EDIT

Chartwells is bad as said below but that js beside the point. The real goal is to get them to change the food for the better or find a new food provider. 

 

 

The Problem

UMBC is notorious among students for subpar food lacking healthy options. To many, the best dining places on campus are Chik-Fil-A, Dunkin, and Starbucks. While still run by Chartwells, they are owned by outside companies with controlled menus and as such, are somewhat separate.

Of the passable food options, students are often charged crazy amounts for additions, and the food prices often exceed the amount allotted per meal swipe. Additionally, the food's quality is often subpar, and UMBC often runs out of ingredients. 

Most of the restaurants on campus have bad hours and are closed on the weekends, leaving little variety or options. 

Meal Plans Are A Rip-Off

The meal plans themselves are grossly overpriced. For example, the flexible 14 plan, which costs $2800, provides 14 meal swipes a week and $85 of flex. Each meal swipe gives around $8 to spend on a meal deal. If there are 17 weeks in a semester, even if one uses all 14 swipes every week, they are only receiving around $1989 worth of food swipes, around $1000 less than the cost of the meal plan. This pricing only makes sense if one goes to the dining hall, which costs $15 dollars if not using a meal swipe. However, this is the second problem. 

True Grits is Bad

True Grit is terrible. The food is often undercooked, burnt, or downright disgusting. There is often little variety, especially if not eating meat, and it is hard to find healthy options. The food is often clearly made with little thought or cheap ingredients. There are multiple sightings and accounts of rats being found at True Grits, and I have heard many stories firsthand of individuals getting food poisoning.

 

There is often little variety in the menu, with multiple options listed on the website not existing or being closed. It is even worse for those who are vegetarian or have dietary restrictions. The gluten-free cabinet is often empty, and the vegetarian options are frequently lacking. There are constant supply issues and a variety of struggles as a result. True Grits often serve bafflingly bad food that displays a staggering amount of incompetence. 

 

The Workers

According to a Indeed job postings, Chartwells pays their employees $13.25 an hour. This is Maryland's minimum wage. Given a normal work week, that is $27,560 a year. According to MIT, a living wage in Baltimore County for someone with no children is $17.99 an hour. This means Chartwells dining workers at UMBC must work multiple jobs or overtime to have a minimum living wage. This and the apparent difficulty of being a dining worker at UMBC and their clear understaffing are reprehensible. 

It is no wonder that Chartwells has had to deal with strikes at other colleges and possibly even at UMBC(I cannot verify the validity of this). We don't want the workers removed, as they are not the problem. The ideal solution is one where the food gets better, and the dining workers stay. 

 

 

Chartwells and Compass Group is a Terrible Company

UMBC's current dining provider is Chartwells.

Chartwells is a company known for providing food to 4,500 high schools in the USA. Chartwells parent company Compass Group, one of the world's largest catering groups, has been mired in controversy. 

Accordion to an Article from the Independent, in 2006, a ESS, a Compass Group subsidiary, reached a $40 million settlement for allegedly bribing the United Nations. 

In 2008, another Compass Group subsidiary found Listera bacteria in food they were serving in Ontario prisons. 

In 2012 Chartwells reached an 18 million dollar settlement with NYC for allegedly providing inadequate services and overcharging them.

In 2013 Compass found they had accidentally served horse meat in schools in Ireland. 

In 2015, Chartwells reached a 19.4 million dollar settlement with the District of Columbia(DC) for allegedly overcharging them for their food services and providing inadequate food. 

In 2019 Compass was forced to cut ties with the company Cenikor for using unpaid labor in Drug Rehabilitation Centers. 

More recently, in 2020, Chartwells again fell under scrutiny for providing inadequate free meal packages to food-insecure individuals in the UK.

For more information on Compass Groups' many scandals, see this website.

 

UMBC Needs to Change

The food is easily one of the worst things about this campus. Healthy good food is very important in maintaining happiness and quality of life. Chartwells is a bad company that underpays its workers and has a consistent history of controversy, all while its parent company Compass Group, has a net worth of 40 Billion dollars. The food here is overpriced, of poor quality, lacks variety, and supports a terrible company.