Food prices in the lunch line, Muskie Mart and the Muskie Grill have gone up. Even the free passes in the student planner for the lunch line, Daily Grind, Muskie Grill and Muskie Mart have disappeared entirely. Lakeland is not the only college where food prices have gone up. Lakeland tries to keep in close proximity to the rest of the surrounding colleges’ prices to remain competitive.
This year, Lakeland raised its prices mostly due to the fact that everything else on the market has risen in price. Gas is about $3.25 per gallon and prices rise constantly because of where it comes from and how much humans consume each year. The cost of food rises because of how expensive it is to ship food by trucks and trains to its destinations. As fuel prices go up, food prices will increase around campus and around the world.
Director of Dining Services Mark Wagner emphasizes, “We don’t want to raise the price of food to our students. That’s the last thing we want to do to our students.”
Currently, Lakeland is partnered with Gordon Food Services on a contract. They have provided Lakeland with food services for the past five years. Lakeland has looked at other providers, but Gordon still gives the best prices, offering Lakeland discounts.
“They are better with discounts than the closest competitor,” Wagner said.
When Lakeland receives the food from Gordon Foods, the chefs in the kitchen add their own personal touches to make it taste better for the students, although this is not done every day. The most popular foods that are spruced up for a better taste are soups, which are made from scratch, and marinara and Alfredo sauces.
Junior business major Heather Hartmann says, “It would be a lot easier if the food was cheaper here.”
Wagner explains that he is currently working on a plan to put a “flatline” on the price of food at Lakeland, meaning that the price will not fluctuate as much as it has over the past year. This is not set in stone, but it could happen to all of Lakeland’s food service areas in the coming years.
“For high quality [food], it doesn’t fit the price,” said Eddie Currin, junior criminal justice major, sarcastically.
Wagner states again that he doesn’t want to make the students pay so much for food. He also explains that there has been a study that shows if the school controls how much food is consumed and served to the students, they will eat less.
“Students will still be welcome to come back for more helpings, but the students should feel more satisfied with the helping they receive the first time,” Wagner said.
Time will only tell if the food prices will go down, but as long as the price of gas stays high, it will be difficult for the price of food to go down. The flatline plan is in the works and will hopefully be in effect by next year to keep the prices at a steady amount. For now, Lakeland’s dining service is doing everything they can to keep their diners happy over the course of the school year.