Last month, the La Ventana hot food location in the University of New Mexico Student Union Building’s Mercado convenience store began piloting the new Fare Share program, which aims to alleviate food insecurity across Main Campus.
The program allows anyone with a valid LoboID to choose one entree, one side and one drink from La Ventana’s selection of food and beverages, then pay whatever they wish for what they’ve chosen. Fare Share may be used by customers once a day. Any excess revenue, meaning payment that exceeds the cost of providing the meal, is donated directly to the Lobo Food Pantry.
So far, 79 meals have been served through the Fare Share program, Director of Dining and Hospitality at the UNM Food Office Amanda Gerard said. This amounts to about 6.6 meals per day, and students pay on average $4.77 for a meal, which is about 74% of the retail price, Gerard said…