By The Cascade’s Editorial Board
UFV is not known for its abundant food options at the best of times, but this summer, things will be especially dire for students spending a lot of time on campus, as it has been announced that the cafeteria will be closing for the summer. But even without the cafeteria, which is too highly priced for many to miss, the shortened hours and limited options at Timmies and Fairgrounds are nobody’s friend.
The rationale behind eliminating cafeteria hours in summer is that there are fewer people on campus, and they’re spending less time here — nevermind students who work on campus, are studying for midterms or doing group projects, have evening classes, or live in Baker House. In reality, there are fewer students on campus in summer: in UFV’s 2017/18 year, there were 5,000 summer students versus the fall/winter semester’s 11,000; so, about half. But does their presence — along with staff and faculty — not come into consideration?
Director of Ancillary services Cameron Roy says there isn’t enough demand for Dana Services to make money, and when looking at other universities with better summer dining options, one wonders if it’s UFV’s model — specific stations that require an employee to be situated in each — that’s the problem. UVic’s food service employees work for the university itself, and while we can’t make a direct comparison because they have a higher summer population, especially in residences, their food services are extremely accessible; the main cafeteria, Mystic Market, is open until 7:00 p.m., and it doesn’t appear they’re losing money from this arrangement. UBC has also reduced their own food services, but allows outside franchises such as Subway and Booster Juice, many of which are open for the summer.
The UBC Okanagan campus has a similar student number to UFV, with around 10,000 students in 2017/18. They also reduce their hours, but still have a market open until 10 p.m. and multiple food options on campus, including six franchises and a cafe.
Having said this, UFV obviously has a substantially lower amount of students per year when compared with UVic and UBC’s Vancouver campus, and the cost of remaining open for longer hours during the summer is undeniable. But when the campus is so far from other options (Sprouted Oven is 1.4 km, the nearest Subway is 3.6 km, and the nearest grocery store is 3.5 km) especially for students who don’t drive, something has to be worked out.
It’s clear there are financial problems that come along with keeping a service available when there’s not enough demand; look at what happened with the Canoe, which closed in 2018 with a nearly $300,000 deficit. With nothing to replace it, the options on the Abbotsford campus have been reduced to the cafeteria, the newly opened Triple O’s, and a handful of cafes and coffee shops.
The food options on the UFV campus are not in alignment with UFV’s hope to reduce the current on-campus commuter culture. If there are limited options on campus for students, then why would students remain on campus after their classes are done? The university is growing, and the food services are being left behind.
Image: The Cascade
