While everything was not better in the old days, as a senior reflecting on my time at the University of Maine, I can definitively say that this university and its students have been damaged by the introduction of privatized dining services.
In my second year, Sodexo took over UMaine dining. What was once run as a non-profit service by the University was taken over by a large corporation. We soon saw the results of a corporate takeover on campus. First was the Costa Coffee vending machines. While convenient, they don’t replace the quality of coffee made by real people. Then, the virtual dining concepts or “ghost kitchens” were added, which are only accessible by ordering online. Fast forward to today, we have Sal’s pizza, Starbucks and eatNOW. Students have been hurt by the introduction of for-profit corporate dining.
As Sodexo has come in, I have only seen prices rise. Meal plans that cost $2,730 in my first year are now $3,245. Anyone that has been to the Bear’s Den recently would know how prices have soared. Chicken sandwiches that were once about $4 are now around $6 and stir fry is up to $7.99. It is a coincidence that under corporate dining, food prices have risen faster than the national inflation rate. As a student who lives on campus without a meal plan, I have been priced out of eating on campus.
Wells Central is back open for the 2024-25 school year. However, it has been reimagined into a pub and pizza shop. In my freshman year, Wells was a residential dining hall just like Hilltop and York. I understand that in the past two years, we have had a low number of residential students, but we have returned to max residence hall capacity. However, we have not returned to max residential dining capacity. With Wells no longer catering to residential students, Hilltop has been overflowing with students. Going to Hilltop after 7 p.m. means there will be no food left, and no clean tables. Hilltop is not made to accommodate the number of students eating there. When we had comparable residence hall capacity we had three residential dining halls.
Besides the loss of affordable and accessible dining, these corporations are currently in the national spotlight for their poor labor relations. Starbucks has been seen disciplining and firing workers for engaging in union activity. Students would much rather give money back to their university than give it to Starbucks. One entity will use that money to union bust and another uses the money to invest back into UMaine.
While Amazon’s eatNOW does not have a high amount of employees as an automated convenience store, Amazon still profits at the end of the day from its technology on our campus. Amazon is known for disciplining workers for unionizing, spending money on hiring union busters and for general poor working conditions, particularly in distribution centers. Our money should not be going to large, union busting corporations. I remember a time when the money we gave to dining services stayed at UMaine.
Nonetheless, I cannot say that these changes are all bad. We have more late-night food accessibility than we’ve ever had, and Wells is no longer a vacant building. This has all come at a cost. Now, stir fry is $8 and all that profit goes to union busting corporations who couldn’t care less about our students.