Food for Thought: The Unspoken Controversies of Sodexo

When AISG changed their meal provider to Sodexo a few years ago, students at first seemed reluctant to adapt to the change. Over time, people got used to it, but perhaps there was good reason behind their apprehension.

One of the most common complaints about Sodexo food is the prices. According to the AISG website, a Sodexo meal costs about 17-31 RMB, though many wonder if that cost is appropriated reflected to the quality of the food or not. This would not be a problem if students were given other options for lunch, yet the only other option is for students to bring lunch from home. Students are not allowed to order food from restaurants, nor are they allowed to leave the campus, though the latter is understandable when considering safety concerns. However, the other reason for our lack of meal options is that Sodexo wants to be the sole provider of food on campus, even with students oughting to have options for what they want to eat, other than Sodexo food.

These are not the only controversies surrounding Sodexo. In fact, the multi-billion dollar company has had its fair share of controversy. In 2010, Sodexo was fined for failing to abide by proper workplace health standards. Among these violated rules were failing to properly label chemicals and failing to give their employees adequate training. The man who exposed Sodexo these violations was promptly fired. In 2010, Sodexo was ordered to pay $20 million to New York for overcharging for food and to settle complaints that Sodexo took the rebates from manufacturers that were supposed to go to public school districts. In 2012, around 11,000 children in Germany became ill due to food poisoning after eating strawberries provided by Sodexo—32 children were hospitalized due to the contaminants in the frozen strawberries that Sodexo provided. In 2013, samples of horse DNA were found in Sodexo’s frozen beef products. Sodexo, despite being a multi-billion dollar company, also fails to pay its employees a liveable wage, which is in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 2017, Sodexo was given an F rating on its food by a team of doctors and nutritionists. Reasons for this were cited as the food being heavily processed and high in fat and carbohydrates. The health issues that could stem from the continued eating of these foods are obesity, hypertension, and heart disease.

Students at AISG are not allowed to order food from restaurants off-campus, and many of them have complaints about Sodexo food. One anonymous student said that the price of food “is absurdly high for quality that’s just alright” and that there is “far too much waste” for a school that wishes to be “environmentally sustainable.” Sodexo does have large portion sizes, and students are not given enough time to eat a full plate of food. For high schoolers, lunch in the cafeteria begins at 11:35 and ends at 11:55, giving just 20 minutes for students to eat a large plate of food. One only needs to take a quick look around the cafeteria to notice the exorbitant waste that is produced daily.

I spoke with Mr. Timmerman in order to understand some aspects of AISG’s contract with Sodexo. AISG first began using Sodexo in the 2017-2018 school year. According to Mr. Timmerman, the AISG administration sent out a survey to the students, parents, and staff regarding the quality of various aspects of AISG, before signing the contract with Sodexo. One of the aspects that garnered the most criticism was the food service. This prompted the administration to form a team to look for a new catering service.

They decided on Sodexo and later signed a contract. One of the terms of the contract is that Sodexo has the exclusive right to provide meal service, which is why students are not allowed to order food from off-campus, and clubs are not allowed to have certain food sales.

I sent out a survey, to which 67 students responded. Out of the 67 students, 34 of them said that they eat Sodexo food every day, and most of the participants eat at both the cafeteria and the Intermission Cafe. Those who responded to the survey gave Sodexo an average ranking of 2.24/5 stars. 80% said that they believe Sodexo should introduce more variety into their meals, and 88% said that they want to order from other restaurants for lunch. 94% of students said that they do not believe that Sodexo prices reflect the quality of the food.

One anonymous student said that they “think that sometimes the food can be unappetizing and/or too expensive,” though they believe that it “is also very healthy because they make sure to put vegetables in every meal.” Another student said that Sodexo is “too expensive,” and that “the quality fluctuates too frequently.”

I then reached out to Sodexo through a representative to understand their side of the story. I planned on asking about the food sourcing, the budget, and the portion sizes, namely. However, Sodexo declined to comment due to the company’s refusal.

Overall, this article is not to point fingers at Sodexo, nor is it to claim that Sodexo is terrible, because some students have had meals provided by Sodexo at other schools and enjoyed it. Simply put, students wished to voice their concerns about Sodexo at AISG. Perhaps small changes could be implemented to ensure that AISG is doing the best it can to cater to the needs of the students.