Stop requiring MCAD residents to purchase $600 cafe cards

why it gotta b mandatory ?

say sike right now, this is absurd. Especially at a time like this, they want more money from us? As if tuition wasn't already expensive. This type of plan would better off as an OPTION rather than a REQUIREMENT.

Having it as an option is great, but to require it of students is classist and further restricts housing and attendance opportunities to low income students and students with dietary restrictions.

Making the option available is great, and it is economical, but there is absolutely no reason it should be mandatory. What about students with strict dietary restrictions that can't eat anything there? Are they SOL?

I love the food at the Bistro, but I'm not in a financial position to be paying $600 every semester. Maybe this could be presented as an option instead of a requirement.

If MCAD truly wanted to provide healthier ways for their students to eat food, why not offer more van trips on the weekends, provide website resources for healthy meals and tips for meal preparation, or a map of local restaurants and grocery stores to support. Forcing on campus students to cough up $600 for food with almost no dietary alternatives is not only ridiculous, you dont even get the money back if any is left over after spring semester. This is essentially cornering freshman into eating food they possibly may not like instead of helping people work on supporting themselves and making their own food. Oh, and you can't even be exempt from it due to financial reasons, what a great message youre sending MCAD!

I enjoy the bistro food like everyone else, but I save a lot of money (and make better tasting food) by buying my own groceries. I think this could be a good idea but I think it should be an optional one.

Seriously?? This shouldn't be a requirement! If people want to buy from the Bistro THEY WILL. As students, buying groceries is a much cheaper option, and the Bistro's food isn't even always the healthier option.

This isn’t okay. There are so many students who can barely afford tuition here, 600 could be a deal breaker.

I like the bistro as much as the next guy, but forcing students to cough up another $600 for an unnecessary expense is absolutely ludicrous. We pay to live in dorms with kitchens, if we wanna use the bistro we'll go there, but theres no way I'd drop that amount of money there each semester.

This is a good plan to have for students who want it, but it should not be forced upon students who don't want it!! The Bistro Food can be expensive sometimes and not everyone can afford it along with groceries and have it be worthwhile. Many students are here on scholarships and don't have the financial means to add on $600 dollars to the cost for food they could get more cost efficiently at a grocery store.

The dorms have their own kitchens for students to make food in. To FORCE students to pay $600 for a meal plan for your cafe is ridiculous and so greedy. The food that the cafe is not the type of food for EACH student to eat $600 worth of food over the year. It's not healthy and it is expensive. That is such a waste of money for the students and should be an optional meal plan. This shows more about caring about the school than the well fair of the students. This makes it sound like they are trying to get more money out of students from a lack of people coming into the cafe this year because of COVID, and that should not be put on to the students who live on campus and can't afford to live off campus.

We have kitchens for a reason. Forcing students to pay 600 for bistro food on top of the already huge tuition price is just ridiculous!

MCAD, I would be very unhealthy if I survived on Bistro food

This punishes students more than helping them, especially those with financial or dietary restrictions. Requiring students to buy this seems like a way to pay for the failing bistro system rather than something help students. Reconsider.

600 dollars can buy around 60 meals at the bistro, if you ate there 5 days a week, 3 meals a day, it will only cover you for four weeks. 600 dollars, spending 30 dollars a week on food, can last a student roughly 20 weeks worth of food. MCAD is trying to force us to spend 5 months worth of grocery money for a months worth of oily food that will not be able to fit everybody's diet.

what?? why??? who thought this was a good move? thats not even what a meal plan is -- a meal plan is like, heres a flat fee from the beginning for one meal a day at the bistro. not just "also you have to buy this HUGE gift card" ?? what this feels like is that MCAD was so mad about refunding us $500 of our tuition during covid that theyre trying to make it up (with profit) next semester by pushing this. enough people at mcad live on bistro food anyway, i would think. come on man

This is not the way to go about encouraging healthy eating habits. I spend ~$320 a semester on groceries I get elsewhere and I am eating much better than I would if I spent those funds at the bistro. Requiring students to have this $600 charge card would make access to food and other needs more burdensome, not easier.

Students are in no position to be forced to buy $600 bistro cards, especially when this money could go towards groceries more suited for a students diet.

Please don’t make us buy one! I will literally never use it and I really don’t need to waste money right now!!