About the KSU Sodexo boycott

Don’t mess with Zona

Gabe Hoogers, president of the King’s Student’s Union, gave a talk to the incoming King’s frosh class last Saturday about the boycott begun last week by the KSU against the Sodexo Canteen.

For those of you unfamiliar with the King’s community: King’s is the mighty tiny university located behind the LSC and the Henry Hicks academic building, a place of philosophy, journalism and mad hipster frisbee skills. The boycott is a reaction to a long-held frustration with Sodexo, Kings’ exclusive food provider, and their seeming inability and unwillingness to engage with student concerns about the options being provided on campus. Namely, students with dietary restrictions were going hungry and all attempts to bring up the sustainability and sourcing of food on campus with Sodexo’s management have been slow at best.

Attempting to remove Zona Roberts from the canteen was really the last straw. Roberts has been a mother figure for many a King’s student and a constant presence on campus – she’s been elected the honourary class president by every one of the graduating classes over the past eight years.

Sodexo’s contract comes up for review in 2013, and that process is beginning now. Boycotting the canteen is a way to ensure that student voices are heard, for once.

Personally, I am a King’s kid. Zona has been a huge part of my lunches. This fight won’t affect most Dal students, but it’s a fight worth paying attention to as Dalhousie’s own food contracts come up for review in the year ahead. More about the boycott can be found here, and we’ll have continuing coverage of it as things progress.