So Lucky Gifts, a new sponsor for Celiacs in the House, has gluten-free college care packages that include some our college students’ favorite treats.
Photo of Ohio Wesleyan's GF Station
A super new resource from the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness is their Great U magazine with tips, resources, and profiles of gluten-free college students.
Dorm Survival Guide for Students with Food Allergies or Sensitivities
Celiac Survival On a College Campus
Choosing a Gluten Free College
A model for other schools is the gluten-free meal order form at Williams College @WilliamsCollege.
Resources and tips post and gluten-free college updates.
National Foundation for Celiac Awareness:
My College Series sharing our experience with gluten-free dining at two liberal arts colleges.
NFCA GREAT Schools training program for gluten-free college dining services.
Living Gluten-Free in College-Kelly Clayton
Navigating the Gluten-Free Diet in College
PDF of an NFCA Webinar that outlines UConn’s gluten-free program.
Udi’s Gluten-Free College Internship Program
Gluten-Free College Bloggers:
A Hungry Girl’s Guide to Gluten Free-@GFHungryGirl
Jessi’s Gluten Free World- Jessi @pauleytics
One Hurdle At A Time-Shelby Kaho, Shelby’s articles for Diets in Review: Advocating for Gluten-Free Diets at College and Gluten-Free Dorm Room Survival Tips
The Campus Celiac-Julie-@TheCampusCeliac
Gluten Free and Almost Vegan-Emily
Gluten Free For A Healthy Me-@GFreeJanelle Read Janelle’s guest post about college dining on Gluten Free Fun
Gluten Free Froggie in the Kitchen-@gf_froggie and her new project College Allergy-@CollegeAllergy
The Gluten-Free Student Cookbook-UK-@CoeliacStudent
Gluten-Free College Girl-@glutenfreecgirl
College Life Done Gluten Free-@ellenensminger
A Little Morsel-Alex a Medical Dietetic student at Ohio State-@AlexBorsuk
The Okie College Girl-Erin @OkieCollegeGirl
GF & CF College Living-Alaine-@gfcfliving1
Good Gluten-Free College Advice from those who know on Twitter:
@iLiveinmyLab, @Kingofthursday, @aggieceliac, @polarbearscooby, @CDN20something, @GingerCM, @GlutenfreeOMG, @glutenfreeGlee
Posts and Articles about Gluten-Free College Life:
Gluten Free Fun College Series with a resource post
Advice for the Gluten-Free College Student
14 Colleges That Cater to Gluten-Free Students
A list of colleges who responded to a gluten-free dining survey-note at least one of the Ohio colleges responding with positive answers is one that a recent student had issues with in the comments below.*
Rating Gluten-Free College Food at GF Travel Site
Not gluten-free, but lots of fun ideas for college food that could be adapted on Pinterest.
In the news:
Gluten-Free at Boston University
University of Minnesota gluten free issues
Texas Christian University Udi’s intern efforts
Towson University gluten-free choices
Cal State Long Beach-Gluten-Free Menu changes
Wisconsin Whitewater wouldn’t a dining hall with a gluten-free stir fry station be wonderful
Books:
Glee: An Easy Guide to Gluten-Free Independence
The First Year: Celiac Disease and Living Gluten Free-An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed
From my email-comments from those attending college or their parents:
I don’t know about resources in general, but I do know that my daughter’s college, Smith College in Northampton, MA is good. I’m the gluten free one, not my daughter. The dining hall she uses has a separate gluten free section and the people working there have let me eat from it and been really helpful.-Cindy
My daughter is a freshman at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. When she chose to attend Ball State, I was concerned about the quality of the meals that she would be eating. I contacted the Nutrition and Dietetics office and was happily surprised that they cater to the gluten free kids. They have two chefs on campus that cook for the gf kids. When she is ready to eat, she finds the chef, asks what her options are and then he fixes her meal for her. She is on the school meal plan and they only charge what she is allotted for that meal. This was such a relief for her and for me. It makes life on campus much more enjoyable.-Barb
I started college this year with the hope
that I’d be able to eat in the cafeteria, but quickly ran into the
same problems your kids did. Most of the other celiacs at my school
just take the hit and buy groceries, but I talked to the staff about
how to fix the preparation, and it got a bit better, but I still got
sick. So I asked about grocery boxes, and that might be an option for
your kids if their dorms have kitchens. Ours has one kitchen per dorm,
so it works even though it’s not the easiest.
I’ve found that being polite and saying that it doesn’t work for me
and I appreciate their hard work to accommodate me works the best. It
took repeated visits to show that I needed the change, but if the
colleges are understanding they might do something like that or
grocery vouchers at the nearest grocery store.-Emily
*I am a sophomore in college in Ohio, and am
currently experiencing the same problems with campus dining as your
children are. I, too, chose a small liberal arts school, had long
talks with dining staff, and was hoping to escape the “party scenes”
that the state schools are so well known for. Instead, I find the
dining staff checking food temperatures in a wheat-filled pasta dish
and in baked potatoes without sanitizing the thermometer. I have had
one staff member make me a “gluten-free pizza” on flatbread instead of
the Kinnikinnick pizza crust I asked for because it was “the same
shape.” I have seen international students put serving spoons in the
wrong buffet dish, only to be reprimanded by dining staff in language
they don’t fully understand. I have had to pave my way through dining
services to land myself a job to properly label foods that could have
poisoned me if I had not been paying close attention. I have a
(larger) mini fridge stocked with Udis products, fresh fruits and
vegetables, GF lunch meats, and homemade treats from care packages. I
have “contraband” appliances with which I cook these foods to be
palatable. I am working towards a better sense of awareness, and am
striving to write a senior independent study (I.S.) project about how
to ensure true gluten free foods in a “normal” restaurant or dining
facility. I would be very interested to hear your opinions on this,
and to stay updated on your own children’s struggles with college
dining and dorm life in general.-Rachel
I understand from someone that I know that Western Illinois University caters to her
daughter’s gluten free needs. She says that they will make her special gluten free food
whenever she wants it.-Barbara
I am so grateful for all that my daughter’s college is doing to make sure she is getting safe meals. She was getting testing to see if she was celiac back during winter break when her biopsy showed eosiniphilic esophagitis and the celiac biopsy was negative. We then went to the allergist where she tested positive to a lot of things but the 3 highest is what the allergist told her to give up..Wheat, Soy and sunflower. I called the college’s dietitian. At first we were going to try and get her into an on campus apartment but none were available so the dietitian has been working with my daughter to get changes made in the cafeteria. Every week she is delivered a menu for the week with Gluten, Soy and sunflower highlighted if the meal contains any of the three. She met the chefs last week so that they can prepare her a meal if nothing on the menu is safe. The dietitian has 2 students now working with her as well and one of them is celiac…so I am confident my daughter will be able to find safe meals. I was extremely happy with the treatment my daughter has gotten from the college. They are working so hard to make it as easy as possible for her. She attends Northern Michigan University. I am happy what NMU is doing and continuing to do to improve their cafeteria options and keeping it safe for those with allergies or intolerances. One other thing they are working on are binders to keep in the cafeteria that show all ingredients in everything they serve.-Carol
My daughter had a similar positive experience at Penn State. She is on a first name basis with the managers and dining hall staff at her dining hall. She calls her food in advance working from a gluten and dairy free menu they email to her in advance every few weeks. They also provide an area in the back for her to store her own food as well as a preparation area that is totally gluten free providing toasters, toaster ovens and microwaves. All staff are extremely well trained in cross contamination and hidden glutens. There are 4 major dining halls and one has a dedicated gluten free menu with foods already prepared if she doesn’t feel like calling ahead to one of the other ones. It’s extremely important to us because my daughter was also diagnosed with type 1 diabetes last March so in addition to eliminating all gluten and dairy she also has to be able to carb count and all carb counts are included in the menu as well as all prepared foods in each of the dining halls. It’s been a difficult year having her live in a dorm as a freshman with recent diagnosis of type 1 diabetes as well as celiac but if she had to go any where, I’m glad we chose Penn State.-Kelly
When my daughter chose her college, the attitude of the staff toward GF students was in the top three factors. Even when she was in high school when we would visit college towns for other reasons we noted how many GF restaurant choices were within walking distance of campus and joked “well, that one is out of the question”. The college she chose was based on the major she wanted, the atmosphere of the college in general (a high tolerance for individuality) and the attitude of the staff. It was a small school and when we asked about GF they introduced us to the food service people who could tell us how many celiacs/GF students and staff were currently on campus. The food at meals either had a card which listed ingredients or the chefs knew what was in everything. The only time they didn’t have GF bread was when the weather was bad and they could not get any shipments in. I did not worry about her cheating because she vomits when she eats even a relatively small amount of gluten. And she was diagnosed as a toddler and had already self-selected her diet to exclude most gluten. It also helped that the campus was “dry” and although there was some drinking, it wasn’t beer focused with many bars. Also, the dorms had a kitchen on most floors and each room had their own locked cubby in the kitchen so no one could borrow your stuff (like toasters) and contaminate it. When she graduated last May I personally thanked the food service staff for the great care they took of my daughter for the four years she was there. Earlham College-Mindy
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Such a great resource, Wendy!