
<p>While the bird cooks, sautee one onion (~ 30 cents), toss in some garlic (ginger optional) and curry it up. Open up a large Kroger can of cocktail fruit ($1.30-1.50) and empty into frying pan. Add frying vegetables and carrots if you want. Let it caramelize a bit; add some chicken broth (which is easy as adding broth powder – very cheap if you buy in bulk – and water). After some browning, remove from heat – stir in flour, tamarind (about ten cents’ worth), vinegar chili paste (also really cheap). Stick in oven (uncovered) with the bird for 30 minutes. Serve cold or hot. </p>
<p>There, now your bird has some dipping sauce. A lot of dipping sauce. With a can of fruit you could generate a whole litre’s worth. A litre of sauce that in fact, goes well with rice or pasta.</p>
<p>Coconut milk rice works like this: pour Jasmine rice into rice cooker. Pour water. Pour in a can of coconut milk. (Selling for $1.19 at 1417 Emmet) Flick the switch on. Ding.</p>
<p>Baking oatmeal cookies has one of the lowest marginal costs ever. I don’t think I need to go into detail.</p>
<p>Yeah, you’re right, being a fourth year and being off-ground three years, what do I know about groceries or cooking</p>
<p>Enjoy battling dining services for a refund, and good luck surviving college on your diet plan.</p>
<p>Also, enjoy food poisoning when eating two-month old eggs.</p>
<p>Um, when I buy them they generally have a sell-by date of 2 months in advance.</p>
<p>And you can always tell when they’re beginning to go bad by the consistency of the yolks, etc. And generally I use the eggs within a month.</p>
<p>But really, I don’t know where you get your expensive groceries. How do 4 eggs cost a dollar? Where do you shop? Do you shop organic?</p>