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A letter to the refectory

So you may have gathered that I'm a little... miffed at my school. I've decided to take some of that out on the refectory. Tell me what you think?

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Dear Refectory Staff,

I have noticed lately a general decline in the nutritional value of the vegan meals served in the refectory. I appreciate that you are all very busy, and I appreciate your efforts to accommodate for special diets. However, I do not feel that my nutritional needs are being met by what is provided by the school.
A healthy vegan diet is based mainly on fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, and a variety of vegetable protein sources, i.e. nuts, beans, seeds, legumes, etc. Unfortunately, this diet is more labour intensive and expensive than the standard diet of oily potatoes and baked courgette on which I am currently subsisting.
I’m not the sort of person who likes to impose – perhaps why I can only really say this in writing, where I don’t have to actually look anyone in the eyes. But really, if not for the salad bar, I might simultaneously gain three stone and starve to death. The only high-protein food I’m eating is the soya milk in my tea each morning.
I am perfectly happy to work with you on this – but the blank, vaguely horrified look I received upon mentioning the word ‘tofu’ was not particularly encouraging.
Another matter I would like to make known is this: I have a history of anorexia nervosa. I consider myself as having recovered, but it is said, and rightly so, that an eating disorder never fully goes away. The psychological scars from that time in my life are still there, and when under stress, I am prone to food-related triggers. The ones that affect me the most are white rice, vegan cheeses, and white potatoes. I know it’s a lot to ask, on a diet that seems so restrictive, to eliminate anything further, but I really don’t have the time and emotional energy to spare on panic attacks over risotto or depressive spells of guilt about the potato ‘sausages.’
I hope you can understand that this is a very personal issue, and a sensitive one for me.

-<my real name>

A response was obtained!
...
I've been given a copy of their menu for the next couple of days - I think I'll ask if they can keep sending me the month's menus in advance so I have some idea what's going on, what days they "need" to cook a separate meal... I'm not sure whether I think it's a little control-freak of me, but I just keep telling myself that it's what universities (at least SFU and UCSC) do for special diets, so it's not too bad, right?

And the one other vegan is not as much of a controlling, manipulative freak, so she's down with whatever.
...

YAY!
I don't think You're a freak, controlling, manipulative or otherwise....You've been quite reasonable with all of this.

My university is one of the 3 state schools in Iowa, and it's quite small in comparison to other universities...but they've somehow got a great food service sector that caters to special diets in much the way You've described. It sucked having to work there, washing dishes and making all the food for the regular meals (uggh, so much meat...), but it was cool to contribute to their special diet preparation, too.

again, it's not THAT difficult for even a small school to accommodate special diets. I'm glad this is working out for you.  :)

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@CarrotWench, then UNI has changed immeasurably for the better since I graduated in 82. Back then it was salad bar only and sad, canned vegetables from the line if you wanted vegetarian. In about 1981 they started hiring Moslems to work in one area of food prep and serving as we were getting a lot of students from Moslem countries then...and there was quite a furore about it, too.

I remember one food-service worker student showing me a wrapper from frozen veal parmigian that was expired by a couple of YEARS. They served it without comment.

Glad things have improved!

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oh yeah, Yabbit, UNI's dining services are like, award-winning in the state of Iowa (so I've heard)...and based on my experience with 4 other college dining centers, We definitely blow them out of the water:

http://www.uni.edu/dor/dining/oncampusdining.htm

a new dining facility was built in the Redeker center (in the quads) just over 5 years ago or so. Even the atmosphere is super-mod, comfy, well-lit and very aesthetically pleasing!..it's been improving immensely ever since. it still wasn't 100% perfect for health-conscious vegans, unless they went through the special diets program (which is no extra cost, just some extra work), but it's still pretty sweet.

ETA:
holy crap! I can't believe I never ate at the Union the whole time I went there:

http://www.uni.edu/dor/dining/placestoeat/restaurants.htm

wowwww

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I was at UC Davis for a conference last fall and their dining commons has different menus for different diets, including The Blue Onion, a vegan menu.  The only problem is that it doesn't look like they put much effort into it.

Monday:  Vegan Hummus with Pita Bread
Tuesday:  Vegan Babaganoush & Pita Chips
Wednesday:  Vegan Sweet 'n Sour Tofu
Thursday:  Romescu with Pita Chips
Friday:  Vegan Teriyaki Tofu
Saturday:  Special Vegan Entree
Sunday:  Vegan Hummus & Pita Chips

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