Gluten Free College

[punker18]

I just found out that the University of New Hampshire has a gluten free section ( gluten free fridge, toaster and tons of food) in each dining hall. I was so scared that when i went to college i was going to be making all my own food. I was wondering if anybody else knows of any other colleges with gluten free sections?

[Lisa]

All Colleges are are required to meet your dietary need, under the Disabilities Act.

Choose the best for your educational needs and they will work with you. There are several college age people that regularly post and I am sure that they can supply you with their information sources.

Don't let your diet hold you back from your college or university of your choice. Don't let celiac hold you back from anything.

Press on.

[Anonymousgurl]

I'm in college mode right now too

I've got to choose between UC Davis and University of San Francisco (USF). Does anyone know about either of those colleges regarding food and food allergies?

It's good to hear that colleges HAVE to meet your needs though, thanks for that bit of info

[whitney728]

I had a difficult time at college freshman year (difficult enough to make me drop my meal plan for sophomore year). While NYU will work with you, I found it extremely difficult to guarantee my safety without eating the exact same thing every day. It got to the point where I was living on salad/whatever I could make in my microwave in my room.

You can see an article I wrote about it for the school paper here: Open Original Shared Link

On the other hand, you can see an article that someone wrote this year, with a much more positive angle:

Open Original Shared Link

I was interviewed for that one, but I wasn't quoted. I think I was much too cynical. Campus Dining Services has apparently had some staff changes, so that may have helped the situation. Dining halls still make me nervous though.

The most allergen-friendly dining hall I've seen is at Cornell, because they label EVERYTHING.

Personally, what I would do (i.e. what I should have done freshman year) is get some kind of option with a kitchen for freshman year if your school has it. NYU does, and I'm still not sure why I didn't do that, but I got diagnosed around the time I got my housing forms, so that may have been it. Even if you have to be on a meal plan, I would try to get some kind of kitchen access so you can cook for yourself if need be.

[azul]

Yay for college, and bigger yay for them being required to provide for a gluten-free diet.

Is anyone else here going to be at the University of Rochester next year, or have experience dealing with their dining hall staff? Anyone that will be living in the general Rochester, NY area? Just curious, I'd love to meet more celiacs

Hi, by the way. I'm new--see you around. (Waves)

[mandasmom]

Yay for college, and bigger yay for them being required to provide for a gluten-free diet.

Is anyone else here going to be at the University of Rochester next year, or have experience dealing with their dining hall staff? Anyone that will be living in the general Rochester, NY area? Just curious, I'd love to meet more celiacs

Hi, by the way. I'm new--see you around. (Waves)

Food-Tek makes these great micorwavable gluten free breads--really!! Waffles and brownies and buscuits. they arent cheap but my celiac daughter found them hugley helpful in her dorm room!! Other dorm room staples included peanut butter, tuna. soup cups. If you can get to a grocery store now and again to augment what you can safely eat from the cafeteria you should be fine!! Dorm life is such a ownderfu experience--it would be a shame to let your intestines keep you from enjoying it!!

[kbtoyssni]

The University of Wisconsin - LaCrosse is great at accomodating gluten-free students, too. They've got a fridge in back stocked with gluten-free food and a microwave. I was there visiting my brother and wanted scrambled eggs so they gave my a clean pan and real eggs rather than the egg mix that's sitting out for everyone to use. The staff was wonderful - they wanted to make me about three meals worth of food, and I had to keep saying no, that the eggs and fruit was enough.

[kochac]

Gettysburg College has a great gluten-free mini-fridge stocked with bread, doughnuts, cookies, etc. I can go back to the kitchen and check on the ingredients of anything, stop by ahead of time and request gluten-free pasta or pizza, or for some meat to be kept separate from the sauce/gravy. All the stuff is incredibly helpful and friendly. I was diagnosed halfway through college and was very surprised and relieved at the support I got from dining services.

[katrinamaria]

hello!

there is lots of information about college+celiac on here so take advantage! in my experience (i'm a sophomore) the dining center i go to has 2 other gluten free kids and the plan i made with the dietition was great, lots of variety and everything. but the kitchen never followed through... it wasn't ready at the right time or i just got vegetables and rice all the time. so i dunno, i think it really depends on the college. (mine is a state university but not a huge one). def talk to your dining centers but also have a fridge and microwave to fall back on just in case... oh and just accept that you're going to be wasting loads of money for the meal plan (ah! it's so frustrating... i just have to let it go...)

on a side note, i read those articles you posted the link to...they kind of made me angry! i dunno...something about them....i guess i don't like when people who don't understand pretend to know what it's like because unless you have this issue i just don't think you can. even if you are just lactose intolerant or something it's still different. a lot different. oh and i just loved how they put the the GI symptoms at the end of the article...the girl in it was trying to be discrete about what happens and then they annouce to the whole campus she'll get diarrhia when she it's gluten...i'm sure that was pleasant...

[Eriella]

While all colleges have to comply under ADA, they only have to if you are formally diagnosed AND have a letter from your doctor to attest to it (my current problem). When you have that, go to that special accommodations officer (ask your RA or Orientation Guide-- who do I go to for ADD accommodations, it will save you a ton of time and is 99% of the time the same person). Then they send a memo to the head of the dining services who should meet with you.

If you can't get the paperwork or are having problems, make nice with the lunch ladies and they will normally help you.

[DarkIvy]

I'd like to point out that just because colleges are supposed to do something about meals for people with such strict dietary restrictions, they don't always follow through very well.

I go to University of Colorado at Boulder, and finding gluten-free food is pretty difficult. I know a girl who was diagnosed shortly before the school year started, and they got her in touch with the dietitian. For the first month, the dietitian contacted her (and the other handfull of celiacs) with menus for the dining halls and hi-lighted the items that were "safe". She said that after the first month or so, the dietitian never got back to her and didn't offer much further assistance. It got so bad she ended up transferring to another school closer to home so she could live and cook in her own kitchen. Even the "safe" foods made her feel sick a lot.

I went gluten free for the last month or so of school, and without an official diagnosis I couldn't request any services, so I don't have personal experience with that. I gave up on eating in the dining halls within a week, however, because there wasn't much that I could eat. It was basically down to salad and fruit. I got sick off of that even, which isn't surprising. Hundreds of kids go through the food lines, sprinkling their crumbs about and using the wrong tongs for the wrong dish. The girl I already mentioned echoed similar complaints: what was safe to eat was utterly repetitive and not filling enough. I was always hungry within a couple of hours, she said the same thing. Another girl in my dorm ended up being diagnosed midway through the year and she had similar issues. It was all salad, all the time. I think all three of us dealt with it mainly by walking across the street to the health food store and buying lots of the gluten free frozen meals to stick in our room fridges and heat up as needed. I don't know how they put up with it for so long, I did this for just a few weeks and don't think I could ever eat Amy's Cheese Enchiladas EVER again.

CU doesn't have any special fridges or a gluten-free section at all. They always mark the items that are vegetarian, vegan, or have nuts or shellfish, but never mark gluten-free items. The regular line food tends to be fried or breaded somehow anyway.

There ARE a few dorm buildings that have kitchens. Usually it's reserved for upperclassmen, I don't know if it would be possible for a freshman, even with celiac, to get one. It would make sense. Their food isn't bad for dorm food, but it's not terribly nutritious to begin with and they don't seem to do much for anyone with serious dietary restrictions. However, it does seem to be improving. I lived in the dorms for two years, and I saw a lot of positive changes in my second. Still, I wouldn't trust them with a ten food pole unless they did some major changes...

[Mahee34]

Honestly, I've never heard of a college that won't be willing to sit down and talk with you about your dietary needs. Gettysburg College and Messiah College are both WONDERFUL...however, becoming more and more expensive...I'm from that area....I went to a school in Virginia and they were amazing...you just need to be proactive and contact the chef and be very open!! GOod luck