Nobody wants to accept responsibility for having helped create the dining behemoth. Not the kids who want endless meal stations, snacks and espresso at midnight, and elaborate pizza ovens (when we were all in college, pizza was made in a conventional oven and we all survived.) Not the parents, who sniff with disdain when eating in a traditional cafeteria line while visiting colleges, knowing that their friends and neighbors are sending their kids off to colleges with mesclun on the salad bar at every meal and a full assortment of gluten free/GMO free/organic produce. Certainly not the university-industrial complex, which views creation of hotel quality amenities as sometimes more important than the educational offerings (see the transition at High Point College as Exhibit A. A mediocre college which has transformed itself by offering gourmet ice cream.)
Yes, it costs money to offer belgian waffles 24/7. Do you really think that the cost basis of these fancy dining options remotely resembles what it costs you to feed little Susie and Johnny at home? Do you have paid kitchen staff working 5 am-midnight so that every yearning for sushi or gourmet coffee can be met immediately?
Didn’t think so. The labor intensity of food service is extraordinary. Colleges are paying for someone to chop, saute, serve, clean up, certify that the vegan food is vegan and that there is no cross-contamination from the quinoa to the orzo and vice versa. Not to mention the dieticians and nutritional counselors on staff to make sure that the anorexics and the athletes are all getting enough protein.
It is naive to compare the cost of feeding a kid at college to what it costs you at home. Presumably you aren’t paying a staff to get the meal on the table, weekly extermination, daily sanitation, etc.
Do you sleep at at Westin and then complain that it’s cheaper for you to change the sheets at home than to pay $200 a night for someone else to do it?
Apples and oranges.
I am highly sympathetic to the plight of low income kids who can’t get enough to eat on campus, but the onus begins with us- the people who drove university dining to the point it is today. When I went to college in the 1970’s dinner ended at 6:30 pm. If you had a late class or athletic practice, there was a section of the dining hall where you could pick up a premade plate until about 8 pm. What college could survive today with that system???
And if you wanted coffee at 11 pm you stuck an immersion heater in a mug, poured in some Nescafe, and called it a day.