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.
