Food is essential for survibal. Where people get it, consume it, or store it ultimately doesn’t matter in terms of a body’s needs.

Considering the seemingly endless amount of food choices for Americans, there is a tendency to be comfortable with specific tastes and the ability to be picky. Sometimes this is good, other times it is an assumed privilege. Thankfully, Cornerstone recognizes the different tastes and eating habits of a large student body and, in doing so, does a good job of balancing a budget and hundreds of customers.

With the recent budget and fee changes at Cornerstone, the meal plans are not left untouched. Cornerstone will begin offering new options in fall 2009 which include plans of 10, 12, 15 or 18 meals per week for residential students. Only senior students will be offered an option of seven meals per week. Along with the new numbers, flex dollars will be eliminated.

Nancy Schoonmaker, senior vice president and chief financial officer, said the university is attempting to find a balance between pleasing students and financial safety for the school.

“Our goal is that [the changes] would provide more choice to students and still provide a model that is sustainable from a financial perspective,” Schoonmaker said.

Schoonmaker also emphasized a student voice in the decisions.

“These changes were initiated because we heard that students want to pay for what they use. Now they can do that,” Schoonmaker said.

Along with the university’s mindset of saving money, students are equally concerned about balancing their own budgets. An important question following the concept of offering new plan options is who is benefiting from the changes?

From a business perspective, it is logical for the university to always consider the best options to save money and be financially responsible. However, students’ concerns and desires make up the other side of money saving issues. Ultimately, Cornerstone will choose how much they want to charge for meals and what types of plans they will offer.

But the elimination of flex dollars and five specific meal plans is not necessarily helpful to students who already rely on campus food for daily sustenance. Flex dollars were a helpful option in the past for some students and their elimination has caused some disappointment.

Freshman Kerri VanDyke, an elementary education major, mostly relies on campus food. She enjoyed using her flex dollars to regularly buy coffee at Solid Grounds in the Corum.

“I know a lot of my friends don’t like that they are eliminating it,” VanDyke said about flex dollars. She also enjoyed the ability to turn flex dollars into a Meijer gift card for her grocery needs.

Regarding the new meal options, VanDyke said she thinks it is beneficial to offer different numbers because some people simply like to make their own food.

Considering the many different options and ways to utilize flex dollars, it seems having multiple meal options won’t necessarily make up the difference for students. Nonetheless, budget cuts and major financial changes seem inevitable in a suffering economic climate.

Although there may be less freedom without flex dollars, the tiered system offers its advantages for students with varying approaches to campus dining. The business aspect of running a college is not always glamorous, but money is a necessary part of life and an opportunity to show good stewardship. Along with financial responsibility, a globally aware perspective on food is humbling as we begin to understand how much we have been given and can learn to appreciate.