Lough students face ‘rank’ meals delivered hours late while self isolating

With hundreds of students having experienced isolation across campus, many people are relying on the meals provided by the university. But, the state of the food has come under heavy criticism from students who’ve received meals.

The catering service provides meals seven days a week. Breakfast is delivered in batch once a week containing an assortment of food such as bread, beans, porridge, cereal, and milk. Each days dinner and the following day’s lunch are aimed to be delivered in the early afternoon, though some students have reported not receiving dinner till as late as nine o’clock at night.

Many of students have complained to the service – even the Vice Chancellor himself – and the poor quality of food.  The quantity repetativness  has also come into question.

One student said: “Every day was the same combination of a disappointing packaged sandwich for lunch, with zero choice of fillings  (so if it contained something you didn’t like you were out of luck) and some kind of microwave meal. The meal was usually some mix of limp, stew-like vegetables with dry rice or pasta”.

Another student wrote: “For the first six days, it was the worst food I’ve ever experienced. I’m not a picky eater, but 700 calories a day is not the one.” He continued: “The first six deliveries we had were the same. Sweet and sour chicken ready meal for every dinner”.

At the start of isolation, their household had received just enough food for that day’s breakfast, leaving everyone in the flat hungry for most of the day. This went on for almost half of the flat’s isolation period.

These students estimated they were receiving between 800-1000 calories a day per person. For reference, the NHS website states that “men need around 2500kcal a day”. These numbers caused massive concern to those who were relying solely on the food provided. 

The student’s complaint was sent to the Vice-Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer and received a reply the following day. The next delivery contained much higher quality food for dinner and more diverse options for breakfast. Though better food in the future for those isolating it is little consolation for those who are now out of lockdown.

While the quality of the provided food has increased, there is still much concern among students who face isolation over the coming weeks and months. This has left many students asking what the future of self-isolation looks like at Loughborough University with some wanting to return home during this time.

The University has since state:

“In the early days of term, some food deliveries were overstretched. Plans were immediately put in place to improve the quality of food provided and ensure it reached students at an appropriate time.”