Packed to the brim with students, faculty and staff cruising for a snack, the Laney College cafeteria has fully reopened this semester, complete with its pre-pandemic offerings that include specialities from the hot grill, sandwiches, snacks, drinks and coffee.
Seated comfortably in a sea of hungry patrons is counseling student Sajida Sarwari, relishing a plate of hearty cheese fries adorned with jalapenos.
She’s one of many students who depend on Laney’s cafeteria for a quick, low-cost bite between classes, and has been waiting for the reopening.
The cafeteria’s saga began in March 2020, when the Peralta Community College District shutdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Laney college opened a drive-though food pantry in April 2020, in partnership with Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation and World Central Kitchen.
When campuses reopened, so did the Laney cafeteria, but with limited offerings.
The cafeteria began offering students free lunches four days a week, in addition to the pantry items twice a week and produce boxes three days a week.”
In the last four years, the food services department has distributed 206,000 free meals, 49,000 bags of fresh produce, and 41,000 grocery distributions, according to Food Services Manager Neil Burmenko.
Now, with the cafeteria fully reopened, students can grab a burger from the grill or a cobb salad from the grab-and-go fridge.
The cafeteria will also sell food prepared by the Culinary Arts Department, such as soups, salads, and cold kitchen items.
More vegetarian meals are now being offered to meet increased student demand, according to Burmenko.
The cafeteria is no longer offering free lunches due to a lapse in the federal COVID-19 relief funding that helped pay for it, Burmenko said. However, the food is still relatively low cost with some options as low as $6.
Additionally, the Laney Basic Needs Center is offering free lunch on the Laney Quad every second Wednesday of the month.
The food pantry, which now sets up on the Laney Quad, is still providing groceries and fresh produce to students in partnership with the Alameda County Community Food Bank.
“We are in the process of building out a permanent pantry space,” Burmenko said. “I would say probably another months, months and a half before that opens.
The food pantry is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Students need to show their student ID with a current semester sticker to participate.
The cafeteria is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., but closes early on Fridays at 2:30 p.m.
BASIC NEEDS COORDINATORS:
- Berkeley City College: Izzie Villanueva (they/them/theirs) [email protected]
- College of Alameda: Jeremy Simmons (he/him/his) [email protected]
- Laney College: Katrina Santos (she/her/hers) [email protected]
- Merritt College: Susana Abdurahman (she/her/hers) [email protected]
