This past summer, the Riverdale administration hired Mr. Andrew Benson as the new River and Hill Campus food service director. His role in the Riverdale community is to oversee the creation of higher-quality fresh lunches. The lunch has garnered many complaints from the students and faculty in previous years. Mr. Benson and the food staff aim to squash those complaints and make the lunch experience more enjoyable. Mr. Benson explains that his missions are “ moving towards a more sustainable approach and providing more local ingredients which will lead to fresher and better quality lunches for the community.” 

Not only has Mr. Benson been working to improve sustainability and freshness in our cafeteria, but he has also been working to include more diversity and inclusion in his menus. He says they are now “Offering seasonal menus so that the kitchen staff is giving the community the best possible product and exposing the dishes to a wider variety of different cultural and ethnic backgrounds of dishes.” Mr. Benson is committed to ensuring that the menus and food are more inclusive. He aims to provide food for those with dietary restrictions, introducing new dishes from different cultures within the community. He also is making an effort to make lunches healthier! 

With these goals in mind, Mr. Benson and the kitchen staff have worked through challenges to create the best possible lunch experience. Mr. Benson explains that the food department struggles with “equipment and training.” To achieve the goals he aspires, the chefs would have to be acquainted with how to cook all different food ethnicities and adapt new cooking styles. He recognizes this is an ambitious expectation to meet. Having to work around these tough struggles makes it even more of a challenge to create diverse and sustainable lunches. However, Mr. Benson has prioritized providing information for each dish served to combat these issues. He hopes this will explain the choice of the dish and the culture behind it. He is working with the faculty “to have content put up on the screens and in the student portals to give background and information on why [they] are providing each dish.”

One of Mr. Benson’s leading approaches to improving lunch is hearing the community's feedback. He hopes to create proactive measures such as “a student-led committee to help give feedback and input on the menus.” Many students have commended Mr. Benson for all the changes he has been achieving. A student went up to him “and thanked [him] for having quinoa at the salad bar.” Quinoa is a great gluten-free, high-protein alternative to rice. Having alternative dietary options ensures students feel satiated throughout the school day and until the end of sports. Not only do comments give Mr. Benson great feedback, but also provide constructive criticism. Mr. Benson highlights his openness to hearing everyone's opinions and wants to be very involved with the student body to ensure everyone's needs are met. Some comments from students highlight a common theme. 

Sophomores Gabby Arron and Nikhil Roy state: “While the sandwiches are very good, I don’t always find the hot lunch or the salad bar so appealing.” and “I think the food is much better than last year and there is much more variety of choices. However, I think they should improve the sandwich and salad bar to make it look a bit more appealing.” Mr. Benson is open to constructive criticism because he believes it is essential for progress to be paved for the Riverdale lunch in the future. 

Mr. Benson wants all students and faculty to enjoy coming to lunch. Promoting playfulness, community education, and student food enjoyment fosters a positive environment. This hopeful environment cultivates knowledge and a passion for good food. Mr. Benson's central mission is to “start something new with Riverdale and engag[e] with the community to continue to develop and educate their pallets.”