<p>Would $20 a day (about $600 a month) be about what it would cost to feed a kid living in the LC dorm? Too much, too little?</p>
<p>I kept meaning to respond to your other thread on the LC meal plan but just didn’t have time. But I do have a lot to say about the meal plan/lack of meal plan at LC as it is my biggest complaint about my S’s experience at Fordham.</p>
<p>He just finished Sophomore year and still has money on his card from the required Freshman $1600 meal plan bc the Lowenstein Cafe has limited food options and what they serve just isn’t that appealing to my S. He liked the Smoothie bar better last year before it was taken over by Red Mango and yes, he DID get food poisoning from a salmon entree he ate one Friday in Lent. </p>
<p>But another problem is the hours of operation…they aren’t even open for dinner Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Yes, NYC has plenty of dining options and I assume that has something to do with it as well as the expectation that students are cooking for themselves but I think this is a lot to ask of 18-20 year olds. My S is VERY responsible, the “mother” of his suite, and 1st semester Freshman year he enjoyed shopping for himself and cooking but the newness wears off and the busy college life sets in and I can tell you that he does not eat as well as I would like him to. He isn’t a vegeterian but rarely prepares meat or seafood bc of the time and clean-up involved. Typical foods prepared in my S’s apartment are canned soup, pasta, peanut butter, cereal, ramen noodles, mac & cheese and whatever else is quick, easy and with little to clean. He does eat salad and there are very nice farmer’s markets nearby so I am happy that he does also shop there. </p>
<p>I give him a monthly food budget of $250. He spends some on groceries at Trader Joes, Western Beef or Whole Foods, some at the farmers market, some eating out or ordering in from seamless web. I try to send him back to school with non perishable foods every time he’s home or sometimes, if I know he’s meeting his father who works in the city, I will send some in with him. I also do a major shopping spree at BJ’s in the beginning of each semester and send him Harry & David fruit and snacks each month. Finally, he meets up with his dad every time he wants a meal at a “real” restaurant about two or three times a month!</p>
<p>There are discounts at some local food places for Fordham students but I think it would be better if you could use your meal card at these businesses the way NYU students can use theirs at select surrounding area businesses. Then I wouldn’t mind the required $1600 so much but as it stands, while I don’t feel it’s wasted money to require freshman to put something down, I think the amount is too high and it wouldn’t surprise me if my S does NOT use all of it and he lives there in the summer, too! I’ll let you know in 2014!</p>
<p>As for food shopping, his favorite is Trader Joes but I believe that it is the furthest of the three stores he shops at. Western Beef has the cheapest prices but lowest quality and the reverse is true for nearby Whole Foods. I have seen food delivery service trucks (might be Fresh Direct) in front of McMahon but my S has never used them.</p>
<p>The only other issue regarding food is that sometimes what you buy disappears and that is something that students with traditional meal plans don’t have to deal with on a regular basis. Yes, you try to work these things out with your suitemates regarding what is communal and what you want them to keep your hands off of, but according to my S, people can be funny about that stuff and you just never know.</p>
<p>So your question about a $600 monthly food budget really depends on your child’s needs and what your family can afford. I give significantly less to my S bc I provide for his groceries and meals in the other ways I listed above. I have two comments about establishing a food budget…first, I think it’s easier to increase that budget if it becomes necessary than to tell your S or D you are going to give less when they are used to receiving a higher dollar amount so think it through carefully before you decide on a dollar amount. Second, if you want to be sure the money is spent on food and if it is at all possible, purchase gift cards to the grocery stores and let them spend that. I am planning on starting this with my S over the summer so I can be sure that the food $ doesn’t end up going to theatre tix! </p>
<p>I hope I didn’t scare you too much with my thoughts on LC and food! I do want to say that my S had a crazy busy semester and it didn’t leave a lot of free time to go to the bathroom much less cook for himself! He’s a Playwriting and Performance Theatre major and on top of his classes and required theatre lab hours, he produced a play that he wrote, appeared on stage in another and worked part time. He also grew a couple of inches but didn’t gain any weight so he looks thinner and he was thin to begin with. He was sick a couple of times this semester and, of course, mom thinks the college eating and sleeping habits had something to do with it. He isn’t producing next semester so I hope that having a little more free time will help him maintain a healthier lifestyle.</p>
<p>I wish you and your new Fordham LC student the best! :)</p>
<p>I agree with you sandkmom. Dinner was the most difficult thing for my daughter to deal with each day. It’s hard to have all the ingredients on hand to make real meals. You need time to shop and plan and cook, and there rarely is that much time. She would often be at her job until after 5 pm.</p>
<p>It was a little heartbreaking when my daughter would call me around 6:30 pm and was hungry and just having cereal or rice cakes for dinner. I’d yell at her to go to the cafe, but she just didn’t like the food there.
She survived, but whenever she was at Rose Hill, she would always use the opportunity to eat in their dining hall, and she felt like she was getting a real, actual meal there.</p>
<p>Thank you guys. That is exactly the kind of info I was looking for. Keeping the budget slightly low at first sounds smart. And the idea of cards for Trader Joe’s sounds like a great idea.</p>