Editorial: More food co-ops needed to satisfy growing demand

Last fall marked the opening of the newest of the three dining co-ops, the International Food Co-op. Even with this addition, however, all three co-ops have already filled to capacity for the upcoming academic year, with dozens of students stranded on the co-ops’ waiting lists. In response to this increased demand, the University should promote the establishment of more co-ops.

Traditionally, options for students who choose not to join an eating club have been severely limited. Co-ops can serve as a compromise between eating clubs and residential college or independent meal options. They offer a social community, a common area and even social events for members at a fraction of the cost of both eating clubs and residential college meal options. Thus far, however, the role of co-ops has been marginal, with the combined membership of all three co-ops representing less than 6 percent of all upperclassmen. Given these small numbers and clear signs of student interest, the campus community would benefit from an increase in the number of co-ops. This would also result in a wider variety of co-op options so that students are more likely to find a co-op that suits their tastes. Such a move would especially help financially disadvantaged students by providing more and better low-price dining options.

To encourage students to establish more co-ops on campus, the University needs to first create a formalized system for receiving student proposals for new co-ops. The University could officially designate a member of the administration to oversee University coordination with student co-op organizers so that such potential organizers can know whom to contact in the administration to initiate the process. Moreover, a guideline for what information a co-op organizer should prepare and what steps are involved in the creation of a co-op should be compiled and made available by the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students on its website. This guideline should contain specific procedural details, from the initial petition for student interest, how to write a proposal and how to collect the logistical information necessary for the co-op’s establishment.

To increase the visibility of existing co-ops and promote the option of establishing a new co-op, the University could organize information sessions about co-ops that target underclassmen in particular. Freshman Week would be a prime time for these sessions to take place, introducing co-ops to incoming freshmen alongside the much more visible eating clubs. Also, these information sessions can serve to connect students interested in starting co-ops not only to the administrators they would need to work with, but also to current student co-op organizers who can provide further support and information for such projects.

By encouraging the establishment of new co-ops through such increased publicity and a formalized establishment system, the University can use co-ops to best serve the needs of its students — by allowing them to take dining options into their own hands.