All students who live in the Residence Halls will receive the Blue Residential Meal Plan as part of their housing cost.*
Berkeley Dining works regularly with students with dietary restrictions to provide them food options that correspond to their dietary restrictions or preferences, and regularly offers vegetarian, vegan, halal, kosher, and other options in their menu. Berkeley Dining also provides a dietician/nutritionist who students with specialized diets can contact. To learn more go to https://dining.berkeley.edu/nutrition/special-diets/ or contact the Berkeley Dining nutritionist at dietitian@berkeley.edu
In addition to the Berkeley Dining meal plan, there is a common-area kitchen available for each student to use in the Residence Hall buildings if they wish to prepare their own food. Despite being shared by a large number of students, these kitchens rarely are used, and should meet the needs of the vast majority of students who need access to a kitchen to prepare their own meals. Transfer and continuing student apartments also come with full kitchens that students share with their apartment-mates.
All rooms receive a MicroChill unit, which is a combination mini-refrigerator and microwave, so that they may store food items in their room. Typically only one MicroChill unit is allowed per room, to be shared by all residents. If you believe you will need additional food storage based on a dietary restriction related to a disability or medical condition, please review the instructions for requesting an ADA accommodation.
Students with diets related to religious/cultural beliefs or medical conditions, and students with profound food allergies, who are impacted when in close vicinity to a food item, are encouraged to participate in the ADA and Identity-Based Accommodation request process to insure they are assigned housing that will meet their needs. Learn more about the ADA accommodations process.
*A housing contract in Wada Apartments, Channing Bowditch Apartments, and Martinez Commons Apartments does not include a meal plan as these undergraduate apartments have in-unit kitchens and receive a different amount of financial support through Financial Aid