This article originally appeared in the Food print issue, in stands February 2025. It has not been updated and some information may be out of date. The students at the University of Utah, whether in their final dissertation phase or just starting their freshman year, are met with an inconvenient truth: the food on campus sucks. Whether it be the cafeteria meal-card food, building snacks or the sparse and overpriced offerings at the on-campus food trucks and stores, students are in a tight spot for quality eats. Especially as inflation increases and pockets thin, the quest for food on campus becomes less preferential and more pragmatic. Michaela Newby, associate director of Feed U Pantry at the A. Ray Olpin Student Union, explained that student use of the pantry has skyrocketed lately. In her view, the biggest food injustice issue facing students on campus is simply the cost of living. “It’s very expensive to buy groceries and to pay rent and just to live. The basic cost of living is just out of hand,” Newby said. The U must increase dining variety, expand meal transfer functionality and invite more brand-recognizable chains to campus to ensure students a flavorful and nutritious education. Give Fast Food a Glow-Up On-campus food lacks variety. Yes, those few familiar food trucks visit campus, but these leave much to be desired. Food trucks don’t accept meal transfers and thus can incur additional expenses for students simply looking for a good bite to eat. Moreover, food trucks sell fast food and limit options to re-heated, frozen meals. If you’re looking for anything other than fast food, you’re out of luck. The U must fix this dilemma by opening grocery options like fruit stands in the same high-traffic areas where the food trucks reside. This will give students more control over what they eat, encouraging them to buy only what they need. These are important steps towards empowering students to live healthy lifestyles. Meal Transfers Enter Their Food Truck Era The meal transfer system is used by many students living on campus to get their daily sustenance. Often bundled at a discount with housing, meal transfers give students a set value per meal period, typically about $10 or less. This transfer is compatible with various on-campus dining services, with a few exceptions. However, the on-campus offerings are limited, if not downright disgusting. The U must remedy this by expanding the compatibility of meal transfers to on-site food trucks, nearby restaurants and even at the aforementioned potential grocery vendors. This would also raise awareness for the lesser-known dining options near or on campus, like the Rio Grande Café or B&D Burgers. According to Allison Witman, associate professor at the Marriner S. Eccles Institute’s Division of Quantitative Analysis of Markets and Organizations, expanding the functionality of meal transfers will increase competition and thereby student welfare. Food trucks unable to sell at the meal transfer price would get pushed out of the market, while university-subsidized food offerings ideally gain the incentive to produce better food for students. The U could also leverage not renewing its contract with the dining hall food provider to improve food quality. “Competition increases welfare, especially consumer welfare. I would see this from the students’ side, if we care about student welfare, as a positive in the short run,” Witman said. A Dining Revolution The food options that do exist are typically university-branded, general-label delis with days-old repackaged goods. Familiar is the sight of lines of students waiting for their daily dose of yuck. What could be more motivating for a full day of classes than day-old nigiri? Thankfully, it doesn’t have to remain this way. Campus delis must make way for familiar franchises that students actually want to patronize. As demand increases with supply growing to meet it, value is created, not only for the producers but for the consumers as well. Putting food franchises into our buildings is perhaps the best way of all to scratch students’ food itch. College can make students overwhelmed, overstressed and overworked, but it shouldn’t leave them underfed. U administrators have the resources available to fix this issue and substantially increase student welfare, and it is far past time that they do so.