Earlier this month, the cafeteria at Truax campus implemented a series of changes, including a price increase and new items added to the menu. The price increase was due, in part, to inflation and supply chain shortages. Additionally, there will be new items added to the menu for the cafeteria as well as the bakery.
David Dorst, the Executive Chef of Dining Services and Beth Peters the Sous Chef at Truax campus’s cafeteria, spoke on the significance of the price increase, and how the changes could affect students.
“We haven’t significantly raised our prices since 2019. As everybody knows from supply chain issues and inflation… we had implemented some price increases for those reasons. But we can’t deny it’s not going to affect students,” explains Peters.
Some discounts and aid are provided for meal assistance. Recently, the cafeteria introduced meal deals at the panini and taqueria stations. Provided in the deal the buyer will get chips, a cookie, and a soda, all costing between $7 to $10. Also, if a person uses a one card to pay for food, students get a 10% percent discount and faculty and staff will get a 5% discount.
With changes to the price of food, there are also new menu items coming to the cafeteria.
Some of the new menu items include a grilled chicken sandwich and a possible additional item to be added is vegan falafels.
Dorst and Peters say that tofu is the deciding factor on the outlook of vegan options. However, Tofu is expensive and harder to locate. Another very possible, but not set in stone decision is bringing back the pizza station. They will continue to investigate, adding small changes to the menu soon.
On the bakery side, dirt cakes and cake pops are on the horizon for new desserts. Only slight changes will be made to the banana bread. The banana bread will be making a change to banana muffins instead. The recipe will be the same, but just in a different form, which provides more time and efficiency to cafeteria staff due to short staffing.
The cafeteria has been focusing on cross training their employees due to staff shortages. They have been focusing on Madison College event catering and are the sole providers for the catering program. As a result, they are working hard at providing support for students and staff.