Despite the fact that Penn Dining Services has made great strides in trying to improve its options after a dramatic overhauling of its program in recent years, some of its choices pale in comparison to what other Ivy League schools offer their students.
While some at Penn complain about the meal prices, plans at Princeton and Yale universities and Dartmouth College are all offered at comparable costs. However, dining services at these schools attract student participants through alternative approaches -- as well as through stricter specifications for who must purchase a meal plan.
Though the number of Penn upperclassmen who have purchased meal plans has yet to be released, some students cite the high prices as a major deterrent for purchasing a plan.
"The cost is a lot for me to get a meal plan, so I'd rather go out and eat," Wharton sophomore Dawei Wang said.
Rhea Lewis, spokeswoman for Business Services, said that Penn Dining Services tries to make plans as affordable as possible.
"Prices are as low as they can be while maintaining quality and variety," Lewis said.
Dining Services Contract and Relationship Manager Laurie Cousart echoed Lewis' remarks, saying that Dining Services "certainly benchmark[s] against our peers," while noting that Penn's prices are in the "middle of the pack in terms of other Ivies."
Indeed, a meal plan similar to Penn's Flex 575- -- which costs $3,584 and offers students approximately 20 meals a week and 100 Dining Dollars -- costs $4,072 dollars at Princeton.
However, Director of Princeton Dining Services Stu Orefice said that the increased cost is due to something called "meal equivalency," whereby students can use the value of their dining hall meals to purchase breakfast, lunch or dinner at residential buildings throughout campus, including the Frist Campus Center, a food court similar to Houston Hall.
"A lot of students prefer the retail components compared to the all-you-can-eat" selection, Orefice said, explaining that up to six meal credits per day can be used at non-dining hall facilities. For example, breakfast is worth $3, so students are able to use the designated cash value of their meals to pay for food at non-dining hall facilities.
Princeton sophomore Marina Cervantes notes that although she doesn't like the dining hall food, she is happy about the meal equivalency.
"That's ... all I eat, I like it a lot," she said.
Penn, however, does not allow students to use their dining hall meals to purchase non-dining hall food.
Princeton also differs from Penn in that food preparation is directed by the school, not by an outside corporation like Aramark, which works with Penn to provide students' meals.
Yale University is also partners with Aramark, but, unlike Penn, did not experience much of a change after the corporation was hired to provide meals.
"The meal plans are the same as they were before Aramark came to Yale," said Jerry Schlauch, board accountant for Yale Dining Services.
He noted that one of the main contributions Aramark has made to the Yale campus is the introduction of organically grown produce and prepared meals.
"Every college once a week has some kind of organic meal," Schlauch said. "Hamburgers are all from cattle that are organically fed ... [and] the milk we're serving now is from cows fed with organic food."
Though organically grown produce is traditionally more expensive than its conventional counterpart, Schlauch said that the cost for a meal plan at Yale has not increased.
"There have been donations to Yale University from different sources to help fund the service," he said.
Yale freshman Jessica Poter said that she enjoys her meal plan, noting that the selection and quality of meals differs across campus.
"The food is good, it varies from dining hall to dining hall ... one of the cafeterias is better than the other one," Poter said, noting that she likes the fact that she can access each day's menu from the Yale Dining Services Web site, allowing her to choose where she wants to eat that night.
However, a typical freshman Yale meal plan is more expensive than a typical freshman Penn meal plan, and Yale requires all students living in residential housing to have a full meal plan.
Dartmouth also requires all on-campus residents to have a meal plan. Also like Yale, Dartmouth offers students a variety of fruits and vegetables from local merchants.
According to Associate Director of Dining Services David Newlove, Dartmouth "buy[s] a lot of locally grown produce and locally raised beef."
Dartmouth also has a kosher dining facility which, unlike Penn, does not make students pay a surcharge for using the service. Any Dartmouth meal plan holder is able to use the kosher dining facility.
Newlove said that Dartmouth's meal plan "is not a traditional dining plan," noting that for the second year in a row The Princeton Review has ranked Dartmouth College as having the sixth-best food on campus, just behind fellow Ivy Cornell University, which ranked fourth.
"We are there for the students," Newlove said, adding, "we break even at the end of each year -- we are not there to make a profit."
Penn continues to try to respond to students' requests in an effort to meet their needs. Dining Services frequently meets with the Undergraduate Assembly and College Houses to address students' concerns.
It also holds Dining Advisory Board meetings for all meal plan holders. The first DAB meeting is set to be scheduled within the next few weeks.
