With a staff that focuses on food quality and safety, as well as catering to the students’ requests, the UWMC’s cafeteria is a convenient choice for students.

Jayne Stencil has worked in the UWMC cafeteria for ten years. Now, under her control, the cafeteria is supplied with food from Sysco and Reinhart. “It’s the best quality [food] since I’ve been here,” Stencil said.

Stencil decides upon menus and finds recipes, but most of the food served is upon student requests. The students want French fries every day, so there are French fries. Students demand chicken wraps, too (made with deep fried chicken strips), so they are served once a week.

“We try not to deep fry the food and bake as much as possible,” Stencil said, “Except for the French fries and chicken strips.”

The cafeteria staff does their best to keep the food healthy, cooking foods like rice and vegetables without butter. They accommodate any student’s allergies, and for vegetarians, there is the deli bar, offering egg salad and cheese sandwiches, plus a number of non-vegetarian options, and the salad bar.

The breakfast menu consists of eggs and omelets to order, as well as breakfast meats. Often, there are pancakes and waffles, too. There are usually three or more entrée options daily for lunch. Every Tuesday is “Taco Tuesday,” also a student request, where all sorts of Mexican-style food is served, from tacos to quesadillas.

The food is prepared by Stencil and other cafeteria staff, including several students there for work-study.

The work study students have almost complete control of the cafeteria on the weekends. On Saturdays and Sundays, brunch and dinner are served. Aside from omelets, much of the weekend menu is deep fried.

As far as the suppliers go, on their website Sysco lists descriptions of many of their products, including meats, vegetables and other entrees that the MC’s cafeteria serves. The words “wholesomeness,” “quality,” and “safety” are used repeatedly throughout the site. Sysco describes their ground beef as being “made only of USDA inspected domestic beef from young, grain-fed cattle” and as containing no muscle fillers, and their sliced deli meats are sure to be of “premium texture and color.”

Reinhart’s website makes it a bit more difficult to find product information, but assures their product’s quality.

Having made sure that the food served is of high quality, Stencil has been trying to incorporate local food into the menu as well. So far she has found no local suppliers that would be able to meet the needs of the school.

Many meal plan options are offered where students can select from an entrée plan or salad bar plan. Single meals are also available.