Reality Check: What's on the table for C&U foodservice this year?

Long before Indian cuisine caught on in the foodservice mainstream, colleges and universities were regularly serving the Asian fare in their dining halls. You can say the same about plant-forward dishes, boba, stir fries, Mediterranean specialties, gluten-free choices, and a host of other selections that are now as common across the food-away-from-home universe as forks and spoons. So what’s next? What cuisines offered today in colleges and universities are likely to become virtual staples of other segments as the students age into prime customers of restaurants, employee cafeterias, and even senior living facilities? We asked Jeffrey Palmer, Executive Director of Campus Dining and Retail Operations for the University of California at San Diego. Here’s what he had to say in this first of a podcast series focused on what the chairpersons of our Foodservice Leadership Councils expect to be discussing with their peers during 2026.