Michigan State’s Independent Voice
TU ESDAY, APRIL 8, 2025
A week at MSU, by the numbers
Fruit (lbs)
STAT E N EWS.CO M
Pork, beef and sausage (lbs)
Source: Purchasing report for the 2023-2024 academic year provided by MSU Culinary Services Communications Manager Bethany Zimmerman.
6,327
bone-in beef
Vegetables (lbs)
24,807 fresh vegetables
3,539 2,732 sausage
boneless beef
1,560 1,559 1,555 1,525 bone-in pork
boneless pork
halal boneless beef
ground beef
By Theo Scheer tscheer@statenews.com Campus is home to 51,316 students, 5,696 faculty and academic staff, 565 buildings, 124 miles of sidewalk, 115 miles of storm sewers, nine bridges, 32,163 parking spaces, 21,710 trees, 1,477 streetlights … you get the idea. It can be hard to grasp the size of MSU, especially when the forces that make life on-campus possible often work behind the scenes. In an attempt to better illustrate the magnitude of the university, The State News spent weeks collecting data from Michigan State University spokespeople and organizations, as well as from yearly reports, university webpages and previous reporting. The result is a collection of over 100 statistics showing what happens during an average week on campus, from the number of blueberry bagels delivered to dining halls to the number of students reported for academic misconduct. The State News calculated nearly every statistic from the most recent annual information, meaning the statistics listed don’t account for variations between fall, spring and summer semesters.
A WEEK IN DINING Thousands of mouths are fed each week by the university’s nine dining halls, 14 Sparty’s and a handful of other culinary projects. MSU Culinary Services sources food from nearly 400 vendors from as far as 600 miles away, according to a 2021 food procurement guide. Much of the food is sourced locally. The majority of the baked goods in dining halls and Sparty’s, for example, are made by MSU Bakers, a campus bakery. Per the MSU Health and Wellbeing 2023 Annual Report, 154 people are served over 1,923 pounds of food by the MSU Food Bank.
25,383
1,267
fresh fruit
376
canned fruit
83
frozen fruit
Bagels (6,456 total)
dry fruit
Cookies (28,548 total)
garlic dill jalapeño pepper jack
raisin
4%
blueberry
oatmeal raisin
plain
4%
35%
cinnamon toast crunch
solid dairy
149,653
2,808 cupcakes
M&M
2,030 dinner rolls 660 cinnamon rolls
47%
152 sourdough batard loaves
13%
125 fruit/cheese pies
21% 10%
11%
double chocolate
105 french bread loaves
everything
olive oil cheddar
chocolate chip Source: MSU Culinary Services Communications Manager Bethany Zimmerman.
Dairy and eggs (lbs)
7,348
<1%
13%
8% 9%
frozen vegetables
Misc. baked goods
5%
7%
savory assorted
canned vegetables
sugar
6%
sweet assorted
1,092
3,357
assorted
1%
5% honey wheat
19
gallons of 100% fruit juice
Source: Purchasing report for the 2023-2024 academic year provided by MSU Culinary Services Communications Manager Bethany Zimmerman.
4,698
liquid eggs
combo exchanges are redeemed
1,808
liquid dairy
115,388
617
whole/solid eggs
IDs are swiped to enter dining halls
Poultry (lbs)
6,327 boneless
2,732 breaded
These infographics depict MSU dining statistics in the average week. Charts are not to scale. Photo illustrations by Zachary Balcoff and Dakota Hendren. Photo by Alexis Schmidt.
1,663 bone-in
Source: Chief Communications Officer for Student Life and Engagement Kat Cooper.
1,555
halal bone-in
1,525
halal boneless
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