USA TODAY International Edition
Students’ food demands put colleges to test
Tapas, vegan pasta are part of some university menus that must satisfy a wide range of diets
Talia Trackim loves Thursdays. It’s the day when the Syracuse University dining hall she frequents serves chicken tenders with macaroni and cheese.
The food service staff make glutenfree versions of the two comfort foods the sophomore from Coopersburg, Pennsylvania, can actually eat. Trackim has celiac disease, an autoimmune disease that makes her extremely sensitive to gluten found in certain grains, including those used for traditional pasta and poultry breading.
Syracuse’s accommodating menu is the new normal at college campus dining halls. Gone are the days of gummy stews, carb-packed casseroles and tasteless soups that had students craving the prospect of home cooking during Thanksgiving break.
Universities cater to a variety of diets, such as vegan and locavore, and today’s college “cafs” resemble fastcasual chain restaurants with a focus on healthy, protein- and vegetablecentric, customizable dishes.
The emphasis on BLTs as well as Ph.D.s has made higher-education food service an estimated $18 billion industry, according to Technomic. That’s up from $12.4 billion a decade ago and close to $1.89 billion in 1972, when the Chicago-based food industry research firm started tracking it. In 2019, the industry is expected to approach $18.7 billion.
“Food is a differentiator,” Technomic senior principal David Henkes said. “It’s a recruitment tool. It’s table stakes now. It’s an expectation, as every university raises its game across the board.”
In an era when colleges are using everything from their fitness facilities to luxury dorms to lure students, high schoolers can turn to a variety of online sources to scan college food ratings as they make their application choices.
Food is “part of decision for a lot of people,” said Katy Wahlke, the University of Cincinnati’s food services program director. “It’s part of their experience every day. It’s part of what they look forward to. It can make it or break it if they’re lining up two schools and all things being equal.”
For some students, it’s a concern about allergies, such as nuts, dairy or soy. Others are committed to eating only local foods. Another group has religious dietary restrictions, such as halal and kosher. All want to be sure their food regimens, whether it’s vegetarian or keto, are addressed.
One out of 3 Americans follows a specific lifestyle diet, according to the International Food Information Council Foundation, which found that the number is even higher among those ages 18 to 34.
At most schools, freshmen are required to live on campus in kitchenless dorms and pay for a dining plan, but upperclassmen are free agents. Those first-years’ average cost of food – the “board” in the classic “room and board” term – was $4,650 during the 2015-16 academic year versus $3,190 in 1986-87, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Dining plans don’t cover meals during the summer or school breaks.
Compare that with $3,829, which the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found was the average annual spending on food by one American in 2016.
While snazzy menu extras may explain some of the difference between what students and nonstudents pay, university meal plans must cover extras that nonstudents don’t have to deal with, like cafeteria workers’ salaries and dining hall utility bills.
School cafeterias must please Generation Z students who grew up with higher expectations from having watched the Food Network and following food trends on Instagram.
“It’s a shifted landscape. We have to be as competitive as fast food and even fine dining. We want to retain that dollar and not have them go off campus for that experience,” said Lisa Feldman, Sodexo’s director of recipe management. “If you don’t have something that’s the same or better, the student will go to the taco truck.”