Over the course of the last few months, we have heard many complaints from many different students about the quality of food in the Agora Dining Hall. Students with under 60 credit hours are forced to be on a meal plan. The food is often near inedible, being hours old, cold, and dried out from sitting in their trays for too long. There are also many students with dietary restrictions and preferences that have little to no options most days and have to go hungry. 

The food, while lacking in quality, is also lacking in nutrients. A majority of the food laid out consists of mostly carbs while vegetable are lacking. If you want a hot, good tasting meal the best option is to get a burger or something else from the grill station, all of which are not healthy to eat on an everyday basis but many students do because of the lack of other good tasting options.

We believe that it is absolutely immoral that students who live on residence with under 60 credit hours are required to pay over $2000 per semester for food that is not meeting many peoples health requirements. This works out to be approximately $30 a day.

Because of this we have compiled a list of demands that we believe the University of Northern British Columbia and Dana Hospitality must meet for the health and safety of students

• Lower the cost of the meal plan
• Create meals that meet the necessary nutrient guidelines as laid out by the World Health Organization and the Canadian Food Guide
• Increase fruit and vegetable supply
• Provide variety in menu items so that students are not forced to eat the same thing everyday
• Make food that matches the online menu
• Cook and serve new fresh food every 15 minutes
• Allow students to be exempted from the meal plan no matter their number of credits

We believe that if these demands are met then the overall mental and physical health of students living on campus will improve tremendously. It is unrealistic to expect students to achieve good grades and a balanced social life if a key pillar of their health is not being met.