By Aidan Bearden / Staff Writer

 Missouri Valley College is currently negotiating a reconstruction of its current contract with Fresh Ideas, which has led to employees no longer receiving free meals. Fresh Ideas, MVC’s food distributor and cafeteria service supplier, has raised its price for the 2025-26 school year. This has led to MVC no longer being able to afford free meals for its faculty and staff. 

Fresh Ideas’ higher demand is due to “rising costs for food and other expenses,” according to an email from Dr. Terry Russell, Vice President of Student Affairs. To compromise, MVC negotiated a discounted meal for employees. These meals have been lowered to $5, a 45% discount from the Fresh Ideas price for non-students. 

The removal of free faculty and staff meals is likely to negatively financially affect teachers.

“Faculty can absorb a little bit more, some staff may be hit harder,” said an anonymous faculty member. 

Some students feel that it’s unjust that faculty and staff dont receive a free meal anymore.

“I think it’s ridiculous that teachers don’t get a free meal anymore,” said student Charles Bedosky. “They work really hard for us, and they seem to do more for us than anybody else on campus.”

However, due to the fear of overcrowding in the cafeteria as enrollment has risen, these meals will not be receivable through MVC’s cafeteria. Instead, employees will have to order from the Viking Express station. Some employees are opposed to this decision and feel they have lost a notable benefit. 

When talking about faculty and staff being allowed in the cafeteria, an anonymous faculty member said; “It’s a very good opportunity to build community and it really helped me build a community whenever I started here.” 

Some students also feel less connected to their faculty and staff without their presence in the cafeteria. 

“We used to be able to say hello to our teachers, get into a good conversation with them, especially at the beginning of the year and get to know them more,” said Bedosky. “It’s not the same without them.”

To combat rising costs, MVC has reinvested in bringing the Mexican restaurant, Qdoba, to replace the Viking Express. This investment will bring no additional cost to students, but is expected to produce profit for the college by bringing a national brand onto campus.