Oh the dining hall…
So…not your mom’s cooking…so…not helpful, delicious, and nutritious like they try to convince you.
My first piece of advice:
Don’t get a meal plan. Many places will let you out for health reasons. They will most likely ask for doctor’s note. It can be a bit of a pain trying to contact all the right people, but you’re body will thank you later. If you can’t get a doctor’s note, try talking to them about your diet and how they cannot accommodate it. Be nice, though. Be respectful and patient when explaining that their options do not provide you with the foods necessary to maintain your way of eating. A little patience and persistence really pays off.
If, you cannot get out of your meal plan, I suggest using the minimum number of meals possible and use these tips:
1. Get to know your dining hall. Some of them will have decent options, others will not. Explore your salad bar options for fruits and veggies. Check out the vegetarian and vegan options. Learn which dishes work and which ones don’t. Learn what times are best to get what you need. Even if they’re open all day, they might not have good options for you if you can’t make it for the regular meal times.
2. Work with what you’ve got. Add rice to your soup or salad. Add vegetables. Add fruit. Take a plain potato and add vegetables. Don’t just look at everything as prepackaged. Sometimes it’s frustrating, but you can come up with decent meals with a little creativity. At my dining hall, we were allowed one take out meal a day, so I stuffed my box full of greens and fruits to make a green smoothie in my dorm.
3. Work with the people. Don’t be afraid to ask. Ask them if they can make you something without the meat or other undesired ingredients. People are now becoming more aware and understanding of people with special diets due to food allergies or sensitivities. I haven’t tried this, but I have heard that some places will even order food for you.
I started out with a meal plan at the beginning of my freshman year, but canceled it about a month into my second semester. My dining hall actually had a decent salad bar and some good vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options.
Unfortunately, these options are not their main concern and receive little attention. Just because something does not meat or dairy does not make it inherently healthy. Most people simply don’t know how to cook without meat, dairy, excess oils or sugars, refined grains, etc. Many of the vegetarian and vegan dishes were heavy in oils, spices, and salt. I think they tried to compensate for the lack of meat with overzealous flavoring that left my taste buds feeling severely overstimulated. It’s difficult to know all that goes into the dining hall meals.
At first I thought that these options would fulfill my needs nicely, but I think I was high on the new to college and living on my own-oh look isn’t it so nice not to have to cook! I was determined to immerse myself in a positive college experience, but my positive outlook could not overcome the decrease in my health that came from eating at the dining hall. I tried surviving on their salad bar, but I wasn’t able to get a good variety of nutrients from the limited selection of fruits and vegetables that sometimes didn’t taste like their respective fruit or vegetable.
As soon as I stopped eating there, I felt better. All the oils, sugars, refined grains made me feel heavy and sick after meals. When I do not eat well, my face gets pale and pasty. I look ill. Immediately after I began cooking for myself, the color returned to face, and I regained energy and optimism.
Don’t let the dining hall get in the way of maintaining a whole foods, plant based diet. There are days when you will wonder if it is worth the effort. All your friends seem to be fine eating mystery meat dishes, pizza, and ice cream every night, but take a closer look. Chances are that they will get sick more often and have trouble focusing or sleeping. I promise that you will feel better, have more energy, sleep better, do better in your classes, and enjoy life more when you are feeding your body with nutrients it needs.
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