For some students, a trip to the dining hall is just about choosing what foods look the best. For others, however, the choice isn’t as simple.
“If I ingest peanuts, my tongue and throat will swell up, and I’ll go into anaphylactic shock,” second-year College student Brandi Bell said.
For students like Bell who have severe allergies, meal planning involves a lot more than just getting basic nutrients.
“I was really afraid of cross-contamination at the dining halls and whether or not I could eat any of the baked goods,” she said.
University Dining Services recognizes these issues and makes an effort to accommodate those with strict dietary restrictions through a variety of different programs. For students with food intolerances or allergies, “the number one thing is safety,” University Dining Services nutritionist Paula Caravati said, encouraging students to come forward and get to know the staff. University Dining Services arranges meetings with a student, the nutritionist and the production staff. Caravati explained that first-year students can meet managers and key cooks so they can feel comfortable asking for accommodations.
Bell said at orientation she approached University Dining Services about her peanut allergy.
“They said they would make separate dishes for me, but I never followed through on any of that stuff,” Bell said.
Even though Bell decided not to get a meal plan her second year largely because of the limitations of her diet, University Dining Services is ready and willing to make special accommodations for those who ask. The University works to form a “partnership” with the student, Caravati said. “It’s a give and take ... we want to personalize and individualize the service.”
Caravati added, though, that this requires student to work with the staff. To facilitate that partnership, students can have access to the kitchen, storage room and recipes if they have any concerns regarding their allergies or intolerances. If students need more information than University Dining can provide, they are generally referred to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network for more information, Caravati said.
While many students have to follow a strict diet because of physical intolerances, others closely watch what they eat for religious reasons. Hillel, a community of Jewish students, approached University Dining to create a partnership that would allow students to practice their kosher diets at school, said Darryl Rudge, operations manager of the Fontana Food Center, which provides baked goods to the dining halls.
Rudge, who now works with Hillel in creating a kosher menu, said the menu includes a variety of items but mainly consists of different kosher sandwich items. According to Executive Chef Bryan Kelly, some pre-packaged hot meals are available, which are either cooked in an oven or a microwave. These kosher items are available at Observatory Hill and Newcomb Dining Halls Monday through Thursday, and the meals are prepared in the Hillel kitchen.
Third-year College student Miriam Todras, who cooks in the Hillel kitchen Fridays, explained how Aramark employees prepare the meals during the week — they cannot bring outside food into the kitchen, and meat and dairy are kept separate during the cooking process. She, too, has to follow these rules when preparing the Shabbat dinner at the Hillel house Friday nights.
In addition to the kosher menu, University Dining also accommodates Hillel in other ways. Second-year College student Rebecca Effron, an intern for Hillel, said Hillel provides any student who wants to keep kosher during Passover an opportunity to eat with other Jewish students at Newcomb Dining Hall. The group provides lunch and dinner every night of Passover, even for students who do not have a meal plan.
“It’s just good because being at school, you really miss eating with your family, and meals are a huge part of Passover,” Effron said. “It’s a nice way to get that feeling again.”
University Dining Services also recognizes the special needs of vegetarians who have their own set of dietary restrictions. Like the kosher menu, the vegetarian menu was expanded because of student demand, primarily through a group of vocal vegans, Caravati said. Through student request and response, the dining program has developed and expanded a healthy vegetarian food selection.
Second-year College student Paul Murray is one student benefiting from University Dining Services’ efforts. Since January 2008, Murray has tried to keep all animal products except for eggs out of his diet.
“If I can see the meat in it, I don’t eat it, and if it’s been cooked with meat, I don’t eat it,” he said.
Murray said he believes the dining halls provided an adequate selection for his dietary lifestyle.
“They’re really, really good about labeling things properly and keeping things updated,” he said. “Every once in a while, they’ll throw in a dish [at Newcomb] that’s mind-blowingly good. Sometimes you have to be a little more adventurous and try new things. It’s worth being adventurous once in a while.”
Murray’s only complaint was the lack of variety.
“They do have enough [vegetarian] food to survive on, and I don’t expect to be really that catered to,” he said. “They do cater to a vegetarian, but it’s not gourmet by any means.”
Caravati said a main vegetarian meal is always provided, and certain specializations have been created, such as the vegetarian bar at O-Hill. Like students with allergies, vegetarians with meal plans can take advantage of nutritional counseling to help them create a nutritious dining plan, she said.
Sustainable dining practices have also been a recent goal of dining. Green Dining initiatives include providing food that is local, humanely raised, organically grown, fairly traded and seasonal. These practices, Kelly said, are vital for a variety of reasons, including reduced carbon dioxide emissions, increased nutritional value, increased food biodiversity and the promotion of local economies.
Fourth-year College student Graham Evans, who worked as a part of Student Council’s Environmental Sustainability Committee and the Green Dining task force, explained the role of implementing the idea into the University’s meal system. With a surge in student interest from a variety of groups, members of the Green Dining organization met with University Dining Services employees to discuss how to provide sustainable food items to students, including cage-free eggs at the Observatory Hill Dining Hall and organic food items at Crossroads. The organization also helped establish a system that could allow University Dining Services to establish purchasing priorities.
Though some student groups have already been active in pursuing various changes in dining halls on Grounds, Evans highlighted the importance of greater student responsibility.
Students “have to educate themselves and be willing to make the same sacrifices as everyone else in the world,” he said.
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