{"id":34679,"date":"2026-08-09T15:29:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T10:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=34679"},"modified":"2026-08-09T15:29:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T10:29:09","slug":"for-college-students-gops-20-burrito-debate-is-about-more-than-lunch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=34679","title":{"rendered":"For college students, GOP&#8217;s $20-burrito debate is about more than lunch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/5312e64\/2147483647\/strip\/false\/crop\/5760x3840+0+0\/resize\/1500x1000!\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F5d%2Fd7%2F8aadf5424177981868ccd6bb1037%2Fla-photos-1staff-637258-la-fo-101-burritos-las-palmas-142-1.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<div data-element=\"story-body\" data-subscriber-content=\"\">\n<p>A slew of online discourse unfolded last week after Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet shared that a college-aged member of the conservative nonprofit told him, \u201cA burrito shouldn\u2019t cost $20.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah, a lot of this is a hangover from COVID and Biden-era inflation, but the lived experience is the same: It just feels like basic things cost too much,\u201d Kolvet wrote in the viral <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AndrewKolvet\/status\/2084655580497809835\" target=\"_blank\"><u>X post<\/u><\/a>, which has racked up more than 3 million views.<\/p>\n<p>The online controversy highlights a deep frustration for young adults in Los Angeles. While politicians appear to be debating inflation for their own ends, students are struggling with the reality of not being able to afford food.<\/p>\n<p>A $20 burrito sounds \u201cunjustifiable\u201d to Klarissa Palacios, who graduated from USC in May with bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees in law, history and culture. While in school, Palacios interned at various city hall offices and said her hourly salary eventually reached $25 \u2014 a key consideration for college students, she said, because many young people determine a meal\u2019s affordability based on how many work hours  can pay it off.<\/p>\n<p>With minimum wage in L.A. at $18.42 per hour as of July, college students earning this rate would need to work for more than an hour in order to pay for just one burrito, Palacios pointed out.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m Mexican, so I grew up with free burritos at home, anytime I wanted. $20 is pretty steep,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m expected to eat three times a day. If I\u2019m spending $20 per meal and I work eight hours, then that means I\u2019m only really getting paid five hours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Noticing a need for affordable meals, Palacios and fellow USC student Josiah Herfurth spent this past semester hosting $10-per-person lunches at their college apartments, dubbing the offering Cafe 10:31. The idea budded from a survey they sent to fellow members of their campus ministry, which found that the leading reason students weren\u2019t attending post-church lunches at restaurants ranging from In-N-Out to sit-down ramen spots was because they wanted to save money, not for a lack of transportation or time.<\/p>\n<p>So Palacios and Herfurth began paying out of pocket for bulk Costco runs that fed as many as 40 people per event. On the menu? Tacos, chili, hot dogs and conversation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt started with being just a USC college student thing, and ended up being just a general young adults thing,\u201d Herfurth said, referring to how word quickly spread to UCLA and Cal State Long Beach students, as well as the young adult community at their church.<\/p>\n<p>Herfurth is used to meal prepping in bulk, and said it\u2019s a common practice among college students hoping to cut costs. He and his roommates would  use up to six stove burners at a time to prepare meals together, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was always more fun for me when I could share something with someone else, and it also made things cheaper,\u201d Herfurth said. \u201cThat was the key to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As the  online conversation around food affordability evolved, <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/house\/6015958-dan-crenshaw-burrito-debate-affordability\/\" target=\"_blank\">Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) chimed in<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust hearing about this dumb $20 burrito debate so just thought I\u2019d make the losers on social media angry before going to bed,\u201d Crenshaw <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DanCrenshawTX\/status\/2085178337408782349?s=20\" target=\"_blank\">wrote<\/a>. \u201cStop whining, get a job, eat ramen like the rest of us did in college, on a budget with four roommates.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But  Megan Monroe, who graduated from UCLA in June, said it\u2019s unrealistic to eat packaged ramen like the iconic Cup Noodles brand for every meal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust because someone else did it, doesn\u2019t mean that was the right thing to do,\u201d Monroe said. \u201cNutrition has come such a long way. &#8230; I think it\u2019s for the best that we\u2019re steering toward a better, nutritional diet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Still, Monroe is a stickler for keeping her diet affordable. <\/p>\n<p>Even though UCLA\u2019s dining halls are recognized as the <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.niche.com\/colleges\/search\/best-college-food\/\" target=\"_blank\">best in the country<\/a>, Monroe opted out of the campus meal plan her junior year. Her required freshman and sophomore year plans came out to about $9 per visit, but when she moved to an off-campus,  university-owned housing complex, she had the choice to opt into a plan that would cost about $15 per visit. She deemed it too expensive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was like, I can cook for less than that,\u201d Monroe said. <\/p>\n<p>Since her dining hall days, Monroe now makes one Trader Joe\u2019s trip per week, which usually comes out to about $45. She typically has milk and cereal for breakfast and is known among friends to eat a homemade take on a classic deli combination \u201c360 days of the year\u201d: a cold sandwich, a piece of fruit and a bag of chips.<\/p>\n<p>Monroe does dine out once per week, including for burritos \u2014  she favors the $11 burrito at <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/food\/list\/support-los-angeles-street-vendors-101-best-tacos-guide\">Brother\u2019s Cousins Tacos<\/a> in Sawtelle. <\/p>\n<p>In a <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/food\/dailydish\/la-dd-jonathan-gold-best-burritos-20151020-htmlstory.html\">burrito city<\/a> like L.A., prices can range dramatically, such as  <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/socal\/daily-pilot\/entertainment\/story\/2024-11-13\/michelin-rated-homestyle-burritos-come-to-costa-mesa\" target=\"_blank\"><u>Burritos La Palma<\/u><\/a>\u2019s $5 homestyle burritos, where the menu  recommends ordering two or three per person for a satisfying meal. When former taco stand  <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/food\/story\/2020-01-16\/el-ruso-boyle-heights-tacos-flour-tortillas-bill-addison\"><u>El Ruso<\/u><\/a> opened its  flagship in Studio City last month,  burritos wrapped in 18-inch Sonoran flour tortillas and stuffed with rib-eye or chile Colorado were priced at $20 each. It\u2019s not uncommon to find breakfast burritos that exceed $20, like the $24 wrap with beef machaca and shrimp offered on Daisy Margarita Bar\u2019s weekend brunch menu.<\/p>\n<p>For students at other universities, campus dining varies in affordability. <\/p>\n<p>When Joshua Min started at Cal State Long Beach in 2025, a $315-million renovation project had just shut down its University Student Union through 2028. <\/p>\n<p>In light of the closure shuttering certain food options on campus, the university gathered an array of local food trucks \u2014 with most meals within the $15 to $20 range, Min said. Not wanting to spend  additional funds, he opted into a meal plan offered for commuter students like himself, with 50 meals for the 16-week semester that came  to about $10 per meal.<\/p>\n<p>Min said he had minimal complaints of the food itself; he often filled up his plate with chicken, rice, fruit and vegetables. But he found himself rationing the meal swipes, starting the semester conservatively and ending with extras, which he used by inviting his friends to come with him.<\/p>\n<p>After that semester, Min opted to pack turkey or tuna salad sandwiches for school, using bulk ingredients that his family buys from Costco. <\/p>\n<p>Min said he ultimately was disappointed at Cal State Long Beach\u2019s selection of food trucks, as a student who prioritizes cutting his cost of living.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt seemed like they just cobbled up these ideas at the last minute,\u201d he said. \u201cI respect the effort, but I think a lot of students were left unheard and hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A slew of online discourse unfolded last week after Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet shared that a college-aged member of the conservative nonprofit told him, \u201cA burrito shouldn\u2019t cost $20.\u201d \u201cYeah, a lot of this is a hangover from COVID and Biden-era inflation, but the lived experience is the same: It just feels like&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/049281f\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/5760x3024+0+408\/resize\/1200x630!\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F5d%2Fd7%2F8aadf5424177981868ccd6bb1037%2Fla-photos-1staff-637258-la-fo-101-burritos-las-palmas-142-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34679\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/34680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}