A change to the gold meal policy that accompanies the meal plans purchased by students each academic year has been made for the 2026 – 27 school year. The change in policy will impact students directly, by creating a $9 credit instead of the previous gold meal options set by Idaho eats.
This provides more options to spend the gold meal currency, instead of having the same meals available each time students want to go grab a meal at the dining spots on campus.
In an email interview with the Argonaut, resident district manager of Idaho Eats, Jerrod Soza said, “students wanted more flexibility to choose from a broader menu. Students can now still select a meal fully covered by one gold meal or apply the $9 credit to another menu item and pay the difference.” Now, the $9 credit allows students to have a wider variety when choosing meals from the dining locations on campus.
When asked about whether or not this was a testing phase for a new system that was going to be implemented, Soza said that Idaho eats is, “always seeking feedback to continue making improvements to the dining program and meal plan offerings” and that they “do not currently have plans to make any more changes to the structure of Gold Meals, but will continue evaluating the program and make adjustments where they would improve student experience.”
The Argonaut asked whether there were external factors influencing this change, Soza said, that Idaho Eats has, “maintained the $9 Gold Meal value for the past five years, even as food costs have increased” and the only factor influencing the change was students wanting greater flexibility with their options concerning the Gold Meals.
Soza said that the “goal was to provide more flexibility with choice and value for our guests on a meal plan” and “because the updated structure was introduced this fall, we are continuing to evaluate how students are using it and listening to their feedback.”
Abigal Hale can be reached at [email protected]