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When students gain more influence over their campus food service operation, good things usually happen.  It is my view (and the view of the Stir It Up editorial board) that students and faculty will almost always make more just decisions about their campus dining operation than corporations and university bigwigs.  The unfortunate reality is, it is usually the latter two that have decision-making power. 

So how do we change that?  

The below leaflet (download here) provides a few basic ways that you can gain a voice in--and some power over--these decisions.  A cautionary note: make sure to think twice before kicking a food service company off campus without any safeguard for the jobs of the current food service workers. When contracts change hands, the workers could be at risk of not getting hired by the new company.  Gaining influence early in the process (ideally in the RFP stage) gives you the chance to make sure that a worker retention policy is applied to the food service operation. 

This is the last entry in the, now legendary, Tools of the Trade series….for now. But not forever. For until the day that Stir It Up is dead and buried, we’ll keep bringing you the hard hitting facts about the campus food service industry! That’s a promise!

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The food service industry is big business.  When you purchase a university meal plan or buy a hamburger from the campus food court you are part of an industry that generates $18 billion annually in the United States.  Additionally, the industry is becoming increasingly privatized.  Here's a leaflet with information on the higher education food service industry.

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Football fans have the Super Bowl.  Political junkies have the State of the Union address.  And film buffs have the Academy Awards.    For food service industry research nerds like myself, the year's big event is Food Management's annual release of the top 50 food service management companies in North America!  It's a festive occasion that involves printing out tons of copies to show off to your friends and bragging about who hit the over/under on Luby's Culinary Services fiscal year 2010 revenue.

While even the most seasoned prognosticators failed to predict Lubys' jump from 48 to 41, the top of the list contained no surprises.  The Big 3 remain the Big 3, as Compass Group, Aramark and Sodexo finished 1, 2, 3 on the list, the same order they finished last year.

The top 50 list is a handy tool for students interested in learning more about the contracted food service industry--which does much of its business at universities.  The list has detailed information on each company including the most recent annual revenue figure, number of contracts and percentage of business done at different types of locations (i.e. food service at hospitals, at universities, at corporate cafeterias, etc.).  

This is a really valuable resource for anyone who is hoping for a greater understanding of the food service industry.  An industry which, as we know, has a huge effect on the livelihood of farmers and food service workers, the environment and public health.  

Photo by mikebaird.

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Three multi-national companies dominate contracted university food service.  The 'Big 3', as they are referred to by industry insiders, are Aramark, Sodexo and Compass (which goes by the brand names Bon Appetit and Chartwells).  Approximately 87% of revenue generated by contracted food service companies in universities is generated by the Big 3. 

87%...three companies.  And these three companies generate billions of dollars annually through their global enterprise.  University food service is big business indeed.  

If your university contracts food service, chances are it's to one of these three companies.  Here's a leaflet (that you can download here) that you can use to educate your classmates about the scope of these companies' operations. 

Other informational leaflets include: Poverty in Food Service and The RFP Process. 

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It's no secret that many jobs in the food service industry pay a very low wage.   This, of course, includes many of the jobs in university cafeterias.  Unfortunately, for those who aren't paying close attention, this fact can slip under the radar. 

It's important to shed light on the harsh reality of economic injustice on college campuses.  The latest Stir It Up handout focuses on poverty in the food service industry.  If this is an issue that you're concerned about, you should definitely take this opportunity to spread awareness on your own campus.  Download the PDF here.  

Make sure to take a look at the first handout in our Tools of the Trade series, the RFP process.

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Everyone is all a-flutter about the new food safety regulations the U.S. Senate passed this week. What does the proposed law (that still has to pass through the House) mean for workers in the food chain?

The Good

• The obvious first change will be more prevention of massive disgustingness like E-Coli and salmonella outbreaks. Currently, the Food and Drug Administration has powers to test for food safety that were made into law in the 1930s. Yay for companies being required to have detailed food safety plans! Less chance of feces-originated bacteria on food = indubitably positive for workers in food manufacturing.

• Small-scale farmers can relax knowing they will be exempt from the most expensive new rules, but still regulated at the state and local level. The final version of the amendment exempts farmers who make less than $500,000 per year and sell their products within 275 miles of their farms from time-consuming and pricey bureaucratic paperwork.

The Bad

• An attempt to ban the toxic chemical bisphenol A was removed from the bill. Huge bummer. BPA is found in thousands of products, from baby bottles to canned food linings. It is linked to increased risk of breast and prostate cancer, genital abnormalities in male babies, infertility in men, early puberty in girls, type-2 diabetes, and obesity.

• Apparently the ban was doomed when the American Chemistry Council and the Grocery Manufacturer's Association made it clear they would work to defeat the entire bill if [the] amendment were included. “

The Ugly

• Supporters include General Mills, Kraft Foods, and Monsanto. I don’t trust them.

Photo credit: Frans Persoon

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Those of you who are familiar with Stir It Up, know that it isn't just a website, it's the embodiment of a philosophy.  Like our friends at the Student Farmworker Alliance and the Real Food Challenge, we believe that college students have a unique ability to fight for progressive change in the food service industry.  The more students who insert themselves in campus food-related decisions, the greater the potential that we'll see justice in the food system.

With that in mind, Stir It Up will be unrolling a series of handouts with crucial information about the higher education food industry.  Tools of the Trade, Edition 1 (available for download) features information about the Request for Proposals (RFP) process, which is an invitation for companies to bid on a university contract:

Though it is far from assured that an RFP for the food service operation will be issued while you are an active student (many food service contracts are for far longer than four years), if it does happen, the RFP process is an invaluable opportunity to influence your university's food service operation.  Do not be discouraged if you do not have this opportunity, however, because there are plenty of other ways to get involved (many of which will be featured in the Tools of the Trade series). 

If you are interested in seeing when your school's food service contract expires, check our contract database to see if we have a copy.  If not (and you attend a public school) take a look at our Freedom of Information Act guide to learn how to obtain a copy of your school's food service contract (or you can let Heidi Heidi High-Tops guide you).

Photo courtesy of TomasM2009.

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What does it take for a family to get by in your college town? In your hometown? In…Random County X, Alaska?

You can find the answer to all these questions with the Economic Policy Institute’s Basic Family Budget Calculator. The results are really fascinating and might come as a shock. Taking just one example: a single parent supporting three children in Washington DC requires an annual income of $86,612. 

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Photo by Breakmould via Flickr.

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As a project of UNITE HERE, one of the main objectives of the Stir It Up campaign is the fight for economic justice in university food service.

So, when the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) issued a finding stating that ‘food preparation and serving’ work is one of the two fastest growing occupations in the country, it piqued our interest. This type of work is typical of university dining operations.

This, of course, is a set up for the bad news:

Food preparation and service is also one of the lowest paying occupations in the country. Its median wage of $8.28 per hour is only slightly below half of the national median wage of $15.95/hour.

The following EPI graph of the fastest growing occupations illustrates this stark difference: