Here at Sonoma State, it is required that freshmen get the Seawolf All Access meal plan, the most expensive plan. It is designed for the dorms that don’t have kitchens where students can access the cafeteria an unlimited amount of times per day. The cost of this meal plan is $3,077 per semester and it is included in the Housing and License Agreement for any freshman living on campus, regardless of whether you have a kitchen or not. 

According to culinary.sonoma.edu, the reason behind requiring first-year students to have the Seawolf All Access meal plan is, “This gives first-year students the convenience of having meals easily accessible so they can focus on academics, meeting new friends, and enjoying campus life during their first year.” Assuming that this reasoning is true, why wouldn’t Sonoma State allow freshmen to choose the meal plan they believe is the best fit for their lifestyle? 

The schedule for the cafeteria starts with breakfast from 7:30 a.m. to 10, lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and dinner from 4 p.m. to 8. While these times seem reasonable, what isn’t taken into consideration is that a large amount of college students don’t get up that early for breakfast and some students might have longer morning or evening classes. In addition to the inconvenience of the times not working with your schedule, The Kitchens has a no-to-go policy. Fruits and occasionally pre-packaged salads are the only food that is allowed to be taken to-go. Given the fact that freshmen are paying $3,000 for their meal plan, students should at least be able to take their food with them. Tara Cota, a first-year political science major says, “It’s disappointing that we can’t take food to-go. As a working student, I don’t always have time to sit down and eat. There are many times when the caf is extremely packed from students here on field trips as well.”   

The meal plan can come off as a huge rip-off for college students who don’t use the caf or like the food being served there. A first-year business major, says, “My experience with the caf has been positive and negative. Most of my experiences seem to always end with something wrong with my meal. For example, the time I found a fly in my salad.” While students are appreciative of the food, there could be some room for improvement. A precaution in this situation could be to put lids on the salad toppings to prevent flies from getting in. 

Overall, whether you are a student who likes the caf or not, you should have a choice of what meal plan works best for you. Bonilla says, “I don’t think I would have dropped the meal plan, but instead I would have chosen a different one as a backup plan in case I don’t have time to cook and want to grab something quick.”