By Jack Bradley

McFall Hall. Photo credit: Delta Graphic Inc.

The cafeteria: one of the best but also challenging parts of your school day. After losing the cafeterias and food service last year due to the pandemic, many Collegiate students and faculty are happy to see cafeteria service back. 

Walking into McFall Hall, you get a waft of the amazing smells that the Classic Kitchen, Global Fare, Sauce and Stone, Greens/the Local Deli, and the Sweet Shop provide. In addition to their wonderful smells, the taste is delicious. Before you can make it to the food, however, you have to wait in an awfully long line. Who runs the cafeteria, you might ask?

Elior, a French food and support services company, decided to take their business to America in 2008. Elior bought Aladdin and a few other companies and changed their name to operate as one, Lexington Independents. Myra Edwards, Collegiate’s Food Service Director for Lexington Independents, shared the preparations and precautions that go into preparing McFall Hall for food service after a year-long hiatus.

Edwards is in charge of all the food service at Collegiate. Her job consists of ordering food, supervising and hiring staff members, and reporting final returns. She talked to me about the preparations that Lexington Independents undertook for this year’s lunches. She said that Lexington Independents “started planning mock up menus” in February. Edwards mentioned that one of the possible proposals that was considered for this school year was to give each student a boxed lunch, but the price would have been too much. Another option proposed was that out of the four lines, two would serve one food product and the other two would serve another. This choice could possibly become an option in the future.

As COVID-19 restrictions were adjusted over the summer in preparation for the 2021-2022 school year, Lexington was able to return to a somewhat normal lunch in McFall Hall. This consists of four lines, with a cafeteria staff member there to serve each employee or student. However, some of the main differences from before the pandemic are the lack of self-serve salad bars, having to bring your own beverages, and seating. 

The outdoor lunch policy for the Upper School, due to the pandemic, includes all students sitting outside when possible, six feet apart, without masks, and being able to talk. Head of Upper School Patrick Loach said at the beginning of the school year, in an email to the students on August 29, that “Students will have the freedom to choose where and with whom to eat lunch.” This does come with some restrictions, such as spacing and masks, and not talking while eating indoors. While these steps may seem inconvenient, they are in place to prevent the aerosol spread of COVID-19.

The patio outside McFall Hall. Photo credit: Kjellstrom + Lee Construction.

The indoor lunches only come into play when the weather is not ideal for students and faculty to sit outside. For indoor lunches, students get their food from the cafeteria and then head to their designated lunch areas. Students will sit two to a table, unmasked, and should not talk to one another while eating. Beck Garnett (23’) said “I don’t like indoor lunches. I am not able to talk to friends.” Once students are done eating, they can put masks back on and talk. Collegiate is doing their best to keep everyone safe.

In the cafeteria, the staff wear masks, have increased hand washing, and change gloves regularly. In our interview, Edwards spoke on what would happen if COVID-19 cases were to rise at Collegiate. The cafeteria would have to “resort to a grab and go.” This would consist of all four lines serving the same items. Most of the cafeteria staff are vaccinated, but if someone on the staff were to get COVID-19, then the cafeteria would most likely change to all of the staff being quarantined.

The cafeteria does face some challenges, one of which is the lack of getting food, drinks, and paper products on site. Edwards mentioned that “there is supply chain backload because of the amount of people that lost their jobs through COVID, didn’t decide to return to work, and so there’s deficits in every sector in the food service industry.” When the delivery drivers come to deliver their products to Collegiate, Lexington does not always get enough product that they have gotten in the past because of supply chain issues and lack of workers. Another challenge that Lexington Independents faces is that the cost of food and paper products has risen.