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Following a proposal from its associate dean of students, Boise State University is weighing up a potential meal sharing plan that would enable students to give unused meal swipes to fellow students in need.
As is the case at many institutions, some Boise State students frequently have leftover meal swipes at the end of each semester, and according to a report from student publication, The Arbiter, the university doesn’t allow these meal swipes to carry over. The proposed meal sharing policy would enable students to donate any unused meal swipes to fellow students.
In an interview with The Arbiter, Boise State executive director of campus services, Nicole Nimmons, said that successfully implementing the policy depends on negotiations with food service vendor, Aramark. “We have to figure out how many meals could actually be donated,” Nimmons said. “We want to make sure the distribution of unused meal swipes is done discreetly so students aren’t aware of who is using donated meals versus paid meals.”
Another consideration is that the university factors in missing meals when calculating the per-meal price for dining plans. According to the report, for a 19-meal plan, the university assumes as many as four or five will go unused.
University officials say that the proposed policy will see students have the option to either specify a specific number of meals they want to donate, or opt in to the program at the beginning of a semester. For students that opt in, the program would see all unused meals donated at the end of each week.
The policy is still in the planning stages and additional details need to be worked out before any concrete program can be set in motion.
