Students voiced their grievances against Sodexo and campus dining services in a town hall on Thursday. The event, hosted by the University’s chapter of the Young Democrats Socialists of America, allowed students to share their perspectives on dining hall operations.

The meeting comes as a contract signed 10 years ago by Sodexo, the company that operates University Dining Services, is set to expire.

John Ferrara, the chair of YDSA and a senior double-majoring in biology and Italian, led the town hall, saying students, faculty and administration realize that campus dining “is a big problem.”

“This affects every student no matter who you are, and moreover, Sodexo, the company that provides our food, is a terrible, horrible corporation — worse than average,” Ferrara said. “In addition to providing us unsafe and crappy food that makes us all want to vomit, it’s also a private prison owner in Europe and Australia.”

He was likely referring to a Sodexo subsidiary, Sodexo Justice Services.

Ferrara said the Sodexo-run dining system is unaffordable, lacks adequate dietary accommodations and flouts health and safety standards. He said that Sodexo is intimidating student workers looking to unionize; the company has faced allegations of intimidating union stewards.

After Ferrara presented his concerns with Sodexo management, he asked those in attendance to form small groups and discuss changes they felt should be implemented at the dining halls. Students then voiced their issues with the system, including high prices, undercooked food, and a lack of kosher and halal options for students.

Sodexo declined repeated requests for comment.

YDSA listed a series of demands on a petition form linked to a recent Instagram post. They are outlined in four main categories: meal plan reform, health and safety protections, dietary accommodations and worker rights/dignity.

“Binghamton University frequently touts its status as a ‘public ivy,’ emphasizing its commitment to affordability and excellence on campus,” the petition reads. “Despite this promise, university dining services — provided by Sodexo — are far too expensive, not accommodating towards student dietary restrictions, and lack the quality students expect from the university. We deserve a university where we aren’t price-gouged, where dining workers are paid livable wages, and where attempts are not made to union-bust student worker organizing.”

The petition calls for implementing a meal swipe program to replace the current dining dollars system. Responding to student complaints of unsafe food preparation, it calls for new contract language mandating University-run health inspections while imposing “substantive penalizations on a food provider when it does not meet health and safety standards.”

Sensitive to various student dining needs, the petition calls for a “Simple Servings” station, which caters to students with allergies or other dietary restrictions, to run in every dining hall — not just the Chenango Champlain Collegiate Center or the Appalachian Collegiate Center. Those at the event discussed a lack of food options for Jewish and Muslim students.

“The only dining hall that I’ve heard of that had a halal option was C4,” said a representative from the Muslim Student Association. “But because of the number of employees that are not available to work, the station is closed down. Me and the president of MSA also spoke to Sodexo about ourselves about how there aren’t options on campus, and I feel that they weren’t receptive, to especially the Muslim students.”

The petition demands an additional Kosher Korner be opened at a second dining hall, open for at least three hours per meal, and the installment of two weeklong halal stations with hours adjusted during Ramadan.

Last semester, the Student Association passed a resolution calling for the expansion of kosher and halal dining options on campus, looking to implement similar changes.

“I was really excited that people were passionate about different things: the price, dietary restriction issues, accessibility, just everything that we were talking about,” said Sarah Pitcher, a junior majoring in history. “I really hope that all people who can can spread the petition and just get as many people involved as possible. I think that this is a really good start, and hopefully we can make a lot of progress before the end of the semester.”