Concordia Offers New Unlimited Meal Plan

Students wait in line for food in Janzow. Photo courtesy of Sonja Brandt.

By Hannah Birtell

Beginning next year, the basic meal plan for students will be an unlimited meal plan rather than a 21-block meal plan. 

In previous years, the basic student meal plan has allowed students to have three meals a day- one at breakfast, one at lunch, and one at dinner. Next year because of the unlimited meal plan, students will have access to the cafeteria as many times a day as they want 

“Basically, the new unlimited meal plan gives students more options because they will now be able to go to the cafeteria whenever they want,” said executive vice-president David Kumm. “If you really like breakfast, but don’t want to eat a big breakfast at 7 or 8 o’clock in the morning, you can go grab a fruit and something to drink and head off to class. Then, after class, maybe you have an open hour and you can come back and have a bigger breakfast.”

One of the biggest changes that is coming with the new unlimited meal plan is the cafeteria’s hours. This year, the cafeteria is open from 7 AM to 2:30 PM and 4:30 PM to 7:30 PM. With the new unlimited plan, the cafeteria will be open from 7 AM to 8 PM on Monday through Friday. During the time from 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM that the cafeteria was typically closed, a limited selection will be offered. 

“They won’t necessarily have a full meal between 2:30 and 4:30 PM, but they will have the deli, soups, salad bar, desserts and beverages available,” said Kumm. “Don’t expect to go in and get a burger. Don’t expect to go in and get fried chicken or whatever else is served in the buffet area.”

This change came about because of a recommendation from Chartwells. Kumm and other Concordia executives had been working with Chartwells to possibly change some of the meal plans around for next year, and making the basic meal plan unlimited just made sense. Students will pay about the same amount for the meal plan, and have more opportunities to eat smaller meals.

The only downside to the unlimited plan is that students may find themselves eating more. Adding another freshman 15 to student’s waistlines is not one of the goals of the unlimited plan, but it could be a side effect; especially when desserts will be offered all afternoon.