At the beginning of this semester, Mississippi State University Dining Services implemented changes to both the block meal and flex dollar systems, arguably worsening the accessibility to food on campus.
Previously, students could use multiple block meals per day at the cafeterias and up to two per day after 4 p.m. at any of the fast food locations on campus, such as Chick-fil-A or Subway. However, with the new system, this service has been limited.
As a student who does not live on campus but is on campus for six to eight hours every day, these changes have heavily impacted me and many others in similar situations.
The first notable change is that block plans are now limited weekly — three different options of seven, 14 and 21 block meals per week are available with no rollover. Once used, students must wait until the next week to get more.
The second, more upsetting of these changes was the switch from two block meals at fast food locations per day, once after 4 p.m. and once again after 9 p.m., to only one per day at any time.
While the added bonus of being able to use the blocks at any time is very beneficial, being limited to only one block meal at fast food locations per day is more harmful than helpful overall.
This leads into a further issue — the temporary closure of Perry Cafeteria and Moe’s Southwest Grill has created less dining options on campus for students to go for lunch and dinner, which only crowds the places that are currently open.
Another issue on top of this is that not only are students limited to one block meal a day, but many on-campus restaurants have increased their prices. For example, last year I was able to get two burgers from Steak n Shake for a block meal and around $0.02, yet this semester for the exact same order, it costs around one block meal and $1.44. This price change is not drastically different, but the fact that restaurants raised their prices at the same time the block meal rules have changed is slightly aggravating when it comes time to grab something to eat.
One proposed solution to this issue is just to bring back the two-block system per day. The school is already getting the money that students paid for their meal plans, so why should it matter if I want to eat Chick-fil-A twice a day without having to spend money?
To give Mississippi State the benefit of the doubt, this is only the first year they have run this new meal plan format. In addition to this change, one of the most popular dining halls on campus is currently under construction.
Things could be different by next school year, but until then, many hungry, irritated students may be awaiting a change in Mississippi State’s meal plan system.
