The Labor of Food: Inside campus dining at the University of Mississippi and Mississippi State University

The State of Campus Dining: For 2019, the Southern Foodways Alliance (SFA), an institute of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, has explored the labor of food through symposia, films, podcasts, and other media. The SFA collaborated with AL.com, the Montgomery Advertiser, the Clarion Ledger and Mississippi Today to produce interlocked stories. Together, they shine light on the economics and labor practices of campus dining at Auburn University, the University of Alabama, Mississippi State University, and the University of Mississippi — the largest public universities in Alabama and Mississippi.

by Aallyah Wright for Mississippi Today and Luke Ramseth for Mississippi Clarion Ledger | October 16, 2019

At $2,000 a semester for a meal plan, Mississippi State University students pay twice what they did about a decade ago for food. Ole Miss dining prices have similarly skyrocketed, up $500 in five years.

Narika Glasper, a recent Ole Miss graduate, recalled the sticker shock. Her scholarships covered housing and tuition, but not food. The price of an “unlimited” meal plan was out of the question, so she settled for a cheaper one that covered 50 meals a semester. Then she learned her unused meal “swipes” didn’t roll over.

“I was mad because that’s money that was wasted,” said Glasper, 22. “I had to pay upfront for that and I didn’t use it, so that’s money that just went to (Ole Miss food contractor, Aramark).”

Glasper isn’t alone in her frustration. Rising meal plan prices at Ole Miss and Mississippi State mirror hikes at colleges around the country and contribute to the increasing cost of a college education. A big reason for the higher costs? Students are paying for more than just food.

Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America Students at Mississippi State University dine in the campus’ Fresh Food Company dining facility Tuesday, October 9, 2019.

MSU and Ole Miss deliver increasing student meal plan revenue to their dining contractor Aramark. Some students are required to pay for meal plans. In return, the schools receive millions of dollars in commissions and bonuses, which they often use to upgrade or build new facilities and add new dining options, according to dining contracts obtained by the Clarion Ledger and Mississippi Today.

“Food service on college campuses is one of the biggest revenue streams for colleges,” said Marissa Meyers, a practitioner and researcher with the Hope Center, an organization focused on college costs.

Food usually makes up the “board” part of room and board costs at colleges. Nationwide, college students now pay on average more than $4,600 a year for board costs, with Mississippi at about $3,800 for public universities, according to U.S. Department of Education data.

This means students are paying substantially more per meal than they would to cook and eat on their own, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics and the The Hechinger Report. In 2017, the education-focused news outlet reported that colleges and universities nationwide charged on average $18.75 a day for a three-meal dining contract. Eating at home ran less than $11.

How do dining contracts work?

Tom Mac Dermott, a dining consultant for colleges, said schools often lost money on their in-house food operations, so they gradually turned to one of three multinational corporations – Aramark, Sodexo and Compass Group – to run their dining halls, restaurants and catering.

Mississippi State’s operation was losing money when officials decided to switch to Aramark in 2007, said Regina Hyatt, vice president of student affairs, adding administrators also hoped to offer more quality food options. Ole Miss, too, was looking to move from its cafeteria-style, assembly-line dining when it hired Aramark in 1996.

Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America Students walk out of Perry Cafeteria at Mississippi State Tuesday, October 9, 2019.

But contractors eventually ran out of “ways to distinguish themselves on the service side” when competing for university contracts, Mac Dermott said. So they began offering more cash to universities in the form of commissions and bonuses.

“Once colleges and universities understood that money was available, they latched onto it.” — Tom Mac Dermott, a dining consultant for colleges

For example, Aramark paid MSU a $5 million bonus for signing a 10-year contract, and later doled out as much as $675,000 a year for unrestricted use, according to its contract. These perks came alongside at least an annual 12% commission for MSU. The university agreed to deliver a set number of meal plans to Aramark in any given year, and if it didn’t reach the minimum, it would pay Aramark the difference.

Ole Miss, meanwhile, received a nearly $8 million bonus in 2014-2015 for food facility upgrades, including a “campus dining refresh.” In the past five years alone, Ole Miss received about $10 million in commissions and delivered Aramark a little more than $117 million worth of meal plan patrons, cash operations, and catering, according to a chart provided by the university.

Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America Student Sean Nelson eats lunch at the University of Mississippi’s Rebel Market, formerly Paul B. Johnson Commons, at the University of Mississippi Monday, October 7, 2019.

The cost of these bonuses and commissions are passed on to students, Mac Dermott said. Contractors have to make a profit and “there’s no other place to get it back,” other than charging students higher prices.

Even though buying a meal plan “is much, much more expensive” than cooking at home, Meyers said there are no easy solutions for reducing meal plan costs under the current system. Dining contractors already buy as little food as possible by assuming students won’t use all their meal swipes in a given week, she said.

“The things that students ask for don’t cost money,” Mac Dermott said of meal options. “They’re looking for healthier food, they’re looking for changes in meal plans. It’s the university administration that feels it must have an upgraded dining hall as part of it’s competitive situation.”

Has it paid off with better campus food options?

The dining experience at both campuses transformed under Aramark as student meal prices increased.

Ole Miss added a bevy of branded restaurants and upscale dining hall options, including a “food-court environment” where managers can “interchange menu concepts very easily,” said Scott Schornhorst, Aramark food service director for the university.

It now has more than 20 dining locations with national brands, such as Starbucks and Chick-fil-A. There are vegan and vegetarian options, and stations for students with gluten sensitivities. The newly-renovated student union opened this spring.

MSU followed a similar trajectory. In 2007, a university vice president pledged the move to Aramark would “provide better quality and service throughout campus.”

Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America Moe’s Southwest Grill at Mississippi State Tuesday, October 9, 2019.

To achieve this goal, the school reopened a student union with chain restaurants. It renovated Perry Cafeteria, turning it into an “marketplace-style venue.” The university later announced a new $10 million Aramark-branded dining hall, featuring “exhibition cooking stations,” and “framed views of the stadium and the campus beyond.”

“Students are sophisticated in their expectations for their food options,” said Hyatt, the MSU student affairs official. “They expect to have choices, the kind of food that they’re going to have access to (at home).”

Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America Wraps are in place for students at Ole Miss’ The Rebel Market, formerly Paul B. Johnson Commons Monday, October 7, 2019.

Ten years ago, there were no allergen-free stations in the dining hall, she said, but “we’ve adjusted” to student demand. “Our students have a high expectation about what kind of food services are going to be available to them,” Hyatt added, “and that means there’s going to be a cost associated with it.”

At MSU, that cost has risen from $1,000 a semester for the 2007 school year, when Aramark took over, to $2,019 for the “Ultimate” plan today, in which all freshmen on-campus students are automatically enrolled. This far outpaces the cumulative rate of inflation for this period of less than 25 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Hyatt said the officials aren’t using the rising prices to “pad the pocket of the institution.” She said much of the commissions from Aramark are pumped back into a general scholarship fund and other funds that improve the campus.

Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America A student walks up the steps of the Ole Miss Student Union Monday, October 7, 2019.

At Ole Miss, on-campus freshman are also automatically enrolled in the $1,985 “Rebel Unlimited Plus 1” plan. The university has used money generated by its Aramark contract “to reinvest in the facilities and to fund day-to-day operations that are necessary for the university to handle its parts of the agreement,” said Kathy Tidwell, director of contractual services and licensing.

Other Aramark-managed universities report similar prices: The top plan at the University of Southern Mississippi costs $2,050. At the University of Alabama, the most expensive plan runs nearly $2,000, up by $600 since 2012.

Other contractors have followed a similar path to grow student food plan revenues. In 2013, SodexoMAGIC took over Jackson State University’s dining halls. Back then, the top meal plan ran students $1,447. By this school year, the same plan had increased to $1,979.

Some universities have in recent years begun charging nearly all students for meals – whether they need them or not. Ole Miss as of this year charges almost all undergraduates for $250 in “Flex Dollars” each semester.

And Alabama mandates undergraduates pay $350 for a similar “Dining Dollars” food plan. Prices for these mandatory plans are also rising: Alabama’s contract with Aramark stipulates the university must seek approval from state officials to hike its Dining Dollars price tag by $25 every few years.

With higher prices, how are campuses dealing with student hunger?

Rachel Sumekh is founder and CEO of Swipe Out Hunger, an organization addressing food insecurity on college campuses. The group works with 86 universities across the country, including Southern Miss, allowing students with extra meal swipes to donate them to hungry peers.

The college affordability crisis, Sumekh said, has mostly to do with the increasing cost of living expenses including costly meal plans – not tuition prices.

Financial aid, such as Pell Grants, don’t always stretch far enough to cover all of a student’s living expenses. So instead of taking out a loan, she said, students simply skip buying a pricey meal plan.

Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America Students eat lunch at Perry Cafeteria at Mississippi State Tuesday, October 9, 2019.

Universities, Sumekh said, should be better using grant and scholarship data to identify students that may be hungry – and providing resources so they can eat in the dining halls alongside their peers. Many universities have opened food pantries to help hungry students. But she said that’s not sufficient.

Universities and their contractors are becoming more aware of food insecurity, however, through groups like Swipe Out Hunger and others. MSU has a similar swipe donation program through Aramark, Hyatt said.

In addition, the campus operates Maroon Meals, where students are alerted on their phones when extra free food is available from events around campus. Officials also are working to open a food pantry, she said.

Tyshean Grant, a 2016 Ole Miss graduate, was one of the students who could not afford to pay for a full-priced meal plan her freshman year. So, she said she had to use Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to offset her costs.

“I see what they’re trying to do with creating a (better meal plan), like combo-type options,” Grant said. “But I also think the options should be affordable.”

Low pay, long hours for campus food employees

The shift to contractors has not generally improved conditions for on-campus food service employees, many of whom are also students. Mac Dermott said contractors generally hire food service employees at the lowest possible rate, with some fringe benefits. Most only receive about 40 weeks of pay in a year because of the shortened college calendar. He said unions have made few inroads.

Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America An employee of The Rebel Market, formerly Paul B. Johnson Commons, prepares pizza for students at the University of Mississippi Monday, October 7, 2019.

Universities can negotiate solid terms for their former employees under the new contractor. When Aramark took over at MSU in 2007, for example, employees received a 5 percent pay increase, kept certain benefits and were guaranteed employment for at least a year, according to its contract.

Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America Dorothy Turner crunches numbers at the cash register at the University of Mississippi’s The Rebel Market, formerly Paul B. Johnson Commons, at the University of Mississippi Monday, October 7, 2019.

But while several former Aramark employees praised the company’s benefit packages, they expressed concerns about the consistent layoffs, unpredictable work hours and intense workload.

Joshua Taylor, 37, worked as a cook for Ole Miss athletics for years before departing earlier this year. He said he worked at least nine hours a day for $17 an hour with benefits. But the job became too much of a burden, he said, once many of his coworkers were laid off.

“They scaled our entire operation in half and let go of half of my coworkers and I was left there…” Eventually, it was “ten people doing the job of about 30. I’m 37. I’m not interested in doing the work of three people.” — Joshua Taylor, former Ole Miss athletics cook

Brittiney Massey, 30, echoed Taylor’s sentiments. She said layoffs that occur during summer and winter breaks, impact employees negatively.

“Just because layoffs happen doesn’t mean (our) expenses were suspended for that time,” Massey said.

Massey, hired in 2012, worked her way to a supervisor position in the banquet department. During her tenure, she felt underpaid and that coworkers were overlooked for promotions. She left in 2017. “I was the banquet supervisor and I was getting paid $12 an hour, but my hours would go from 12 to 16 hours days,” she said.

Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America A student prepares to dine in Perry Cafeteria at Mississippi State University Tuesday, October 9, 2019.

Available positions are posted online and promotions are based on “merit and skill,” said Scornhorst, food service director at Ole Miss, and “anyone can apply.” He recognized winter and summer layoffs pose challenges and as a result, the company loses employees. But they are welcome to come back on the “predetermined day,” he added.

“It’s a pause in the system, not a hard shutoff,” he said. “We do run into issues with retention, when locations close up for two months at a time … folks need to make money in those off times.”

These stories ask questions about worker compensation and benefits, university revenue models, and the relationship between universities and the corporate food service provider Aramark. On October 25, during the Southern Foodways Symposium on the University of Mississippi campus, reporters from the project will discuss their findings.

Contact Luke Ramseth at [email protected] and Aallyah Wright at [email protected].