Since the cafeteria moved from Kagin Commons to Café Mac in Feb. of this year, students have been eating more and may face a price increase as a result.
According to Bon Appetit’s Gary Lensing, the move was followed by a drastic increase in food consumption. Eating this semester has not been as high as it was last spring, but overall students still eat more now than they did in Kagin. Bon Appetit will observe how much students eat over the entire year before it comes to a decision about pricing.
According to Lensing and Dean of Students Laure Hamre, the school will do everything it can to keep prices down.
“Part of this is trying to cut down on theft and students sneaking into Café Mac,” Hamre said. She added, “We are doing everything we can to not cut the quality and quantity of the food.” The school is also trying to increase summer conference business, which will provide Bon Appetit with more Macalester-generated revenue.
According to Hamre, the structure of the meal plan enables the college to keep costs low. Each student pays for a given number of meals, and even if he or she does not eat all of those meals, the money is not returned. Even though a number of students do not show up for each meal, enough food still has to be prepared. Bon Appetit tries to estimate how many will come to each meal, and plan accordingly, but they still have to be prepared for more.
“The missed meal factor is really what makes the program affordable. If students had to pay the real cost of every meal they ate, we would have to charge a great deal more for each meal,” Hamre said.
