Does your college food service company hurt the local economy?
That is a key part of the class-action lawsuit against campus food service companies in Alabama. At UA every student must pay a $300 fee each semester for Dining Dollars. And it doesn’t matter whether they live on campus. (Kind of like the University of Louisville).$300. Not an outrageous sum, to the outside observer.
But the students suing the universities estimate that in the last year alone undergrads paid more than $14 million total in Dining Dollars. Some of that money could have helped local merchants survive.
When this program began in 1996, it was viewed by many in the community as a “threat to local business” as stated in an article in the Tuscaloosa News. In fact, the “chamber of commerce and Tuscaloosa City Council came out against Dining Dollars,” fearing that it would draw business away from local restaurants.
As a result UA agreed to open Dining Dollars to three off-campus businesses. However, the restaurants have to give 21% of revenue to the campus food service company. Some restaurants say they can’t afford that percentage. (Here’s the contract between the University and the company).
Does your school’s food service company draw income away from local businesses? How do you think this affects the local economy?
