By: Alex Bak
McMaster University boasts one of the highest-ranking school food services with Centro at Commons claiming fourth place in the Huffington Post’s 2015 list.
It is also home to various food choices that services all kinds of tastes as well as cultural and dietary restrictions with vegetarian options at Bridge’s Café and gluten-free options for certain dishes.
Though this is true in some respects, it neglects the financial concerns and burdens that students face in order for this to be true.
An aspect of this rather idealistic market of eateries that shrouds a disregard for student finances is the Mac Express Meal Plan that is mandatory for first-year students living in residence.
This program is meant to be easy and convenient for students, but does not accounting for the ease and convenience of the students to fund such an exorbitant amount of money.
As an upper-year student who has lived in off-campus student housing and prepped meals instead of purchasing food on campus, I ended up spending around $50 a week to eat healthy, nutritious meals while still eating out on occasion.
With the minimum meal plan for non-apartment or suite-style students being $3,955, a mass equaling half of most programs’ tuition, it is a program that can devastatingly pressure the students’ financial burden.
To make things worse, McMaster Hospitality Services implemented an additional policy that 50 per cent of your meal plan money is set aside as “pre-paid overhead costs” for operating residence dining halls.
This will be deducted from the start offset with the 50 per cent discount on campus food, with any leftover funds being carried over becoming non-discountable for students after the year is over.
Unlike the printing accounts that students have to print at McMaster libraries, the meal plan does not guarantee your leftover money back the way PrintSmart does, which further contributes to the financial concerns of the McMaster meal plan.
This policy puts yet another load on students to finish their already unaccommodating meal plans to not be stricken with this penalty.
These implementations that are incognizant of possible burden almost act punitive in nature. These deter certain individuals from enrolling into residence and forces them to opt for off-campus housing for their first-year possibly missing out of a once-in-a-lifetime experience and social environment of residences.
The real issue is that those who work to promote the meal plan to students hide behind the slogan of “a plan to fit all needs”.
This slogan is untrue and needs to be reconsidered on the grounds of nutrition and convenience as well as the financial burden that it brings to students.
In addition to obliging students to eat on campus, the meal plan does not encourage students to discover the Hamilton community and experience new places.
It also does not allow students to attain the valuable skills to budget time and money, which is an important skill that first-year residence students and students in general should learn.
University is meant to teach students the importance of budgeting responsibilities with basic everyday routines like making time to eat, but the meal plan counters this experience for first year student on residence.
A policy that is ignorant of the ranging financial situation of the students is one that needs to be revisited.
This is not an argument against abolishing the program, as it has irrefutable perks such saving a lot of time to put towards academics, rather an awareness to unsuitable and ill-fitting standards for mandatory financial obligations for students.
It is important that incoming students as well as hospitality services understand the concerns that come with the student meal plan and work towards improving the experience and service for future students.
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By: Mohamed Mahmoud
McMaster University is home to thousands of students from across Canada and around the world. With such a wide reach of geographic diversity comes a variety of people from different cultures and religions.
A diverse student body and staff means the university’s Hospitality Services team should be able to provide an inclusive environment for everyone.
The issue I would like to specifically bring to light is the lack of halal food options provided by McMaster Hospitality Services and the clarity with which these options are presented.
Just so we are on the same page, ‘halal meat’ is simply meat that is hand slaughtered in a specific manner to ensure a more humane and clean slaughter of an animal for consumption.
In Canada, halal food is becoming increasingly popular. In keeping with the times, McMaster should accelerate their progress to accommodate these food needs for groups with food preferences.
Some people choose to eat a vegetarian or vegan diet, with others preferring halal meals.
This is not exclusively a religious dietary choice, but may just be a dietary preference.
Those who eat halal food have limited food options and don’t always want to settle for just a vegetarian meal.
The students who are affected by this the most live in residence on campus and are restricted to the food on campus for their meals on days that cooking may not be an option.
These students are not given equal opportunity to have a diverse menu when compared to those who may not have this personal preference.
On campus, halal options are currently available in most food places on campus. For example, the East Meets West Bistro in Keyes boasts a menu where almost all chicken meals are halal.
However, labelling halal meet in a way that makes it clear to students what is halal and what isn’t has become less common.
It simply isn’t enough to rely on the employees to provide such information.
When I personally asked the line workers at some locations in Centro and La Piazza about the halal options, they were unable to answer and could not point me to the right person who would know.
This contradicts the “make McMaster your second home” goal for students, and may leave customers feeling like their dietary preferences are not welcomed in the McMaster community.
It is evident that McMaster Hospitality Services is able to provide halal meats from their suppliers, but it isn’t clear why these options are not always available and aren’t campus wide.
If one meal can be halal, why can’t all of them be? Honestly, when the Willy Dog cart seems to have to clearest dietary options with both halal and vegetarian options, you know things need to be re-assessed.
McMaster prides itself in its diverse population and its ability to provide accommodations for different groups on.
Seeing as the McMaster community is becoming more diverse each year, why can’t the options for dietary keep up in diversity?
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Most people come to Mac expecting to spend four or five years here. But for Vojka Jovanovic, it’s been nearly 40 years.
As an employee of McMaster Hospitality Services, Vojka has come to be one of the university’s most beloved employees. From her post at Centro’s NeedaSub station, she offers both sandwiches and life advice to students.
“I am here almost 37 years and I feel like I start yesterday,” said Vojka of her time working at Centro.
Hailing from Montenegro, Vojka immigrated to Canada 40 years ago, knowing basically no English.
“When I come… I only know three words [in English]. My name, my last name, and my address,” she said.
With little English experience, she got her first job in the country working at the Rathskeller Refectory, many years before it became Bridges and The Phoenix.
After one year, she moved from the refectory to what would become her second home.
“[They] said to me, ‘Vojka, we need you in the Commons building. We got about 1,000 students who need to be served food.’ And I say, ‘okay, I try my best,’” she explained. “I try my best to learn English, to communicate with people. And the moment I stepped in I feel like I’m home. I don’t know what it is, but that was my feeling,”
While the location she has worked in has been the same, much has changed in food services in her time at McMaster.
“Looking at the Commons now, and looking Commons thirty seven years ago, it’s a huge difference, because today I don’t know what we’re missing here.”
Vojka’s pride in her workplace became clear when The Silhouette sat down with her. In fact, there was hardly any sitting involved, as she insisted on showing off the amenities that Centro has to offer.
“I think the cafeteria look like a huge hotel sometimes,” she said.
This wasn’t always the case. Vojka described how, in earlier years while working on the salad bar, there weren’t always a lot of vegetables to be had.
“At that time, the vegetable was more expensive. We got green beans, we got Brussels sprouts, we got carrots. But [something] was always missing because they say ‘oh, it’s a little bit too expensive.’”
Instead, she and Maria, a fellow Commons employee, used to prepare something with fewer vegetables.
“We used to mixing 200 pounds macaroni and tuna salad. That was the favourite for the students,” she said.
The food preparation is only a part of the job for Vojka, however. Working in a meal hall that serves mostly first-year students, she has acted as an advisor, a mentor, and a mother away from home.
“I love my job very much, because I am mother, I got a feeling,” she said, suggesting that having a daughter of her own helped her to care for the students who frequent Centro.
“I feel so proud when I am in a line and some people come and they say ‘oh, Vokja, I miss my mother, I miss my father, I miss my brother.’ What else do you gonna do, you just hug them. You say ‘don’t worry, you going to be okay, you gonna love this place.’”
She explained how she loves to give students advice on anything in their life, from personal issues to their futures.
“Sometimes the student come to me and they say ‘Vokja, I like to be a doctor. What I should do, I am in first year here, you are like my mother, can you tell me?’ I say ‘Honey, eat, make yourself comfortable, study, make your mother proud. Live with your dream and you will be.’”
And such advice has been consistent over her many years at Centro. Vojka described how in Sept. 2013, she encountered a gentleman who was about 50 years old and had been a student at Mac.
“He come to me in line and he say ‘Vokja, can I hug you please, you was my best lunch lady. This is my son, he is a student here. Can you please take care about him?’ What else can I tell you, I feel so great. That is my thanks.”
Her encouragement extended as well to the Marauders, of whom she says she is a big fan.
“I tell them, ‘guys, before I retire, you gonna be number one.’ And yes, they was,” she said, citing the success of the Marauders football team at the Vanier Cup in 2011. The team, remembering how big a fan she was, returned to the University to take a picture with her and their trophy.
Even with such love for her job, Vojka admits that she can only continue for so long. With 37 years under her belt, she is looking to retire come April 2014.
“My time is over…pretty soon. I go to retire, because my body said maybe it’s enough. But I was very proud, very happy that I was working for McMaster. This is in my heart and I will keep it for as long as I live.”
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly spelled Vokja's last name. It is Jovanovic, not Ivanovitch.
