Limited meal plans

But these pale in comparison to my one significant error as a Princetonian: I did not sign up for the unlimited meal plan. After perusing my options this summer, I settled on the 235 block plan because it was $218 cheaper than the unlimited plan. I thought I would surely not need more than 235 meals a semester. And I don’t. In fact, at the end of semester one I still had 33 meals to my name. The real problem with the block plan comes during breaks.

While students with unlimited meal plans can sign up online for two meals per day for no additional cost, purchasers of block plans must pay an additional $120 at New South. Forget the relative ease with which unlimited meal plan holders can sign up for their plan; the problem with the block plan is the price. Students only have to stay on campus for two breaks for the price of a 235-block plan to be more expensive than the unlimited plan. While this may not apply to students who live a train or short plane ride from Princeton, for long-distance students going home during breaks is not an option.

So the problem with the current meal plan options is not that I’ve missed the social food fest that is late meal, though that is regrettable. Nor do I lament not being able to swipe to my heart’s content. The problem is that, with the way the block plan is set up now, signing up for the more expensive unlimited meal plan would have saved me money. This is without even considering the added cost of U-Store, WaWa or CVS food that unlimited holders save on two-item shopping trips during late meal.

It’s not as if Dining Services was hiding anything from me. The policy is spelled out on their website. But my summer self didn’t piece the implications together. Which is why, come fall break, I found myself limited.

Instead of buying a meal plan, I tried to scrounge through the break on U-Store sustenance, on Holder kitchen sessions, on Nassau Street offerings and on dining hall fruit carefully ferreted away one at a time. The system worked fine, but I was still left wondering why I couldn’t use a meal swipe or two from my plan at the dining hall during break. The current system does allow block-plan users to buy meals on a per-meal basis during breaks, but this ends up being more expensive than cooking solo.

I understand that block-plan subscribers should not get free meals during break, but why shouldn’t we be able to put our meal swipes toward meals? This would give block-plan subscribers the same flexibility available to unlimited subscribers.

Since block-plan holders are asked to monitor and adjust their meal swipes to fit their personal preferences during the semester, it makes sense that they should be granted the same level of responsibility during semester breaks. After all, I purchased the 235-block plan so that I could use my meals how and when I wanted. Block-plan students should be able to distribute their semester meal swipes as they wish any time the dining halls are open, including during school breaks.

The current system can’t be attributed to the added cost of providing food for block-plan subscribers. Consider that during the semester the unlimited meal plan covers 29 meals per week to the 235-block plan’s 15 — a 14-meal difference. If 14 meals really cost $120, this would be reflected in the relative cost of each plan. The unlimited meal plan would cost $120 more per week for each student instead of $218 more in total.

The $218 difference in cost between the unlimited and 235-meal plan does not warrant the vast inequality of services provided during breaks. Each meal plan should reflect what individuals signed up for. The unlimited diner wants the freedom to swipe in and out of dining halls without worrying about keeping track of meal swipes. The current break system accommodates that. All I ask is that it also accommodate us block-plan holders, who would like to use our set number of meal swipes when we choose.

Rebecca Kreutter is a freshman from Singapore. She can be reached at rhkreutt@princeton.edu.