● Glendon Food Summit 2022 Stale Food Services Prevail on Campus

Glendon Food Summit 2022: Stale Food Services Prevail on Campus (cont.)

meal plan and taxable. The meal plan only works if a student buys a “meal.” How is a meal defined by the Canadian Revenue Agency? The CRA explains that a meal has certain restrictions; it is what would be “ordinarily eaten at breakfast, lunch, or dinner” and also that “the meal plan does not allow purchases of food and beverage items that are not part of a meal or of non-food items or vending machine items” (CRA, 2019). The administration explained that they have no control over what is considered a meal, versus a snack. The snacks become taxable, and do not come out of the meal plan budget. Therefore, unless a student is using their meal plan for the budgeted “no less than 10 meals weekly,” there would likely be money left over. When questioned about what a student should do if there is money left over, the administration shortly explained that they could file a case for a refund, a case that does not have a strong success rate in accordance with various student testimonials. As the discussion continued and many concerns were brought to light about the meal plan, the administration from York Food Services avoided answering most meal plan-directed inquiries. One of the main problems identified was the cost of food. It was explained by a Glendon staff member that these rising food costs pose a challenge to the student body, as there has been more dependency on the Glendon Food Bank this year, and students are unable to eat from the cafeteria due to these high costs. A majority of the students that answered the survey felt that food was much too expensive at the Glendon cafeteria, and 11% of the students stated that they had contracted food poisoning at the location, a number which should be much closer to zero. The price of the food does not match the quality received. Additionally, the food students are offered lacks diversity in leaps and bounds, which is odd, considering the diversity of the student population itself. Another issue brought up by students involved the ingredients of the food themselves; students felt there should be increased transparency regarding ingredients used, and that these should be of higher quality, thereby helping students to make healthy and informed choices. The survey concluded that most students stated they were dissatisfied with the food services at the Glendon campus. It seems odd that there are so many issues at Glendon, since our Keele counterparts have countless diverse options, and even kitchen areas within and outside of residences - moreso when taking into consideration the fact that these services are run by the same company and administration. It was brought up by administrative staff and student speakers that students choose to live at Keele rather than Glendon, due to the food services issues highlighted above. Compass Group, the new food provider that took over Aramark’s contract in July of 2022, has not changed or improved the situation on the Glendon campus in any regard. As a more reliable option on the Glendon campus for a quick snack or coffee break, Tim Hortons ranked highest as the most popular food station. It is also the only option on campus that is trustworthy in terms of cost, and will not break the student budget. However, at the time of the Food Summit, the Tim Hortons on-campus was not serving warm foods, including breakfast sandwiches. When this was brought up to a member of upper adminstration, they stated that the standard for the chain had changed and they could no longer serve this type of food. However, students explained to Pro Tem that when speaking to those working at Tim Hortons and asking why there were no typical breakfast foods on the menu, they were told that the on-campus coffee shop was waiting for stock. One must wonder where the truth lies, especially when later that very week, breakfast sandwiches were back on the menu. This type of answer does not come as a surprise for many attendees of the event, as certain administrative staff from Food Services seemed negligent in answering student questions directly, a critique made by various participants of the event. It comes as no surprise that this initiative was said to be “student-driven”, as the issues with food services on campus have long been a concern for Glendon students past and present. The average student is at Glendon on a four-year timeline, but changes are rarely seen in the food situation on campus, as has been noted by many who have come and gone. Therefore, as of right now and for the near future, students are left with minimal and expensive food options, high-cost meal plans and no kitchen access. Accessing good, healthy and adequately-priced food should be a basic right for students, and although higher-level administration was present at the event, it can be questioned how present they may really be in terms of improving the dire situation at the Glendon campus. The administration for York Food Services stated in their concluding remarks to students that the first item on their agenda is to “identify achievable goals,” but we must ask, have the students not been transparent enough? Have the many articles, complaints and letters not been sufficient? For students, the goal seems crystal clear, but when will real change come? When will students be able to comfortably eat on the campus they pay thousands of dollars to attend?

Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenueagency/services/forms-publications/ publications/20-5/school-cafeteriasuniversity-public-college-meal-plans-foodservice-providers.html#_Toc6389466