As of the 2025-26 fall semester, the meal replacement process from Spencer Grill has been substantially changed. Previously, meal replacement orders were taken at the cash register and could be collected from the Grill counter when the order number was called out.
According to Monica Reyes Ramirez `26, a Spencer Grill student worker, starting from this semester, orders can only be made via the GET Mobile app and are collected from cubbies at Spencer Grill, which can be accessed only via the order code available on GET Mobile. In previous semesters, the food for meal replacement was prepared in the Grill, while this semester, the meal replacement food has been prepared in fixed quantities at the Dining Hall.
Kate Hanson, the assistant director of dining services, wrote in an email to The S&B that the meal replacement process in previous semesters required Dining Services to essentially halt all other operations to prepare the meal replacements in the Spencer Grill, making changes to the system necessary. Modifications to the meal replacement process and menu were made to give Dining Services more flexibility in serving students.
“The Dining management team made this decision looking at sales performance and wanting to provide services for everyone,” wrote Hanson.
Due to the Grill fryers now being unused during meal replacement hours, the Spencer Grill can now also serve hot food items from their non-meal replacement menu. The meal replacement menu is now significantly different from previous years. Hanson wrote that items which were made in the Spencer Grill deep fryer were removed for this semester, since the fryer was considered incapable of managing the production of meal replacements. The 16-ounce plastic cups for meal replacement drinks have been replaced by 12 ounce cups which, Hanson wrote, are the most popular serving sizes in the Grill.
Hanson wrote that since the institution of the new system, Spencer Grill had seen shorter lines, faster service times and was able to serve students without pausing counter service for those who wished to order non-meal replacement items from the Grill menu.
Hanson wrote that she did not expect the new system to negatively impact Dining Services student workers.
“If we continue to grow service at the Spencer Grill it could increase our need for more student staffing,” she wrote.
Ramirez said that the new meal replacement process has reduced the workload of student workers significantly, especially for the students preparing the food. However, she added, the GET Mobile app often malfunctions.
“Every night I’ve worked, there’s been an issue with the app,” she said.
Student Government Association president Keanu Yamanaka `26 was unable to get a meal replacement at the Grill due to issues with the GET Mobile app. Yamanaka wrote in an email to The S&B that the SGA has already met with Dining Services once this year, and has planned three more meetings for the rest of the semester. Yamanaka noted that after their initial meeting that the SGA had received multiple requests from students sharing their difficulties in ordering through the GET Mobile app and meal replacement processes.
He stated that the SGA will continue to advocate on behalf of each and every Grinnell College student to ensure equitable access to food. “No student should ever have to go hungry,” wrote Yamanaka.
“We have experienced three occasions when the GET application has shut down,” wrote Hanson. “The service provider is working to resolve this issue. When this has happened, we then move to the counter service style we used last year.” She wrote that overall wait times under the new system have been shorter than last year.
Ramirez noted that students whose apps were not working often tried to get student workers to help them get meal replacements anyway, and grew irritated when they realized that the workers had no control over the process.
“I’ve noticed that people seem to think that we, student workers, implemented it,” she said.
“I don’t think we [dining services] advertised it well enough,” said Ramirez, referring to the new meal replacement process. “When I was working on my first Sunday shift, people started lining up at the cash register and then we had to tell them how it worked.”
Ramirez said that earlier in the semester, Spencer Grill supervisors allowed student workers to take meal replacement orders even if they were unable to order through the app, but Dining Services management had stopped allowing this later on.
“When the GET app has occasional outages, our priority is making sure students still have access to their meals,” wrote Hanson. “In those rare instances, we’ve shifted temporarily back to the counter-service system used in past years. Even then, meals are always exchanged through a card transaction or meal swipe — just as they are through the app.”
