I just got back from paying off my student account at the Banff Centre. The receptionist asked me, “when are you leaving?” The 22nd I replied. “Do you want to add more money to your meal plan?” No thanks, I replied. I told her I was vegetarian, and that I didn’t care for the dining options. I could tell this made her a bit upset. “We are an institution…” she said. “The new dining hall will be a lot better.” I’m sure it will be, I said.

My reason for writing about this story is that I find it interesting that the fact that the Banff Centre is an institution is an excuse for bad food or lack of options for people with dietary restrictions. If they had people with vision and attitudes of making the most of their role as an institution (e.g. volume discounts, buying in bulk to reduce costs, etc.), I think they could actually do better than most individuals. They do have professional chefs–most people don’t have those at home!

Today I realized the Banff Centre isn’t as benign and “paternal” as they make themselves out to be. In fact, they are pretty sneaky. They have cookies at two of their dining services outlets–The Kiln and The Gooseberry. Cookies are $1.88 each at the Kiln, $0.98 each at the Kiln (albeit, a bit smaller). Soup is more expensive at the Gooseberry than at the Kiln. Props Pub (a third dining service outlet) has cheaper burgers than the dining hall. The maze of what’s cheaper where is actually quite complex.

It seems their scheme is to make some things cheaper at certain places, others more expensive. All the way around, the stuff on campus is only slightly cheaper than it would be in town, maximizing their profits, but ensuring people stay here to spend their money. Definitely crafty.