The Rollins Dining Services System
Rollins College Dining services run through Sodexo, a multinational corporation that provides food services, integrated facilities management, and catering services. While some are critical of the quality and price of Sodexo food, partnering with one of the largest food purchasers in the country allows Rollins Dining to negotiate contracts with local vendors like Sugar Top Farms, Kelly’s Ice Cream, and FreshPoint Central Florida and national manufacturers like Kraft Heinz and Coca-Cola.
Behind the Plate: Navigating Regulations and Safety
The Florida Department of Health’s food service statute covers both public and private schools. Food served on the Rollins College campus must: (1) meet Chapter 64E-11 of the Florida Administrative Code, (2) require a food permit, and (3) be inspected by the county health department. However, the director of dining services, Cristina Cabanilla, said that “our internal standards are often higher that those required by the government,” as staff must check and document every product label for allergen accuracy and review ingredient changes. Cabanilla states, “great food must always be safe food,” so our dining services team also runs internal audits on top of the state-mandated ones.
Rollins vs A National Picture
Federal rules are shifting. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) 2026 priorities include replacing petroleum-based dyes, reviewing questionable additives, reducing children’s exposure to lead and cadmium, and studying ultra-processed foods. In Florida, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds announced a new plan: districts are required to post menus and ingredients online, every school must conduct mandated lead and contamination testing, and Florida’s Farm to School Program, which aims to offer more “wholesome meal options” to students and provide them with “nutrition and agriculture education through school gardens,” is going to be expanded.
Despite this, regulatory changes have not had a direct, significant effect on Rollins Dining services’ food cost; those impacts come more from “rising food costs in general as well as recent labor shortages. These issues are partially impacted by federal policies as well as other global issues,” explained Cabanilla. These pressures are even sharper for public schools.
While the federal school lunch program does not apply to college students, it does affect how generations of students have access to food. Participation in the program is highest amongst younger children, with 71% of elementary school students being enrolled in the program, compared to 52% of middle schoolers and 39% of high schoolers. Participation is highest amongst Black students, Hispanic students, and students from lower-income households.
For many kids, school is where they eat most of their food, and school meals remain one of the healthiest food sources for school-aged children. Since the pandemic, free meals have become more accessible, when federal waivers let schools serve every child regardless of income. Since the waivers expired in 2022, states stepped in. Nine states now offer free meals to all public-school students, and at least 28 more have introduced similar policies. Many other schools use the federal Community Eligibility Provision to offer free meals locally.
Unfortunately, that progress could be at risk. The Urban Institute estimates that proposed Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) changes could push about 832,000 students in a sample of 37 states and D.C. back onto school meal applications, a process long tied to stigma. At least 18 million students attend schools that could face higher costs that threaten their access to free meals.
Food as an Education Investment
Advocates argue that school meals are “as basic to learning as textbooks and teachers.” A Brooking Institution 2021 study found improved math performance in districts that qualified for the National School Lunch Program. FoodCorps, a school nutrition non-profit organization, argues that free meals reduce stigma and speed up lunch lines—meaning kids have more time to eat, and free staff from paperwork. In this framework, school meals are an investment in learning and education.
The same logic applies at Rollins, as many students cannot focus in class on an empty stomach. A campus that treats food safety as its top priority is investing in the conditions that make learning possible. Whether the plate is in a Winter Park dining hall or a public elementary school cafeteria, the question is the same: who is making sure students are fed safely and affordably, so they can do the work they came to do properly? In the words of Cabanilla, “The safety of the students and faculty/staff on campus is the number one priority of Rollins Dining and has been for the last 50 years of our partnership.”
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