They say you are what you eat, and to most people, this idea is all too real. Whether you’re a food junkie, a calorie counter, or a regulated eater, food is something you just can’t avoid. Thanks to American culture, it’s more than a matter of survival; it’s a reflection of who you are.
We all have one thing in common where food is concerned: we need to eat to live, though how we go about it is a matter of personal preference. Students at Longwood University are no exception; each person has their own variety of tastes, needs, and desires.
In order to accommodate students’ ever-changing and emerging tastes, Longwood’s dining services must adapt constantly. “I’ve seen us as a company develop more and more,” said Senior Director of Dining Services Grant Avent. “We don’t hear from vegetarians and vegans so much anymore because I think there’s so many options for them, so they don’t come and seek us out.”
Vegetarianism and veganism are two common healthy lifestyle choices that eliminate certain foods, particularly meat products. “Veganism is basically a lifestyle that tries to refrain from eating any type of animal products or using animal products such as clothing, lotions, and body products,” said former wellness coordinator Sasha Johnson. Vegetarians, she said, are “people who choose not to eat meat, fish, or poultry.”
Some students follow healthy lifestyles by choice, while others do not have that luxury. “We’re seeing more and more allergies than we ever did in the past, and I don’t know if that’s from the GMO’s,” said Avent. “It’s grown in the last fifteen years.”
Common allergies and sensitivities include nuts, dairy, and gluten. “Food allergies are an overreaction of the immune system to specific proteins, and when we ingest those proteins, it triggers a reaction that can range from anything from hives to wheezing to even loss of consciousness,” Johnson explained.
For the past eight years, dining staff have been able to cook at their stations to not only keep food coming, but also make adjustments to menu items on a case-by-case basis to meet student requests.
“We have to cook ahead of time as much as we can, and so you might not see exactly what you’re looking for. If you ask, you can get it, because we do have (the) ability to cook,” said Avent. It is crucial, he added, to keep the students informed that if there is something in particular they want or need, they can and should approach a staff member so it can be prepared for them.
Another major addition to the dining hall is the diet cooler, which provides an isolated space for items such as gluten-free breads, non-dairy or lowfat foods, vegetarian-friendly options, and more. Avent relies on students to inform staff members of shortages in the diet cooler since there is not a heavy need for it.
“Our big distributors don’t carry them, or they do carry them in bulk, but we don’t need a whole case of it, so we just run to Walmart or to Food Lion,” said Avent.
Since Longwood’s dining services cannot fully rely on students to make them aware of every existing issue, Marketing Assistant Ashley Jones monitors social media platforms for questions or concerns about Longwood dining. “I’ve actually gotten inquiries through Twitter, and I’m on for that every day,” she said. “We have the ‘your dining voice’ cards that we have plastered all over that students can submit their concerns or any suggestions they have, and that goes out to a bunch of us.”
Another common form of outreach is the dining survey that goes out every year. “We’re launching our big survey at the moment; it came out last week, and that’s our big overhaul survey,” said Jones. As of Oct. 19, the responses were 700 and climbing.
“They are very successful, and we take them very seriously,” said Avent. “It helps make decisions on what new operations will be, on what the menu changes will be, all kinds of things. The Longwood community has always been wonderful with taking these surveys.”
“We put it out, and the first half a day, we had almost 600 respond, and that says something that the students here know that we’re listening to them, and that it makes a difference if they tell us something and make a comment.”
Avent stressed the importance of reaching out to managers with on-the-spot preferences and having initial meetings and discussions about allergies in order to best address any needs right off the bat.
