Students living on campus are now paying 5 percent more for Chartwells meal plans.
The price for each of the six plans varies, but the increase caused the most expensive plan to go up by about $90 per semester. The increase comes from Chartwells trying to keep up with inflation. The price of every item in the Union food court went up as much as 10 cents. Coffee went up 9 cents. The price for chips, soda and bottled water will stay the same.
Some students feel the prices were already too high. Katie Watson, a junior in statistics, said she makes it a habit not to buy from Chartwells.
New students were unprepared for the food prices in the Union’s food court.
Kristin Parry, a freshman in chemistry, said she was lucky to have lunch on the first day of school because she barely had money to buy lunch from the Union food court.
Erin Klinetop, a freshman in health promotion and education, said she wanted to move into the Residence Halls but couldn’t afford the meal plans required. She plans on bringing a lunch from home each day.
Food prices go up every year, but this year, the increases were as small as possible to help with the economic crunch, said Reggie Conerly, residential district manager of Chartwells.
“We strive to offer value to students, staff and faculty by keeping prices very reasonable,” Conerly said.
Some students, however, think the company could do more to help them out in tough financial times. Klinetop said Chartwells should do more promotions like its drink punch card, which allows students to get a free drink for every 10 they purchase. She thinks it would motivate students to buy more from Chartwells.