Improving late meals

In most of America, a bowl of salad and a cup of tea is considered one meal. But if the pricing in Frist is any indication, it must be two.

Although the Frist salad bowls are deep and the mixed greens are hearty, they do not usually stave off the hunger of one person for more than one meal. To order a salad, you must be prepared to fork over $4.75 to $5.35 if you add any animal or tofu protein to the vegetable mixture. One late meal for lunch, however, provides only $3.75 in credit. One late dinner fully covers the cost of a protein-less salad, but nothing else. Entrees from Food for Thought and the Grill are similarly priced. Sushi can cost nearly twice as much. In fact, aside from eating $1.15 yogurts, students have only Villa Pizza to turn to when they wish to only swipe for one meal.

Princeton's late meal program has grown significantly since its inception in 1993. But recently, it has failed to accommodate the rising cost of food prices in Frist. Students should not be penalized for missing a meal in the dining hall because of an 80 minute lecture in the E-Quad, sports practice or an intense bout of studying. Currently, most students must double-swipe to order a basic entrée and drink at Frist. If, however, they skipped lecture and ate at a residential dining hall, they would have only used one meal.

Students pay approximately $4,000 a year for their meal plans, substantially more than they would spend on food in a year if they did not have a meal plan. There are, of course, many costs involved with running a dining system as complex as ours. But for that amount of money students should be able to get a full and healthy meal at Frist without sacrificing another meal later in the week. Ideally, one late meal at Frist should cover all entrée forms, whether it be salad, sandwich, pasta or pizza. At minimum though, late meal values should be increased to accurately reflect price increases.

Although there are sure to be administrative problems with a change like this, issues regarding late meals still need to be addressed, sooner rather than later. The cost of fixing the system is well worth it when measured in terms of the potential benefits to students.