Boston College not only prides itself on providing substantial financial aid, but also healthy and allergen-friendly options in its dining halls. In the same breath, however, they charge absurd prices for those foods, like yogurt and fruit.
While BC Dining provides healthy foods, they seem out of reach as consistent options and may cause unhealthy eating patterns and food anxiety for those from low-income backgrounds.
Is the school actually concerned with the dining health of its students, or do the institution’s priorities lie where the money is?
This is an expensive school in an expensive city. I get that. But what I don’t understand is that after paying so much to attend, we as students are being overcharged for food that just doesn’t cost that much to provide.
Take a Core Power at The Rat or Lower, for example. That bottle costs over eight dollars, when you can find it at a gas station for around $4.00, or buy it from Costco for just $3.25.
Where is the extra five dollars going? Or the classic $5.99 fruit cup; You could buy a carton of strawberries or blueberries and have money left over with that $5.99.
Unless, of course, you’re buying it from a dining hall, in which case you’ll be paying almost ten dollars. Why in the world does BC Dining need to overcharge by that much when some students are paying almost $100k a year to be here?
The very unfortunate common denominator for BC Dining’s overpriced offerings is that they’re usually the healthy ones. While I concede that late-night dining can get pricey as well, it’s the healthy options that stand out the most.
The $11.00 smoothie and the $9.00 fruit and yogurt bar can start to make many students think twice when they choose a breakfast or snack option, turning instead to less healthy and more processed foods. While I love a good bowl of Lucky Charms, that’s not the best way to start your morning, and that’s what our dining halls’ pricing pushes some students towards doing.
The pricing may go unnoticed to those from well-off families who have never had to worry about the costs of their meals, but for students who come from lower-income backgrounds, food prices can be a major source of stress.
On a campus full of Parke sweatshirts and Longchamps, this may not be a glaring issue, but it’s problematic nonetheless. It’s already hard to feel like you really fit in at BC without wielding a parent’s Amex card; healthy food shouldn’t be another form of stress.
Healthy eating should not be a source of worry or feel out of reach, but it seems to be at risk of becoming one at BC. Yes, we’re in college. Yes, less-healthy food tastes great. However, our dining halls’ pricing should not be the reason that we choose those less-healthy options.
As a Jesuit institution, our school preaches about nourishing our minds and bodies, but BC Dining’s pricing seems counterproductive to this goal.
psych major, coffee and music addict, art enthusiast, incapable of being casual.
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