Dear Bama Dining,

College students are notoriously known for their lack of and inability to wisely spend, that green stuff that makes the world go round, money. This often results in college students nationwide going without a well rounded meal for weeks at a time. At the University of Alabama, you attempted to fix this problem. However, your attempt at keeping students fed by forcing them to purchase a meal plan seems to benefit the school more than the student. Your solution has seemingly become the student’s problem.

Students are required to purchase a meal plan their freshmen year of college. Although they will not go hungry that first year, they have not learned how to independently feed themselves. The real problem has only been delayed. When college students leave home, they are leaving the “nest” that has kept them protected for so long. It is now their time to fly, but they have come to college to make sure they have what it takes to soar. College students need experiences like worrying about keeping enough money on them to pay for food to aid in their becoming independent. Not only does forcing students to purchase a meal plan keep them from testing the winds of independence, it also takes away some of their freedom. Students choose to come to college, and most of those students are legal adults. They should be able to choose if they want to buy food from the college or from somewhere else.

The meal plan offered at the University of Alabama is exceptionally expensive. Students are offered three different meal plans, with the cheapest one costing one thousand two hundred thirty-five dollars a semester. This meal plan gives students one hundred sixty meals a semester, or ten meals a week. This meal plan results in students paying seven dollars and seventy two cents per meal. Most students don’t even use their entire meal plan, and the meals that they do not use are not even carried over from year to year. Most college students could make or buy a meal much cheaper on their own, than on the schools meal plan. A simple homemade meal including a box of hamburger helper, some ground beef, and a can of green beans will cost around six dollars, and that will give a college student enough food to last him or her for at least four meals. If the student wants to go out to eat, he or she can get many different combinations of fast food for under six dollars that will include a main dish, side, and a drink. Go to any McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s, Taco Bell or any other restaurant of that type, and you will find healthy choices, along with unhealthy, for under six dollars. The school is hurting students financially by trying to “help them” through restricting their options.

There is an alternative to this problematic solution that will ensure all students have the opportunity to stay well fed and nourished, while getting the most out of the little bit of money they have. The University of Alabama should offer a low cost yet optional meal that is wholesome and inexpensive. There is no moral logic behind forcing students to purchase a dressed up meal at a dressed up price. The food will meet health standards in quality and content, but it will not be the five star restaurant quality type foods that are so unnecessarily costly. We need to focus on what college students needs, not their wants. If a college student wants a nice, fancy meal, there are plenty of surrounding restaurants where they can get one. If they want a practical and affordable meal, they should know that they can rely on their school to offer it.

This alternative is not unrealistic by any means. High school cafeterias have been doing it for years. For anywhere between one dollar and three dollars, high schools nationwide offer students a main dish, three sides, and a drink.

Students will not be required to purchase a meal plan to go along with the low cost meal. The student will pay for the meal each time he or she eats. In order to keep the flow of actual cash down, it will be paid for with money in an account that is given back to the student at the end of the school year. Students should have the freedom to spend their money where they want when it comes to food. However, the college should provide a place where they can get a decent meal at a decent price. Students should not be wasting money on unused meals from an overpriced meal plan. This alternative will collect no sort of profit. Any money that is gained should be put back in the program to pay for dining workers wages and food costs. This concept will be put in place to keep the price of the meal down.

Your focus as an administration founded on helping students, should be on doing what is best for the student, not on making as much money as you can off of them. The University of Alabama offering a low cost meal for students will result in students being able to financially afford to not go hungry and a chance for them to learn how to budget their money without relying on having everything provided for them.