At VCU, 'swipes' are what we use to purchase a meal on campus dining locations. But this year, I decided to make a bold choice and not purchase a meal plan. Which means fending for myself when it comes to food. It actually isn't as hard as it seems and I don't find myself craving the campus food options despite walking past them everyday. In fact, I find that I have more of a choice and it's quite liberating. So, I have a created a list of why you too should ditch your meal plan this year.
1. Expensive
The average cost of one swipe is between $7-10. I don't know about you, but I can make a couple of meals with that amount of money. You can buy a month's worth of Ramen noodles with one swipe or buy enough food to fix for a couple of meals. Also, in order to not waste any money, you would have to use every single swipe. Who can actually eat 300 meals in one semester? While there are different meal options consider the fact that you may not have time to actually eat 2 full meals a day. Meal plans are essentially a waste of money. Money that can be used to buy groceries.
2. Inconvenient
So, you bought this big meal plan, but when and where can you use it? For me, meals are only accessible during certain times a day for certain restaurants usually the evening. Meaning that you have to use those 200+ swipes on dinner if you want to get rid of them. I've found that because most students leave campus on the weekends, most campus food options are also closed on the weekend making it nearly impossible to eat on the weekends unless you have access to a kitchen which, unfortunately, some underclassmen may not. I found myself eagerly waiting until Sunday night when everyone returned just to eat a full meal without spending money out of my own pockets. Bypassing a meal plan mostly allows me to eat whenever I want.
3. Unhealthy
The infamous Freshman 15 is real. I myself didn't gain the entire 15 lbs., but I remember going home and people noticing that my body didn't look the same as it did before I left. This summer I stayed on campus and I couldn't afford a meal plan. The result: I ended up losing weight. Don't get me wrong, I didn't necessarily buy the most healthy food options from the grocery store, but I also wasn't over- consuming the recommended daily amount of calories in just 2 meals. The food that you can purchase with a meal plan is usually unhealthy except for the dining hall, which is probably the only place you'll encounter a vegetable on campus.
As soon as your school doesn't force you to purchase a meal plan, don't buy one. In the long run, you will be happy that you didn't have to pay that extra money just to eat once a day. And trust me, you're body will thank you for it too!
