UWM Dining Halls Face Criticism from Students: A Follow-Up After a Worm was Found in Food

After a UWM student allegedly found a worm in their food from the dining hall in the beginning of the fall 2023 semester, the dining team has had several conversations with the provider of their produce, Aramark, to ensure they are executing the appropriate sanitation and cleaning practices, according to the Associate Director of the Union Marketing Services, Brandon James.  

The dining team claimed to implement better techniques for food before it is served after the incident, according to Media Milwaukee reporter Charmeka Wells in an article titled “Complaints Unveiled: UWM Student Claims to Find Worm in Food.”  

“I can’t say UWM dining will ever get to the point where it’s 100 percent contaminant free,” James said. “What I can tell you is that UWM dining is doing everything they can to eliminate or minimize it.” 

Sophomore Stephanie Perez lived in Cambridge Commons last year, where she claimed to receive food poisoning from the dining hall and regularly experienced cold food. Since Wells’ article in the fall, her experience hasn’t changed.  

“I don’t really eat at the Sandburg Cafe,” Perez said. “Somebody found a bug in the cereal the other day. I don’t know if there’s a single thing in there that you can trust.” 

At UWM, students living in the residence halls in suites without a kitchen (Sandburg South, North, West and Cambridge Non-Upgraded Suites) are required to have an anytime dining plan. 

The least expensive dining plan is the silver plan costing $4,133 per year which includes unlimited food and entry to the dining halls, according to the UWM Dining & Retail Services website. 

The most common praise of the dining halls is for their breakfast options. They provide an abundance of options with eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy, cereal, waffles, hashbrowns, fruit and more. Students also enjoyed having access to a panini press; however, it was removed only a few weeks after its arrival. 

A common complaint made by students is the lack of variety provided for students with dietary restrictions.  

On the UWM Dietary and Retail Services website, one can locate food at the dining halls that coincide with specific diets. For vegetarian students, there are 75 food options shown; however, over half of them, 38, are desserts from the bakery section, six are cereals and five are toppings at the waffle bar. 

There is a special dietary needs form that students are asked to fill out when they begin a dining contract indicating any dietary need that must be accommodated for. After the form is completed, the student can talk to the associate director or head chef of dining.  

“We encourage them to come talk to a manager,” James said. “Most of the time we have an alternate option that satisfies their dietary need. The ability to open up the communication is critical.” 

There was also conversation around the idea of letting students opt out of a dining plan if they have dietary restrictions that would affect their experience in the dining halls. Instead of this option, the solution has been to try to place students with restrictions in dorms that do not require a dining plan.  

“We don’t want to force people into a meal plan they won’t eat with,” James said. “At the same time, there are budgetary realities from both housing and dining that we have to be responsive to.” 

Another issue students have mentioned is the timing of food stations closing. On weekdays, they are open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and on weekends from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. However, certain food stations close earlier than others; for example, the fruit station is closed by 8 p.m. on weekdays. 

“I feel like it’s one of those things where the employees are like ‘we’ll just close this now, so we don’t have to do it later,’” freshman Grant Meister said. “I’m very confused about the times, it’s so random.” 

The times for closing are specified on the dining hall’s website, but the signs and television screens inside the dining halls are regularly inaccurate. Typically, with the wrong times or wrong food options displayed, according to Meister.  

Students and parents can voice their opinions, positive or negative, about the dining halls through the “contact us” page on the UWM Dining & Retail Services website.