College Eating

[shesmilesalot]

I will be going to college in the fall and I am concerned about being able to eat at school. I have already contacted the dietician at the school and am meeting with him to talk about my options but I am still worried about the situation. Do any of you have suggestions for things I can do?

[CarlaB]

My daughter is at college and eats gluten-free.

She eats things like yogurt and fruit for breakfast.

For lunch, she eats salads.

I think it depends on the school. We buy her the cheapest meal plan and she buys what she can eat at the convenience store and food courts, then she has a small refrigerator and a microwave in her room to cook food from the grocery (I always buy a bunch of stuff for her when I visit). She's fortunate that the convenience store that takes her meal card sells Amy's meals.

She keeps things like ham and cream cheese (makes roll-ups), yogurt, gluten-free bread, snacks, etc. in her room. She also manages to spend all the meal points ... probably due to the fact that there's a Starbucks that takes them!

She seems to have no problem with it at all.

[es2443]

I am in college as well and have been eating gluten free here for a year. Sometimes it is hard to find something to eat, but for the most part you will always find something. I would definitely get the lowest meal plan though. Once you talk to the dietician, I'm sure they will try to accomodate to your needs as best they can. If they have something I cannot eat for dinner I can just ask them to make me a plain piece of grilled chicken and rice or potatoes, so they do accomodate. The dietician here also buys gluten free bread and cereal and rice noodles. However even with all of the accomodations, I found that I was eating the same typical thing, so I asked my dietician if I could bring a box of food from home and keep it in their freezer. So now I have a box filled with homemade soups and stews, meat sauce, dinner rolls/bread, waffles, pizzas, etc. I also bought my own salad dressing and pasta. Having the box full of something I can always eat is wonderful so I suggest you ask that. Another thing you may want to do is ask the school if you could have a single room or a bigger room to have an extra freezer. I was thinking about doing this and I decided not to, but it definitely is an option. This way you could always freeze bread and soups in your room. Hope this helps. Good Luck!

[kbtoyssni]

My brother's college has a fridge in the back filled with gluten-free food for the celiac students and a microwave for them to use. The also have a make-your-own omlette bar and they'll give me regular eggs if I ask rather than having to use the fake-egg powder. Just depends on the school.