With no other competitors submitting a bid, Sodexo will serve Binghamton University dining halls and the Marketplace for the next decade. We had hoped that competition might encourage Sodexo to make positive changes to its upcoming contract, but in the absence of market forces compelling bidders to offer more attractive deals, students must voice their concerns as Sodexo negotiates its new terms.
In recent years, Sodexo created new avenues for students to give constructive feedback. Sodexo representatives meet with the Student Culinary Council monthly, allowing any and all students to attend these meetings and voice their concerns. Students can ask Sodexo staff questions and give feedback online, and management often answers student comments publicly, displaying them on monitors in the dining halls. While Sodexo doesn’t implement every proposed change, it’s clear that they’re somewhat receptive to new ideas.
Sodexo’s renewed contract, like “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift,” is the sequel we neither asked for nor necessarily wanted. We wish, like “National Treasure 3,” that it was a sequel we were more looking forward to. But like “Tokyo Drift,” it could eventually lead to better things, and make the franchise rethink itself and strengthen as a whole. Just because Sodexo is the only chump willing to serve BU students does not mean that this new, 10-year contract will be the same old thing. Contract renegotiation is an opportunity to suggest sweeping, less gradual reform.
Anyone who cares about the quality of campus dining should identify areas in need of improvement and present suggestions to Sodexo officials in the weeks leading up to contract renegotiation. Certain key reforms must be considered, and students need to take an active role in advocating for them. With the proper effort, we can end up with a “Fast & Furious 6.”
One such concern is that vegans and vegetarians need more options, or at least more readily available options. The College-in-the-Woods vegan station and Meatless Mondays (which aren’t meatless so much as not quite so carnivorous) are not enough. These students need to eat three square meals a day, not just Monday night dinner. A nutritious vegan option should be available in every dining hall at all meal times, and it should be properly and visibly labeled as such.
Something we’ve mentioned before is that the larger Binghamton and University community would benefit from more local businesses stationed on campus. We spent an entire editorial singing the praises of Moghul, a Vestal-based Indian food restaurant with a station in the Marketplace. Instead of bringing in Subway and Dunkin Donuts, Sodexo should try to collaborate with local eateries or suppliers and include them in contract negotiations.
We’re not necessarily moping that Sodexo pizza will still be in Binghamton University dining halls when we’re 30, we just want to make sure that Sodexo keeps pace with all the expansion and improvement that the University has planned.