![]() ![]() A petition calling for off-campus meal plans to be reinstated has already gotten over 1,000 signatures.Īt the very least, off-campus meal plans must be reinstated for our community members with the fewest resources. The editorial board is not alone in its concerns about campus dining access. Access to UCLA dining halls can add consistency and nourishment to students’ diets. While some resources exist, they often do not target more common and subtle forms of food insecurity such as skipping meals or choosing unhealthy, cheaper options due to serious concerns about budget and the cost of food. To deny on-campus dining to these students without good reason is therefore doubly harmful and deceptive.įood insecurity is a real concern among the Bruin community. Bruins enrolled at UCLA reasonably expected to have access to UCLA dining services as an option – even when they weren’t expecting to share an apartment with more than a half-dozen other people. UCLA dining offers a healthy and affordable alternative to eating meals out while saving time compared to shopping for groceries and cooking. Failure to do so would indicate a lack of concern for these students, food insecurity and general campus cohesion. At a minimum, UCLA must offer all its former dining options to Bruins in its high-density housing: the off-campus Bruin Meal Plan, premiere accountholder swipe-in opportunities and a la carte meal access. Our university cannot continue making excuses for food inaccessibility. What is surprising is that the university has asked its students to live in high-density housing without providing the resource which would make it more feasible: meal plans. ![]() Putting students in a position to share their home with seven or eight strangers is a significant burden however, given the immense cost of housing in Westwood, it’s unsurprising that our high-demand university has begun treating us like sardines. Many, including a Reddit user who said they went to culinary school, expressed frustration that no meal plans are available to students who live in university apartments with only one kitchen for eight people. Since students in university apartments are no longer allowed to purchase meal plans, this setup provides only one modest kitchen to feed all of them.Įight students – many of whom won’t meet one another until move-in day – trying to cook three meals per day in one small space while navigating the demands of UCLA life sounds like a setup for disaster, not a high-quality education.īruins on Reddit – especially transfer students – describe receiving offers of eight-person apartments despite putting only Hill residential housing as a preference. The loss of this resource was already a significant problem for students – but now, UCLA is making things worse by cramming students into new eight-person university apartments. For two years since the pandemic, none of these options have been reinstated. In years past, off-campus students could purchase meal plans, join friends on the Hill who purchased premier meal plans or purchase residential restaurant meals a la carte. UCLA boasts the highest ranked campus dining in the United States, but the university falls short in food accessibility for its apartments. We encourage all readers to reach out to our board members and to respond to our editorials. As part of the Daily Bruin’s commitment to its readers, the board hopes to present a responsible and clear analysis of relevant events and news items affecting the lives of those we serve, but our editorials are not representative of the Daily Bruin’s views on issues as a whole. at 8:53 p.m.Įditor’s note: Editorials are intended to serve as the jumping-off point, not the conclusion, to discussion. ![]()
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