We are demanding that Meredith College, in Raleigh, NC, end their contract with Aramark.  Aramark is a multi-billion dollar company based out of Philadelphia, PA that provides food services to universities, prisons, and other large institutions. They are also a main supplier of CoreCivic, one of the largest privately-funded prisons systems in the United States. The Meredith community can no longer be silent about this issue, it is time to end Meredith’s contract and association with Aramark.

Here are the main issues with Aramark that we are asking Meredith College to see:
1.) Private Prisons 
Private Prisons are a huge problem in America. They capitalize on mass incarceration and are for-profit. As a supplier of CoreCivic, Aramark became one of the largest beneficiaries of mass incarceration. They neglect their staff training, facility upkeep, and other costs that put their employees and inmates at risk. 

2.) Unethical Practices
The food in our dining halls provided by Aramark, is not great, but it’s even worse in the prisons. There have been many cases against Aramark for underfeeding prisoners, providing facilities with spoiled food due to the lack of appropriate storage, and providing food that contains worms, dog food, and scraps of trashed food partially consumed by rats. 

In 2015, Michigan cut ties with Aramark for their correctional facilities. 

Aramark is also involved in direct provision, the “controversial housing system used for asylum seekers in the Republic of Ireland.” They run these centers that have been repeatedly called out for poor hygiene, food, and living conditions. Asylum seekers have compared these centers to prisons. 

3.) Racist Actions
Aramark has been criticized by other colleges for their racist food displays during Black History Month. In 2018, at NYU, Fordham, Loyola University in Chicago, and Kent State. Aramark thought it was okay to serve fried chicken, kool-aid, collared greens, and other stereotypical “Black” foods. 

The following year, NYU cut ties with Aramark. If NYU can cut ties with Aramark after 43 years, why can’t we? Meredith College students deserve better. 

Aramark has repeatedly denied these claims, scapegoated their employees, and claimed that all of the allegations against them were propaganda. 

We demand an alternate food supplier that is not Sodexo or Compass Group for similar reasons. Switching from one company to the other simply maintains the same system with a different name, so here is one possible solution: self-operated dining. "Through transparent self-operated dining, colleges are able to support real food in local economies within a more fair, ecologically sustainable, and humane system. Small, value-based food producers can access your school’s dining market, with an emphasis on BIPOC-farmers and businesses; self-operation can guarantee separation from worker exploitation and racism supported by the Big 3. Designed by each university, self-operation provides chefs with more flexibility and autonomy, while providing students with access to high-quality, local food that meets their dietary and cultural needs (Students Food Sovereignty)."

I do not believe that the values of Aramark reflect the values of Meredith College and those who attend it. By supporting and continuing a contract with Aramark, Meredith College is supporting a deeply racist, unethical, and inhumane system. This needs to end. The students and alumni of Meredith College, and the community, are calling on Meredith to do the only correct action here and cut their ties with Aramark while preserving the jobs of the Belk Dining Hall and facility services employees at Meredith College.

Written by:
Charlotte Allman ‘21
Alison Bunce ‘22