Back in my younger days, dairy was something to behold. Bagels, ice cream, pizza, milkshakes — you name it. However, like most older people, my body hated me so terribly that I developed severe lactose intolerance.
To put this into perspective, I surpass the highest point on the scale of lactose intolerance. My point is that what I eat is extremely important; I must make sure that what I eat will not accidentally result in what I call a lactose intolerance attack.
At this university, there are a vast variety of food options between the Ehinger Center and Commons. Nonetheless, my sad stomach often rumbles for some good food. This is because of both how little dairy-free options are available and also how foods are labeled here at Drew.
I was once told there were a variety of dairy-free options at the Commons; my retort to that is that this would be the case if I were a bunny. There are plenty of vegetable options; enough carrots to make any bunny hop.
This may come across as a shocker, but I am not a bunny.
In terms of finding options without dairy, it is treacherous terrain to navigate. A lot of options have cheese, whether the dish calls for it or not. If not cheese, then somehow milk is sprinkled in.
There are labels in front of each dish with what dietary restrictions are present in each, which does sometimes help. But I have two points to that:
Number one, what is the use of those labels if there are barely any dairy-free options in the first place that are filling and not a vegetable? Number two, sometimes the labels are unclear.
The divide between a dish that has dairy and a dish that does not is V and VG, standing for vegan and vegetarian. The problem is, both words start with V and have a G; so how am I supposed to remember which one is vegan and which one is vegetarian? There is a sign that sometimes magically appears on a counter that says what each label means, but most days that sign is either not findable, or not in a spottable place.
The Commons does have a dietary station, which is a step in the right direction. My problem is the quality of food and what they serve. That station basically serves the same food everyday, and I do not think myself or other poor dietarily restricted people want to eat bean chili so many times a week.
Also, the quality of food is not the best sometimes. For example, I have only tried the spinach once and never will again.
Food with dietary substitutes can be good, and that station does have good breakfast options in particular. However, just because I have dietary restrictions does not mean I should be subjected to bland, sometimes salty food. All food options should be delicious.
Out of all the food places in the Ehinger Center, the only place that provides labels on Grubhub of what food options have dietary restrictions on their menu is Starbucks. The rest is like a game of Russian roulette. You never know what you are going to get. Most of the time I have to order something blindly and take an educated guess on whether said order has dairy or not.
As you can see, that is not a very good system to have to rely on. When I order something, one of three things will happen. Either A, it has no dairy and I skip off into the sunset with my sandwich. B, it has dairy and I either have to throw it out or scamper around campus to find someone to eat it. Or C, I eat my order thinking it has no dairy when it does, and then I sob in the bathroom of the Ehinger Center.
Overall, I know many people on campus who have dietary restrictions like myself. As a university that advertises itself as having food options for the dietarily restricted, Drew needs to make some change to the variety of dietarily restricted food and a change to labelings of all food in both Commons and the Ehinger Center so that any dietary restrictions are made clear.
It is a privilege within itself to have food, let alone multiple options for dietarily restricted people available, and everyone who makes this food works extremely hard to make sure students have a hot meal. Nonetheless, there is always room for improvement, and this is an area that needs much improvement. We deserve more than the bare minimum.
Kayla Kiernan is a first-year currently exploring options for a major and minor.
