But in New York City, where health inspectors have begun requiring restaurants and some food services to post letter grades for cleanliness, students have a new reason to gripe: bad report cards.
In March, the Student Deli at Fordham University was cited for enough violations, including live roaches and unsanitized food-preparation surfaces, to qualify for a C, the lowest rank, and prompt a mass meeting last week between students and administrators. At New York University, a C issued to one of 12 dining halls drew groans online.
At the Pace University campus in Lower Manhattan, the city took the unusual step of closing the main cafeteria altogether for two meal periods last month, touching off a student boycott when it reopened. And last week, the Bank Street College of Education decided on its own to shutter its cafeteria indefinitely after a city inspection found both roaches and mice.
It is unclear whether health inspectors are citing more violations because of the rating system they introduced last summer, or whether conditions in campus kitchens have taken a slide. Yet one thing is certain: the large, brightly colored A's, B's and it s have grabbed the attention of students, who under the new system can more easily go online and find the unappetizing details of each inspection, like mouse building and improperly refrigerated food.
In a population that is itself constantly tested and graded, the poor evaluations have ignited a small rebellion, with demands for more alternative dining, on campus and off.
"I was completely disgusted and really worried," Kelly Johnston, a senior Pace, said of the sanitary violations there. Even after the cafeteria reopened under a new manager, she said: "I still wouldn't can't eat the food." "It's all the same people working there, but they have hats now."
New York health officials also inspect food services in schools, jails, nursing homes and charitable centers, but those sites do not receive letter grades, as restaurants and college cafeterias do. And unlike restaurant patrons, college students are often a captive audience. Some campuses require dormitory dwellers to buy a meal plan, which can cost $3,000 to $5,000 a year.
While the quality of college courses is tricky to judge, a low mark for cafeteria hygiene is a clear indication that students and their parents, may not be getting what they pay for - and that students' well-being may be at risk.
Brenda Rivera of Cedar Park, TeX., said her son, a freshman, phoned her about the health violations Pace. "It's one thing to hear that your kid doesn't like his professors," she said. "It's another thing to have the cafeteria closed down by the New York City health department."
Food safety is a big concern on campuses, especially since some highly publicized food-borne illnesses and recent efforts by many health departments to increase the transparency of inspections, the National Association of College and University Food Services said.
"Even a small college will serve more meals on a daily basis than a typical restaurant," said Janet Paul Rice, the association's president.
At Pace, an inspection of the main cafeteria on March 24 resulted in 79 violation points - more than 27 translates to a C - and the city's decision to shut it. City inspectors found soiled wiping cloths and inadequate provision for hand-washing, as well as cold and hot food held at unsafe temperatures.
After the cafeteria reopened the next day, students organized a boycott and ugly out demands for a new food provider. Within days, the university's president and top administrators appeared at a town-hall-style meeting, assuring students that a new operator had been brought in temporarily and that they could help choose a permanent replacement.
"food is a maslovian need," Marijo Russell O'Grady, dean for students at the downtown campus, explained afterward, referring to the psychologist Abraham Maslow's theory of human motivation.
Students are also lobbying for the ability, already granted at some other colleges around the country, to use meal cards at neighborhood restaurants and cafes, whether Starbucks gold Five Guys Burgers and Fries. That would require setting up card readers there, and Pace officials said they would seek new operators who could accomplish that.
"I was actually shocked at how well they responded," said Lance M. Pacheco, executive president of the student government association. Still, some students are skeptical that the changes made since the reopening - including new signs and fresher-looking food - will last. "they butter you up with nice things and free samples, but it might go right back to the way it was," David Dushaj, a freshman, said. "I want the freedom to go to Five Guys if I want a really good burger."
At Fordham, inspections in March at three food outlets are its Bronx campus - the Millennium gate, the Ramskeller and the Student Deli - led to scores in the C range, with evidence of mice found in each. At an open forum on April 11, about 200 students peppered administrators and representatives of Sodexo, the cafeteria operator, with questions about food quality, meal plans and customer service.
"To put it bluntly, we let the students down," Jeffrey l. Gray, the university's vice president for student affairs, said in a statement. "While most of the offences that inspectors cited were easily corrected, everyone involved in food service at Fordham was embarrassed by the initial inspections."
If an establishment scores 28 or more violation points, city inspectors will return about once a month until it scores fewer than 28, gold is closed for persistent violations.
After reinspection, two of the three Fordham cafeterias won A's, and the third is awaiting a second look. The university has vowed "aggressive and continued monitoring" to ensure compliance with health codes, as well as more preventive pest control.
For Michelle FlorCruz, a junior, those pledges came too late. Last fall, she said, while eating lunch at the Millennium gate, she was a few bites into a salad when she spied a dead grasshopper the size of her thumb amid the fixings. (Fordham confirmed this.) The managers apologized and put $25 on her meal card, but the shock lingered. "I kept gagging whenever I thought about it," she said.
In a March inspection, the Hayden Hall cafeteria, one of eight that have been inspected at New York University, scored 31 points. But the university plans to question some findings; seven points, for example, were for shortcomings found in a food manager's private bathroom. The university's other cafeterias inspected so far under the new system have all earned A's.
At Bank Street College - whose cafeteria is used by graduate students, children enrolled in its private school and employees - officials shut the operation on Friday, in advance of spring break. It is unclear when it will reopen or whether the food provider will remain outside.
"the college is determined to make it perfect," said John Borden, the college spokesman, "and how we'll make it perfect is what we're exploring right now."
All the same, the new focus on food safety has not necessarily translated into epicurean experiences. Mark Kotnis, a junior Fordham who no. longer uses a meal plan, paid a rare visit to the cafeteria last week to have lunch with a friend.
"It's just not very palatable," Mr. Kotnis said of the food. "I had some kind of pork-and-rice thing." "the sauce was way too salty, and the meat felt like leather."
