Students still buy campus food even if they think it’s expensive
Students and other shoppers have differing opinions when it comes to the prices of food on campus. Some think food is too expensive, while others accept it as part of college prices.
Justin Allison, a senior in natural resources and environmental studies, said, “A lot of the snacks are overpriced.”
Another patron also said she thinks the Quick Stop has high prices. Candice Whiteley, a senior majoring in family, consumer and human development, said, “It’s a little expensive, but I’m starving.”
While some students think prices are high, Chuck Weaver, the director of USU Dining Services, said, “There’s no magical, ‘Oh, we’re going to mark everything up 15 percent.’ Everything has outside forces influencing what the prices are.”
He explained that USU Dining Services is an auxiliary service that receives no student fees.
When asked why some shoppers think the food prices are high, Weaver said, “It’s just like any other pricing structure you’d find at any other business organization.”
He said expenses include the raw cost of the material, labor, property, insurance, upkeep of the equipment and future investment.
Tonya Davis, in the MBA program bought a 22-ounce Diet Coke for $1.03 and a Take Five candy bar for 79 cents.
She said, “The prices here are pretty comparable to any convenience store. They might even be a little lower than your typical convenience store. I think they’re great. I come here at least once a day.”
Other Quick Stop visitors said they feel it’s their own fault for not bringing cheaper food from home. Brooke Parrish, who works at the Registrar’s Office, bought a Dannon yogurt for 99 cents.
Parrish said, “I don’t think it’s bad. For having to grab something quick, it’s pretty convenient instead of having to remember something from home or run to the store.”
She said, “I know I spend a little more here than I would at the grocery store. But I feel like it’s my problem if I’m not going to prepare myself to come to campus every day.”
Allison said, “It’s a matter of convenience at the Quick Stop.”
Nash Wilson, a graduate student in civil engineering, said, “At the Hub, some things are fairly reasonable and some things are a little more than what I’d like to pay,” he said. “Sometimes I don’t have enough to pay for something, so I just skip lunch.”
As an engineering student who spends the majority of his time in the Engineering Building, he said, “It kind of sucks to have to walk all the way to the TSC and back just to eat lunch.”
Wilson said there’s not much offered to students on that side of campus besides vending-machine food.
-apwinegar@cc.usu.edu