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Clarkson students ‘fed up’ with dining options; call on college to replace Aramark

Posted 3/31/16

POTSDAM -- Students at Clarkson University claim that they are forced into buying a meal plan that provides poor quality food at high prices and are calling on the college to replace its current food …

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Clarkson students ‘fed up’ with dining options; call on college to replace Aramark

Posted

POTSDAM -- Students at Clarkson University claim that they are forced into buying a meal plan that provides poor quality food at high prices and are calling on the college to replace its current food service provider Aramark.

A petition, which as of late Thursday morning has been signed by 679 students, claims that Aramark does not care about the students they are feeding and that the company is solely driven by their bottom line.

The petition claims that Clarkson charges $6,510 a year for their meal plan versus $5,674 at St. Lawrence University in Canton. SLU is a private university that supplies their own food service.

The petitions says the food at SLU is of higher quality and has healthier options.

Students say they are “fed up” with Aramark and want Clarkson to look for other vendors or take St. Lawrence University’s lead and create their own dining service.

The letter is directed to Aramark, Clarkson President Tony Collins and Clarkson University. “The average person in the United States spends $151 a week on food according to Gallup; that's equivalent to $4530 for 30 weeks of school, the petition says. “With the average food bill cost in mind, Clarkson University is overcharging their students $1980 per year. Other colleges are doing Aramark's job cheaper and better. Aramark is the second largest food provider in the country, they are able to get cheap prices and when they order in bulk and are more efficient with their resources. It is obvious that we are getting over charged.”