Earlier this month, the Columbia College Student Council presented a proposal to Columbia Dining Services requesting that students be allowed to use the meals that come with their dining plans at Ferris Booth Commons. Given proper adjustments, Dining Services should implement CCSC's idea and make Ferris Booth a meal-swipe option.
Three dining plans are available to Columbia University students: a first-year plan, a plan for upperclassmen and graduate students, and a kosher or halal plan. Meal plans consist of a combination of all-you-can-eat John Jay meals and a debit account of Dining Dollars. Dining Dollars can be used at nearly every campus eating facility while meals are reserved solely for John Jay Dining Hall. Ferris Booth offers favorites such as made-to-order pasta, grilled burgers, and pre-made gourmet salads and sandwiches. The mandatory first-year meal plan is designed to encourage students to eat together at John Jay and build community. However, some upperclassmen are discouraged from renewing their meal plans because of the lack of dining options and the quality of food, among other reasons. CCSC’s proposed revision would provide students with more convenient, diverse, and enjoyable eating choices.
Expanding meal swipes to Ferris Booth would offer students a greater range of time in which they can purchase meals—something especially helpful to those whose classes or extracurricular activities do not correspond to John Jay’s hours. Ferris Booth meals would let students with meal plans eat an earlier breakfast as well as smaller meals throughout the day, allowing them to have healthier and more diverse diets. In addition, the expansion would provide the undergraduates who live near to Lerner Hall a closer dining location where they can use their meals. Finally, the new plan would decrease the cost per meal to about $5-$6 for breakfast, $7-$8 for lunch, and $10-$11 for dinner. When putting these changes into effect, Dining Services should also ensure that the current quality and diversity of food served at Ferris Booth do not decline. Expecting popular reception of these changes, Dining Services could consider using the empty space on the fourth floor, where Tasti-D-Lite used to be located, as potential room for expansion.
Dining Services currently offers various incentives to entice upperclassmen and graduate students to sign up for meal plans. By increasing the number of locations that accept meal swipes, Dining Services can act on students’ complaints about the quality and uniformity of meals served at John Jay. Expanding meals to Ferris Booth would provide more flexible, diverse, and inexpensive dining options for all students with dining plans.
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