This school year, the Baldwin cafeteria has switched to Brock Dining Services, a Malvern-based catering company. New changes to the menu include baked rather than fried food, acai bowls and new nutritious choices.
Some especially well-received items among students include the avocado toast, grain bowl, and the teriyaki salmon.
Baldwin decided to switch catering services in an effort to keep its cafeteria and community healthy with the options being served.
“The tasting of the food, [and] the variety wasn’t where Baldwin wanted it to be,” chef manager Ted Foster said.
Brock has made a major effort to make Baldwin’s meals healthier. This is rooted in the ingredients and the foundation of the food. Brock is actively working to use fresh produce, whole foods, and a variety of proteins.
“I feel like the options this year are healthier and make you feel better, compared to last year when some of the food would not make me feel good,” Ayesha Sayeed ‘26 said.
While many students have appreciated the change, others are more skeptical.
The change has come with the disappearance of beloved menu items, such as the large chocolate chip cookies, pasta, original General Tso’s chicken, and the original fries.
“I think a lot of people liked last year how even if you didn’t like the main course, there was always pasta,” Brenna Knox ‘27 said.
Additionally, there are also concerns about navigating dietary restrictions in the new menu, despite the increased diversity in the menu. For example, many of the hot lunches this year have had meat as an entree with no vegetarian alternatives.
“Most of the days, the hot meal is not gluten-free, so I’m not very satisfied about that,” Faith Morse ‘28 said.
This is also the case with the other meal choices from time to time, giving those with inability to eat certain foods with limited options.
Ms. Mercedes Reichner emphasized that there are plenty of options in the broader menu this year, but she agreed that navigating the menu with specific dietary needs can sometimes be difficult.
“As a vegetarian, I feel a lot more limited this year than I did last year,” Ms. Reichner said.
A longstanding controversy in the cafeteria has been the food prices, even before the switch to Brock services. Baldwin food items are typically more expensive than the same item found at external stores. For example, the difference between the Dunkin’ bottled iced coffee in the cafeteria and at a Target is $1.81. The inflated costs can be a deterrent against buying lunch for students and is a recurring issue for many of the items sold.
The standard price for a hot meal now stands at $7.50, which some community members believe is pricey for a school lunch. Moreover, the salads from the salad bar have begun to be weighed at checkout rather than going by a standardized price.
