Graphic by Elaine Zhang/The Choate News
Gluten-Free
For those who are gluten-intolerant, it is important to avoid wheat, barley, or rye. Yet Choate’s dining hall doesn’t always make it easy for those with gluten-free diets to find proper meals.
At home, I have the freedom to sample new gluten-free substitutes for my brownie recipe or new spice combinations for my gluten-free baked ziti. At Choate, it’s different. Granted, the gluten-free options have gotten better since I entered Choate, in 2015, as a freshman, but the options are still much more limited than the food I eat at home.
Though I can sometimes supplement parts of my diet with the regular options in the servery, the meat options usually contain glutinous ingredients, limiting my options to the salad and sandwich bars. There is a gluten-free station, but I find that it’s mainly stocked with unappetizing carbs. At times, it seems easier to deal with an empty belly than to worry about sticking to the dining hall’s gluten-free food.
I’ve tried addressing these issues using SAGE’s feedback forms, but it’s taken time to effect change. Since freshman year, I have filled out at least five suggestion cards requesting boxed gluten-free waffles, but only this year did the dining hall begin offering Van’s Gluten-Free Waffles for hot breakfast.
Overall, I appreciate SAGE’s efforts in accommodating gluten-free students — I know that it can be hard to serve food to so great a variety of needs. Still, there are still improvements to be made.
Vegan
I became vegan not only to improve my physical well-being but also because a good friend told me about all the ways animal products harm the environment. It has been a little over a year since I converted, and I now enjoy a healthy lifestyle and a smaller carbon footprint.
I learned that the meat and dairy industries emit considerable amounts of greenhouse gases, and they also perpetuate the inhumane treatment of animals. I do my best to address these issues, as they’ve become a passion. As a C-Proctor, I strive to initiate change within the dining hall to implement more local and eco-friendly food choices.
I’m often questioned about how I stay vegan at Choate when the dining hall is so limited. I admit that it’s a challenge to put together good meals each day. For me, there isn’t a difference between Meatless Mondays and other days, and I need to work with what I have. I’ve had meals that range from a plain bagel with a side of rice and soy sauce to just fruit — apples, bananas, and clementines. Once, after circling the dining hall for ten minutes and witnessing nothing but a display of steamed carrots and Spanish rice, I left calling Iron Chef.
Still, SAGE does put together a mean salad bar and, on most days, has a varied selection of cooked vegetables in the hot food line. I’m grateful for that.
To improve, SAGE shouldn’t necessarily add more vegan options. After all, the majority of the Choate community isn’t vegan. Rather, I would recommend that the School puts more time and consideration into improving existing vegan options.
Halal
Meatless Monday, International Food Station, Burger Day — many at Choate have their grievances with SAGE. However, people seldom realize the struggles of those with religious diets. For people with religious diets, finding necessary nutrition from the dining hall is no easy task.
As a practicing Muslim, I have a Halal diet; I can’t eat pork, and the poultry and beef I eat must be slaughtered in the least inhumane way possible.
The meat provided by SAGE is not certified Halal. Though I’m not vegetarian, SAGE forces me to become one whenever I eat in the dining hall.
As meat accounts for so much of the protein-rich food in the dining hall, it’s difficult to find the necessary nutrients — protein, in particular — in SAGE’s vegetarian options. This makes it harder to recover from athletic training and competitions, and it makes the already tiring Choate days even more stressful. And when SAGE does provide vegetarian protein-rich food like tofu or beans, it isn’t always tasty.
SAGE should make an effort to accomodate the Muslim population at Choate. Finding Halal meat is not hard. Restaurant Depot, a major restaurant supply warehouse with locations throughout Connecticut, supplies Halal meat at a cost comparable to standard meat. Hindu restaurants in Wallingford, including Kender’s Indian Palace, serve Halal meat even though the establishment isn’t Muslim.
By addressing this issue, SAGE will not only make Muslim students’ lives easier but also stand in solidarity with Muslims in an era of heightened Islamophobia. Doing so will also likely attract more Muslim applicants to Choate. I know that when I will apply to college, I’ll look for the dining services that serve Halal meat.
As of now, the dining hall does little for those with religious diets. To support its Muslim population, the School must push SAGE to serve Halal food or find a dining service that does.
