Chartwells can do better

Students should not be settling for subpar food, lacklustre packaged products, and unfriendly staff members, especially when our dining services are a large part of the student experience and college culture. Just because Chartwells is the only convenient option for many students with meal plans does not mean they should be allowed to get away with limited and lower quality food options.

Our dining services have appeared to be declining in quality and as much as they claim to accept student feedback, where are these changes? They give us the avenue to voice opinions, but how much are they actually prioritizing these opinions?

There is no doubt that the food is really good at times, and often the more experienced staff members make this happen. They are friendly to students, have conversations, and usually know the menu and dishes fairly well.

Their knowledge of dishes is especially crucial for individuals with allergies and dietary restrictions. Students with allergies look to the staff to be able to provide them with the information they need on dishes being served as to not risk their own health, yet sometimes the staff are unable to provide accurate information, and in this context have put students in jeopardy of an allergic reaction. 

Allergies are not the only issue. Students have been complaining about the pricing of meals and products overall, and while they claim to have heard your concerns, they justified their prices by comparing them to local meals they thought were equivalent and lowered the prices on bottled beverages instead. 

When they compared a Subway sandwich to one from the cafeteria, the amount of food per dollar amount is not exactly equivalent, and depending on what you get, the food quality just does not compare to that of the surrounding restaurants.

When you work around students, it is crucial to add to the student experience, not take away from it. Some of the newer staff come off as unapproachable, unfriendly, and simply doing the bare minimum, but even then they seem undertrained. It speaks volumes when a student knows the pricing of their meal better than the cashier, and that needs to change.

There is a lack of consistency across the board with Chartwells, and it seems they keep introducing new things without really changing others. It feels as if Chartwells is biting off more than they can chew, and students are feeling the effects of it. 

Having such a dominant presence as the main food option on campus, they need to hold themselves to a standard they can meet without cutting the quality of their food and staff members.