Title

Divestment from Sodexo and Aramark: Addressing U-M Complicity in Human Rights
Violations

Thesis
The University of Michigan should pursue alternative avenues when its current contracts with
food service providers Sodexo and Aramark come up for renewal in order to cease the
University’s complicity in the companies’ unethical activities.

Background and Analysis

The University of Michigan utilizes the food services from two corporations, Sodexo and
Aramark. These companies are two of the three largest food service contract companies in the
U.S. as of 2017.1 Sodexo and Aramark are responsible for both catering and concessions on
campus within Michigan Athletics, Michigan Medicine, and in several hospitality units,
including the Ross Executive Conference Center.2 Both companies have accumulated countless
accusations of human rights violations spanning decades. These accusations include but are not
limited to: a clear, direct link to the prison industrial complex, unethical labor practices, racism
and discrimination, employee misconduct, horrific food quality and safety, and environmental
destruction.3,4 This is clear from the number of class-action lawsuits filed against both
corporations. Many colleges and universities across the nation have already terminated their
contracts with one or both of these companies and opted for contracts with more transparent and
ethical companies. It is time for the University of Michigan to join this movement.

The Policy Idea

Given the extensive records of human rights violations by food service providers Sodexo and
Aramark, the University of Michigan should terminate or discontinue its contracts with these

1 “FM Top 50 2017,” Food Management, March 27, 2017, https://www.food-

management.com/top-50-contract-companies/fm-top-50-2017?PK=UM_FMt5017s
2 “Locations,” Sodexo, https://umich.sodexomyway.com/Concessions#
3 Megan Cole, “How The Food Supplier Making Prisoners Sick Is Serving Meals On College
Campuses,” Generation Progress, February 1, 2016, https://genprogress.org/how-the-food-
supplier-making-prisoners-sick-is-serving-meals-on-college-campuses/
4 Natalie Delgadillo, “Maggots With a Side of Dirt? What Privatization Does to Prison Food,”
Governing, February 1, 2018, https://www.governing.com/topics/public-justice-safety/gov-
private-food-service-prisons-aramark-trinity-ohio-michigan.html
companies upon their expiration dates. By choosing to work with alternative food service
companies, the University can stand by its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Talking Points
● The University of Michigan has outstanding food and facility service contracts with
Aramark and Sodexo, two corporations that both have long track record of violations.
● Sodexo and Aramark both have accumulated a poor track record of both human rights
violations and have major stakes in the prison industrial complex in the United States and
internationally.
● The University of Michigan should terminate its existing contracts with Sodexo and
Aramark upon expiration and seek to partner with more transparent and ethical suppliers
for food and facility services.

Policy Analysis

This policy eliminates the University of Michigan’s complacency in the unethical practices that
Sodexo and Aramark are known to perpetuate. The only way to effectively stop supporting these
companies is to choose to not renew contracts with them. Due to the significant but not all-
encompassing scope of these companies’ presence on campus, the University must take bold
action to remedy the damage caused by its involvement with Aramark and Sodexo. For example,
Sodexo handles concessions for the university at athletic sites including Michigan Stadium,
Crisler Center, and Yost Ice Arena, which have a combined capacity of about 128,000 people.5
Aramark supplies catering and food service to Michigan Medicine and at the Ross School of
Business Executive Learning & Conference Center.6,7

The human rights violations perpetrated by these corporations disproportionately impact

particular marginalized communities. Food service workers are at the forefront of these practices.
Foremost, approximately 40% of food service workers live twice below the poverty line.8
Additionally, less than 2% of food service workers are involved in unions.9 Further, the
demographics of food service employment is disproportionately skewed on both racial and

5“Locations,” Sodexo, accessed December 2, 2019

https://umich.sodexomyway.com/Concessions#
6 “Retail Food Services,” Michigan Medicine, https://www.med.umich.edu/food/
7 “Executive Learning and Conference Center,” Michigan Ross, https://www.acc-
elandconferencecenter.com/
8 Tom Philpott, “40 Percent of Restaurant Workers Live in Near-Poverty,” Mother Jones,
August 27, 2014, https://www.motherjones.com/food/2014/08/40-percent-restuarant-workers-
live-near-poverty/
9 Philpott, https://www.motherjones.com/food/2014/08/40-percent-restuarant-workers-live-near-
poverty/
gender lines—African Americans are most likely to be employed in the lowest paying
positions.10 In continuation, Aramark and Sodexo are blatant actors within the U.S. and
international prison industrial complex. Thus, both food service workers and incarcerated people
are particularly vulnerable to the violations executed by these major corporations and have a
limited capacity to advocate on behalf of such injustices. This particular policy would seek to
redress the University of Michigan’s role in contracting with these unethical corporations for
both reasons.

Next Steps

The first step in implementing our policy is reaching out and connecting with other colleges and
universities who have successfully gone through the process of terminating contracts with
unethical food service providers, including, but not limited to, Aramark and Sodexo. The next
steps will be connecting with both campus and local organizations that advocate for human
rights, and in particular the rights of workers and incarcerated people.

Key Facts
● Sodexo and Aramark are two of the largest food and facility services corporations in the
world. Sodexo earned a revenue of $23.75 billion in 2018 and Aramark earned a revenue
of $16.2 billion in 2018.11,12
● Both Sodexo and Aramark have been criticized for their unfair labor practices and
continual human rights violations, particularly with food and facility services workers
and among incarcerated people.13
● Sodexo operates 122 prisons in at least eight countries, and prisons and immigrant
detention centers in the U.S.14Aramark provides services to over 600 prisons in the U.S.15

Action plan snapshot

In order to see our goals reach fruition, we intend to meet with the University of Michigan
Dining Services office in order to discuss the problematic nature of their relationship with

10 Philpott, https://www.motherjones.com/food/2014/08/40-percent-restuarant-workers-live-
near-poverty/
11 “Sodexo,” American Friends Service Committee, https://investigate.afsc.org/company/sodexo
12 “Aramark,” American Friends Service Committee,
https://investigate.afsc.org/company/aramark
13 “A Strange Case,” Human Rights Watch, 2010,
https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/bhr0910web_0.pdf
14 “Sodexo,” American Friends Service Committee,
https://investigate.afsc.org/company/sodexo
15 “Aramark,” American Friends Service Committee,
https://investigate.afsc.org/company/aramark
Sodexo and Aramark. We also intend on testifying before the Central Student Government in
order to vocalize those concerns.

With regard to coalition partners, we can consolidate our efforts with organizations on campus
including, but not limited to, Michigan ACLU, American Friends Service Committee, MI
CURE, Safe & Just Michigan, PCAP, Prison Birth Project, UMICH Behind Bars, and Prisoner’s
Rights Organization of Students in order to advocate for this policy change. For our
communication strategy, we plan to provide a platform for formerly incarcerated folks and/or
workers who have had a negative experience with Sodexo or Aramark and to gather student
testimonials to gauge how they feel about the issue at hand. We are also going to launch a social
media campaign with a divestment slogan that raises awareness about the human rights
violations that those two companies perpetuate

In December, we will reach out to other university campaigns that have successfully led to
divestment from food service companies that are partaking in harmful practices. At this point, we
will begin to set up our social media. In January, we will reach out to other progressive
organizations on campus who have similar goals that align with ours in order to build our
coalition. Concurrently, we will gather personal testimonials from students about food services
on campus. In February, we will schedule a meeting with the University of Michigan
Endowment/Investment Office and meet with the Central Student Government to express our
desire for a change in policy. As time progresses, we will increase our campaigning efforts in
order to ensure that the University can acknowledge its complicity in the human rights abuses of
Sodexo and Aramark. By March, we will have made sure the University has explored all
alternative company options before forming the 2020-2021 school year budget.

Bibliography
“A Strange Case.” Human Rights Watch. 2010.
https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/bhr0910web_0.pdf
“Aramark.” American Friends Service Committee. Accessed December 2, 2019.
https://investigate.afsc.org/company/aramark
Cole, Megan. “How The Food Supplier Making Prisoners Sick Is Serving Meals On College
Campuses.” Generation Progress. February 1, 2016. https://genprogress.org/how-the-
food-supplier-making-prisoners-sick-is-serving-meals-on-college-campuses/
Delgadillo, Natalie. “Maggots With a Side of Dirt? What Privatization Does to Prison Food.”
Governing. February 1, 2018. https://www.governing.com/topics/public-justice-
safety/gov-private-food-service-prisons-aramark-trinity-ohio-michigan.html
“Executive Learning and Conference Center.” Michigan Ross. Accessed December 2, 2019.
https://www.acc-elandconferencecenter.com/
“FM Top 50 2017.” Food Management. March 27, 2017.
 https://www.food-management.com/top-50-contract-companies/fm-top-50-2017?
PK=UM_FMt5017s
Locations.” Sodexo. Accessed December 2, 2019
https://umich.sodexomyway.com/Concessions#
Philpott, Tom, “40 Percent of Restaurant Workers Live in Near-Poverty.” Mother Jones. August
27, 2014. https://www.motherjones.com/food/2014/08/40-percent-restuarant-workers-
live-near-poverty/
“Retail Food Services.” Michigan Medicine. Accessed December 2, 2019.
https://www.med.umich.edu/food/
“Sodexo.” American Friends Service Committee. Accessed December 2, 2019.
https://investigate.afsc.org/company/sodexo