Students are asking UNM to cancel the school's contract with Aramark.
Aramark is an international company that provides food services to large venues such as stadiums, businesses and schools.
UNM signed a contract with the company in 2000, aiming to consolidate campus food services. That contract is up for renewal in April.
GPSA member Clayton Beverly said he doesn't want the Board of Regents to renew Aramark's contract.
"It's an eight-year contract, and there's reasons having to do with Aramark's disrespect for the most basic rights of the people and the fact that we can do so much better if we support the local economy," he said.
Beverly said the University needs to provide students with better options.
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"I think we should set out some minimal standards of what we would be proud of as a University," he said.
Kristine Grow, spokeswoman for Aramark, said the company has plenty of options to offer students.
"Aramark is actually a leader in nutritious options for the kind of food service we provide," she said. "We have sponsored national studies that we call our DiningStyles studies that review the kinds of nutritional preferences that our customers have across the nation, and we have built several different nutritional options based on those studies."
Marcos Escobar, organizer for Unite Here - a hotel, laundry, gaming and food services workers union - said Aramark mistreats its employees.
Escobar flew in from San Francisco to assist UNM students in organizing a campaign against renewing the contract.
"We're in a fight with Aramark because we're trying to transform the way that the sub-contract food industry operates," he said. "It's an industry that organically creates a race to the bottom for workers, because these giant companies make lower and lower bids. So, the way to stop this is by organizing density and key markets to sort of raise the basis for all workers in the industry."
The Graduate and Professional Student Association passed a resolution Thursday saying UNM's contract should be awarded to a food-service provider that can show evidence of environmental and social-justice practices.
The resolution also stated that the food-service provider should offer healthy options for students and show a preference for fair-trade-certified products.
Jamie Koch, president of the Board of Regents, said students were being misled by Unite Here.
"They'll come, and they'll do their organization, but they don't say, 'Well, it is going to cost you more money to do what we want,'" he said.
Koch said a change in food-service providers would impact students' wallets.
Grow said she is concerned that students are being misled by Unite Here.
"What I'm afraid is happening is that you have some union representatives on campus that are, let's say, distributing information selectively to the students," she said.
Escobar said students were already upset with Aramark before he showed up.
Walter Miller, associate vice president for Student Life, said he has met with students over their concerns.
"When you're trying to please 25,000 people on a daily basis, you need that feedback to make sure that you're doing the right job," he said.
Miller said the University is considering bids from Sedexho and Chartwells.
"The issues we're dealing with are some of the same points of concern students have related to, such as sustainability, eating healthy and organic options," he said. "We're raising the right points with possible vendors, and we're talking to three companies, and those are the issues that have come out."
Student MerCurie SanSom said she doesn't want Aramark's contract renewed because she's tired of the SUB's food options.
SanSom said the Market Place is the only healthy option in the SUB.
"It's very, very sad what they pass off for food in this country," she said. "That's why we have such a high proportion of people with all these perfectly preventable diseases - chronic diseases."
Koch said students should consider the financial ramifications of contracting another company before demanding a change.
"What you have are organizers coming in and raising heck - stuff like that," he said. "What it all comes down to is if that does happen, who's going to pay for it? You are."
