Sophomores in alternative housing opt out of campus meal plan – Macalester College The Mac Weekly

Hannah Catlin, News EditorNovember 14, 2019

If you want to go grocery shopping with Brian Zou 22 youre going to have to wake up early. To leave time for his friends and a rigorous academic schedule, Zou shops on Sunday mornings at 8 a.m.

Not that he minds. For Zou, its been motivation to get to bed early on the weekends plus, he never worries about his errands conflicting with social plans.

Its a time that no ones ever awake, Zou said.

But whats a sophomore doing grocery shopping at all? Macalesters two-year residency requirement comes with an implied two-year stint on one of the colleges three residential meal plans. There are, of course, exceptions.

For students living in alternative housing, a meal plan is optional. From the language houses to the veggie co-op, sophomores like Zou are hitting grocery stores while their friends are going to Sunday brunch in Cafe Mac.

Zou lives in the Cultural House, one of the intentional living communities. For him, making his own food has been a touchstone of his Cultural House experience.

Its nothing official but generally when were in the kitchen, a lot of us are cooking at the same time or meal prepping at the same time, and so we get to share a lot of those experiences together making food together or tasting and eating each others food as well, Zou said.

Often, Zou will make food he remembers from his childhood, a process that has helped him reconnect with his culture.

Now, I have to do it all myself, so cooking for me is a way of stress relief but also a way to get in touch with my own culture, Zou said. Especially making other foods that remind me of home or dishes that I have to call home and ask my parents about.

And Zou loves cooking. Even though hes still on the commuter plan 75 swipes for the semester now, more than halfway through the term, hes used less than 20.

People will ask me to go out to eat and Im like you can come over and I can cook, Zou said.

Zou switched because the commuter plan at $775 is significantly cheaper than a regular meal plan which costs $2,915.

Savings have been a huge advantage for Interfaith House resident Ammar Muhammad 22.

I think being off the meal plan is so much cheaper compared to being on the meal plan and I cant stress that enough, Muhammad said. Especially if youre struggling with finances at home I am with my family it makes it so much easier on you.

Muhammad is not on a meal plan at all this semester not even the commuter plan. While its been a financial relief, it has presented other challenges.

At the moment, my cooking habits are really poor because Im not a very good cook, Muhammad said.

Hes been able to stick to the basics, though stuff thats really, really, really easy to make. In Muhammads kitchen, that means lots of bibimbap and tuna, spinach and alfredo pasta.

Its a challenge that will provide advantages in the long run, though.

Its definitely going to make it easier to transition [to] off-campus housing junior year and senior year, Muhammad said. I really just pushed myself into it and made it a challenge to myself.

Hes also been able to find food in other places.

Macalester makes it easy to find free food on this campus, Muhammad said. I can get meal swipes from first-years and sophomores any time I want, so I have those options too not a lot of people utilize their meal plans to their full ability.

In Muhammads friend group, shared swipes provide a meal and some valuable social time too. With most sophomores still getting the bulk of their meals from Bon Apptit, it can be tricky to schedule other times to hang out.

Cafe Mac is a place where everybody meets each other, Muhammad said. At least with my social group, its been a lot more effort on both of our behalfs to meet up outside of that area.

Veggie Co-op resident Serena Peterson 22 partially agrees its been some extra work to meet up outside of the Ruth Stricker Dayton Campus Center. However, for Peterson, its been a huge blessing in disguise.

I found Cafe Mac to be really exhausting because I saw every single person I know every single time I went in there and its nice to be able to eat dinner or any meal relaxed, Peterson said.

The Veggie Co-op, like the Interfaith House and Cultural House, is an intentional living community this one centered around food.

Five nights a week, all 18 Co-op members will gather together for huge community meals prepared by two of the residents. Peterson said the kitchen is also often a gathering place where people will catch up while cooking or doing their homework.

Getting off the meal plan and living in this community environment has been a dream for Peterson.

I found that my mental health has been a lot better being in an intentional space, she said. Its just a really good community which is nice to come home to every day. It feels like a home.

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Sophomores in alternative housing opt out of campus meal plan - Macalester College The Mac Weekly