Every year the food services here at Ole Miss hold a survey to compare their prices to competition around town and after seeing some of the results this year, I was very surprised.
The reason I was so surprised is because the prices of the items available on campus weren't astronomically higher than the prices at places like BP and Shell. The price of a box of Cheerios on campus is $5.79, while the price at Shell was over$6. Soft drinks and milk were priced at $1.39 on campus, which is the same price available at BP. Ole Miss Dining Services has even joined in on the "$5 phenomenon", making meal combos available in the food court for as low as $5.
"We can't be compared to places such as Wal-Mart because we are convenient stores." said Laine Poole, the Ole Miss Dining Services marketing manager. "We do not increase prices just because we have a captured audience."
Convinced that the university diabolically sought to exploit me for as much money as possible during my tenure here in Oxford, I was pleased to see that maybe they weren't the lying pirates I had made them out to be. Some items in the food court do still have higher prices compared to competitors, but can you really put a price on convenience?
The food court has served me well over the four years I have spent meandering around Ole Miss. It was home to the only Chick-fil-a in town until earlier this year! Located in the heart of campus, the food court offers convenience unparalleled for students living in the dorm or studying for hours on campus.
