It’s safe to say that there is a wide range of support for Brown’s dining system. Maybe you can find two people on this campus willing to do the Ratty challenge every weekend. Some are able to tolerate the sacrilegious offenses to various cultural foods–like Andrews pho and Ratty tacos–although it pains me to admit that the Ratty kimchi is pretty on point.
Turns out: forcing half of the undergraduate population on a very expensive plan ($5,912 for freshmen, $5,566 option available for sophomores) does not help shape good public opinion. So at this point, it’s pretty much illegal for sophomores to not complain about the meal plan.
But what if we converted the SciLi basement to a grocery store?
According to a study done by Brown University, “not having time for groceries was a leading cause for food insecurity amongst all student groups” (Enhancing Opportunities for Engagement: Strengthening Food Security at Brown). Now imagine a grocery store in the SciLi. Imagine the revenue. Imagine taking advantage of the absence of the free market, forming a monopoly over the food source for thousands of students, in order to rake in that money.
For those students who are on the meal plan, the SciLi grocery store would provide an alternative food source that still allows Brown Dining Services (BDS) to expand this monopoly. BDS could continue to entrap the students who live on-campus in a web of capitalistic intent by exploiting Brown’s nearby-grocery-store-less-ness and enticing even upperclassmen who escaped the dining hall system by physically moving out of the dorms to shop at the SciLi basement.
Having commodities readily available to this college population would also stop the rampant stealing from the dining halls. It would allow BDS to reduce the “stolen food” cost incorporated into our meal plan, improving their reputation in the eyes of the student body. (Or not remove the costs and reap double the profits, I guess).
Imagine how much money the Ratty itself loses now by simply having to-go boxes. Many a time I have seen people fill up those to-go boxes with food… or worse–to-go boxes full of cereal. Every Cheerio ingested, every Frosty Flake taken is more money lost for dining services. But with a grocery store, everyone could have a real box of cereal. Students would love it.
For BDS, of course, the question would be “isn’t Gourmet To Go enough?” The pop-up store in the Underground of Faunce was recently reduced in size from the beloved Campus Market (and given a ~fancy~ name). Conspiracy theorists say that the downsizing was a tactic employed by BDS to save money on products that weren’t being sold. But did BDS even consider what would happen if the SciLi basement was a grocery store?
The SciLi Basement is a great location for a grocery store, geographically, psychologically, and gastronomically. It is located in a central location on campus and it is a Providence tourist destination. How many times have you seen tourist groups stand in front of the SciLi, mesmerized by the fact that each of the 14 floors is a different color to fit the pH scale?
It is also a great place to wage psychological marketing warfare. The SciLi is full of students who are hungry from using their brains, and also students who want to eat to procrastinate using their brains. There is a reason why 97% of my expenditures during finals season are on bubble tea, and it has everything to do with how close bubble tea stores are to the SciLi. Now imagine if the SciLi itself sold GROCERIES. I wouldn’t be able get enough of that fresh fruit, boxes of spinach, or rotisserie chicken.
Not to mention, it wouldn’t even cost extra to set up grocery store infrastructure, since the entirety of the basement is one big refrigerator.
The basement already serves as a site of socialization, food-sharing, and caffeine-induced tears. Why not add a little bit more flavor?
Disclaimer: I have no hate for dining services. I just really love grocery stores and the SciLi basement and want to see this happen in my lifetime.