Resources and Tips for Gluten-Free College Students

The summer has been filled with college preparations and the bags are mostly packed, the kids have been examined and declared fit for college by the dentist, the family doctor, the GI specialist, and the eye doctor. It has been overwhelming getting two kids ready for their first year away from home. The gluten-free food situation is in hand. I think. Both kids have chosen a container and filled it with their favorite snacks and emergency rations. I thought I’d list what we gathered and compile a list of resources for those sending kids off this fall or starting to think about college in the near future. I’d have to say that I’m relieved that we weren’t sending kids away just six years ago when we got the first diagnosis. The world is much friendlier to those with celiac disease than it was back then and there are so many good choices now for bread, snacks, and dorm food options. There are still pockets of misinformation and ignorance, but it is so much easier and people are more aware.

My son is heading to the East Coast and about 7 hours away from home. He has chosen an underbed storage box for his small dorm room and is going to try to live with only a hot pot in his room. His college dining hall had lots of fresh fruit and veggies to keep him happy. His snacks include:

• Crunchmaster Crackers
• Mary’s Gone Crackers
• Wild Garden Hummus in individual packets and in GoPicnic packs.
• Old Wisconsin Beef and Turkey Sticks
• gluten-free soup cups
• peanut butter and Nutella
• canned gluten-free meals
• chocolate
• Larabars
• gluten-free pretzels

My daughter has already rented a microfridge for her spacious dorm room at a small college two hours away from home and has chosen plastic, stackable file drawers from The Container Store to store her gluten-free snacks.

• Annie’s Bunnies
• lots of chocolate
• beef jerky and beef sticks without gluten or msg
• Larabars
• Applegate Farms turkey and chicken sausage for the freezer
• Natural, gluten-free deli turkey for the fridge
• Her favorite frozen gluten-free pizza to bake in the dorm kitchen
• frozen packs of stir fried and seasoned beef and chicken strips she made at home

For more tips and advice on the gluten-free college experience:

• The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness has a list of tips for celiac college students and a complete guide called Navigating the gluten-Free Diet in College.
• Gluten Free Travel site has reviews of gluten-free college dining services.
• The Gluten-Free College Planning Guide from GFCF College Student.
• Celiac-Friendly Colleges list, Gluten-free dorm essentials from Julie at The Campus Celiac.
• A recent article in USA Today on celiac college life.

And finally Julie of The Campus Celiac shares her tips:

A Celiac’s First Year Checklist:

• Find out the details about your dorm’s kitchen/cooking situation. {does your residence have a communal kitchen? Personal kitchen? No kitchen? Microwave? Mini fridge? Be that obnoxious kid who needs to know all the nitty gritty details about the place before getting there.}
• Email the dining hall manager and see if you can set up a meeting with him/her. {take a look at the sample contact e-mail I wrote}
• Buy needed cooking utensils. Do this AFTER you get to college if you are flying there so that you don’t have to worry about somehow getting all those pots and pans to your destination. {click here for my basic list}
• Do some online research about gluten free restaurants and grocery stores near your campus so that you have some options of places to eat out/grocery shop once you get there.
• Talk with parents about a monthly or yearly budget for food/groceries. {Are they willing to pitch in for your food, aside from what is offered at the dining hall? Can you negotiate a budget for food spending money?}
• Consider what foods you like to eat at home, and think about how you can make (or modify) these foods at school. {This process will make you consider what kinds of kitchen utensils/equipment you need, which ingredients you should have on hand, etc.
• DO NOT let your gluten free-ness get in the way of your college experience: Sure, you will have those times where you cannot partake in a pub crawl, a hot wing eating contest, or ordering the “mile high” pizza featured on Man Vs. Food. But is this really that bad? In some of these cases you might be glad to have an excuse to exclude yourself from participating. You’ll be healthier for it!
• You will know that you have made a good choice in friends if they are willing to let you suggest places to eat. Reconsider your new BFFs if they insist on ordering pizza every night with no regards to your possible discomfort in the situation.
• Don’t spend so much time worrying about whats gluten free or not that you are missing out on all the fun! Celiac Disease aside, you are a college student and you deserve nothing less than the college experience you truly want.

Visit Julie’s blog for more tips in the rest of her recent post on preparing for gluten-free college life. Follow her on Twitter as @TheCampusCeliac.