Swipe left on having swipes left

Aramark caters to prisons, so it’s fitting that they have a captive consumer base here at Harding. Mandatory minimum meal plans and a non-compete agreement provide Aramark with a monopoly over the food service market on Harding’s campus. But if students were given a choice, would they choose Aramark?
According to Harding’s filed Form 990, in fiscal year 2017, after compensating Aramark’s dining and catering services, Harding retained over $2.5 million of the revenue from food service that, after being used to fund cafeteria maintenance and compensate custodial services, became discretionary funds for the University. In addition, Harding earned over $12 million in revenue from dorms and apartments. Taking that into account, it’s hard to believe the administration isn’t at least partially motivated to maintain the strict off-campus policy and minimum meal plans for on-campus students to pad Harding’s yearly revenue and cover unrelated costs.
That said, the administration requires resident students to purchase expensive meal plans, while Aramark, Harding’s food service provider, is under little pressure to deliver high quality food service in the cafeteria. The company can increase its profit margins by serving cheaper food, opening for fewer hours, and minimally staffing the facility. In fact, the less that students eat in the cafeteria, the less food Aramark has to purchase and prepare, which reduces their operating costs, potentially increasing their profit margins. Harding doesn’t require Aramark to report the number of purchased swipes that are actually used each semester, so there’s little accountability that students are actually making use of the swipes they purchase.
That brings us to “Graze.” While on the surface, Graze brought some minor improvements to the cafeteria, the timing of the rebranding suggests its true purpose is to divert students’ attention from the reintroduction of weekly swipe plans and the new policy of tracking and limiting guest swipes. Both changes are a clear indication that Aramark never intended for students to use all the swipes they purchase. Additionally, students have fewer meal plan options this year, the cafeteria closes half an hour earlier at 7:30 p.m. and most lines are now self-service.
For decades, members of the Student Association and opinion writers in The Bison have called for Aramark to refund the cost of unused swipes as DCB or allow swipes to be used at Searcy restaurants or in the student center. While these are partial remedies, they ignore the reasons students rarely use all of their swipes in the first place: excessive minimum meal plan purchases and a lack of quality food in the cafeteria.
The only way the quality of the cafeteria will meaningfully improve is by giving students the power to choose where they want to eat. If the administration is willing to do what’s in the student body’s best interest, they should remove minimum meal plan purchases, allowing students to decide whether they want to eat in the cafeteria or spend their money elsewhere, perhaps supporting local small businesses or cooking in their dorms. No longer guaranteed customers, Aramark would have to provide a service students deem worth the cost of a meal plan.
This year, Harding’s administraion has the opportunity to make meaningful, long-term positive change for students as they review their contract with Aramark. According to John Noah, director of the Harding business office, their timeframe for final decisions is in March or April of next year.
Perhaps with proper competition, Aramark would rise to the challenge of providing quality food service that students decide is worth the premium costs. Or, if most students still prefer to eat elsewhere, the cafeteria could be refitted to serve fewer students at substantially lower operating costs, removing the need to subsidize the operation with required minimum purchases. A smaller cafeteria could focus on doing a few things well, rather than providing as large a variety of low quality options.
For almost 50 years, Harding students have complained about required meal plans. This year, as Harding is revisiting its agreement with Aramark, it’s time for the administration to finally address the root of the problem, improve the cafeteria and save students money. End required meal plans.