Central Connecticut State University's food provider Sodexo forces a harsh monopoly and financial burden on students who choose to live on campus with a mandatory purchase of a meal plan at a cost of $2,343 per semester ($4,686 for 6 months of food for one person), at an average of $25.18 a day spent on food.

    The United States Department Of Agriculture tiers its most liberal spending plan for men and women between the ages of 19 and 50 at roughly $76 a week or $10.85 a day, and it’s most frugal spending tier at $40 a week, averaging to only $5.70 a day.

   More alarming is the recent exclusion of nutritional and health-sustainable options for athletic, health conscious, vegetarian and plant based diets. CCSU still is condensed to only one dining hall with two functioning cafeteria areas.

   This spring semester the made-to-order grill has eliminated all vegetarian options such as grilled cheese, with the exception of a non-vegan veggie burger, and instead only offers hamburgers, meat, and chicken that many students have voiced complaints toward. To the side, students and faculty are offered french fries.

   The prepared sandwich stations are typically condensed to kitchen meats, with vegetarian options coming up only during peak lunch hours during weekdays. There has never been a vegan sandwich option.

   A typical weekend has only one food hall open, and the main entrees are typically pasta with chicken, pizza, and the hamburger and chicken only grill. The only vegetarian options are a salad bar, cereal, French fries and typically sweet potatoes.

   Memorial hall has also been unreliable in offering lactose free milk options. While there is a soy milk station, it is often empty upon the opening of the food hall in the morning.  There aren’t any vegan cereals offered.

   This also affects those who are not living with any dietary restrictions, as the food offered at memorial would not be considered especially nutritious, with breakfasts comprised of waffles, pancakes, processed eggs, and mediocre buffet options of sausages and bacon.

   While there is a vegan section, it is typically only comprised of food items such a pita chips, hummus, and if lucky, some thrown together vegetable stir fry or steamed broccoli.  While there is a vegan sausage available, it would not appeal to the health conscious individual.

  While we understand the $25.18 cost per day takes into consideration labor, utilities, and preparation, it is not a price justifiable to those of us whose options are reduced to salad bars and french fries.

   The average person can eat an exceptionally wealthy diet if their individual grocery bill was $175 a week.  Instead, we (both those eating plant based diets and those who are not) are reduced to eating meals almost unconditionally comprised of processed foods.

   For those of us pursuing athletics, it is near impossible to reach the dietary and nutritional intake required to perform at optimum condition with the food choices supplied in Memorial Hall. For those eating a plant-based diet, the aspirations of living both a competitive athletic life is not obtainable when fueled solely by salad, cereal, and the occasional fruit and steamed vegetables. For those without diet restrictions, there are not enough healthy options that we would be purchasing and preparing in more nutritious and health conscious ways.

This expensive mandation of a food plan also eliminates the potential of buying additional groceries, as a huge allocation of expenses has already been spent with this forced plan.

   Other college campuses such as the University of Connecticut are able to accommodate restricted dietary needs with an abundance of options at a price of $2,888 a semester. While this number still far exceeds the DOA’s recommended food budget, it is at least inclusive of plant-based diets.

       If the plant based community makes up such an insignificant faction of the CCSU on campus community that the waste has exceeded the output at such a point that there are no longer nutritional or available foods required to sustain caloric intake, then we ask that those living on campus, especially those with lives considered plant based, vegetarian or restricted in some dietary sense, including athletic, no longer be required to purchase this expensive food plan.

Ideally by signing this petition you are fighting for the freedom to make a choice in whether CCSU students should be forced into spending thousands of dollars on food that is not calorically sustainable for dietary restriction nor nutritional. 

   The money we are spending far overreaches the options offered, and it is an unproductive use of our financial resources that we could otherwise allocate to healthier and more frugal alternatives.