By Charlie Tanas ’20
Beginning in the 2018 school year, Sage Dining Services was chosen to replace Healthy Foods By Choice as MFS’ food provider. MFS has had the same dining service for 28 years, so switching to Sage was a big step forward. After reviewing proposals from six different food providers, MFS decided that Sage Dining would provide the healthiest and most diverse food varieties for students and faculty.
So far, the wide range of healthy options and daily vegetarian entrees provided by Sage Dining has been a big hit across the school community.
“I eat healthier everyday,” said MFS English Teacher Debra Galler.
Middle and Upper School English Teacher Clare Mackenzie specifically appreciated Sage Dining’s healthy food offerings outside of the salad bar.
“I now want to eat vegetables every day because of the new and consistently good options that they (Sage Dining) offer,” Mrs. Mackenzie said.
For students, however, healthy options weren’t the only reason for their excitement. Jackson Fox ’20 says that he likes Sage because “their hot food selection from different parts of the world opens our student body up to diversity.” Sage Dining has already offered many international food days including Cuban and Chinese Days, each of which have offered a wide variety of foods from those specific cultures.
Julia Holliday ’20 was similarly enticed by the international food options, remarking that “they allow me to diversify what I eat and experience new things.”
Diverse and healthy food choices may play a major role in Sage Dining’s appeal to students and faculty, but Head Chef Stacy Mishlin says that their key to success is adapting to students’ requests and consistently offering new types of food. When asked how Sage Dining connects to the student body, Ms. Mishlin said that “students are welcome to give suggestions.”
Two of Sage Dining’s bestselling daily options, low-fat chocolate milk and vanilla ice cream, were not initially offered, but requested by students. Ms. Mishlin also noted that Sage is attentive to students’ dietary needs, and does its best to serve meals that everyone can eat. This is exemplified by Sage Dining’s recent addition of gluten free pasta, which has never been served before at MFS.
As for the consistently new options, Ms. Mishlin said that she is always thinking of new ways to incorporate international cultures into school lunches.
“We have a lot of international food options and are planning to introduce new ones throughout the school year,” she explained.