From halal to kosher, dining options are expanding to meet the needs of international students. At many schools, dining services are dedicated to meeting the cultural or religious needs of international students. So of study abroad life I tell you don't worry about whether your child will be able to eat well, what you really have to worry about is perhaps their weight.
When Jasir Mayat left Pakistan and started an undergraduate program at Colorado State University, he said the school's cafeteria offered little halal food, except for vegetarian and seafood options. He immediately contacted the school's Residential and Dining Services, which offered to work with him to help meet the dietary needs of Muslim students. During his first semester, halal meats and foods were introduced on campus.
As prospective international students look into global universities, one concern they may have is about the availability of food that meets their particular cultural or religious dietary needs. But many international schools are making efforts to offer diverse menus with prospective international students in mind.
1. Options to meet dietary needs
Prospective international students may have special dietary needs, such as halal, kosher, gluten-free, vegan, and organic, and the school is aware of, and does its best to meet, the special needs of these students.
"University catering companies in the UK are very mindful of the need to cater for international students and make them feel at home while they are here," said Matthew White, President of the University Catering Organization. White said the TUCO Academy, a training program for in-house caterers, organizes British and international study tours that allow its members to visit international students from major countries, such as China, which sends the largest number of international students to the U.K.. Ultimately, TUCO developed a Chinese cookbook of traditional and authentic recipes for UK university caterers.
White, who is director of catering hospitality and conference services at the University of Reading in the U.K., said the institution added chopsticks and Chinese spoons to all catering facilities, as well as the Chinese preference for frozen water. He said authenticity is important, and that Western-style jarred curry paste, for example, "won't keep it out of the hands of international students who are used to mom's own curry or curry." He said chefs need the skills and knowledge to create authentic dishes and serve them to international students in an appealing and familiar way.
According to the National Association of University Co-operatives in Japan, at least 41 universities, including Hokkaido University, now serve halal dishes in their cafeterias. Naomi Fujisawa, department manager of the Co-op cafeteria at Hokkaido University, said via email that the cafeteria works with halal vendors to provide halal food to students. "We think there are a lot of international students who need halal food. The University of Tokyo CO-OP has started to provide halal food, so we at Hokkaido University CO-OP went there to learn the method," Fujisawa said. Similarly, in response to student demand, last fall UC Berkeley's Cal Dining opened the first dining hall in the UC system that is Kosher-certified and also suitable for Muslim and vegetarian and vegan students.
Cal Dining launched a new Plant Forward menu that emphasizes meatless foods with whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lentils, chickpeas, nuts, and seeds, as well as kosher stations, said Adam M. Ratliff, manager of key communications for UC Berkeley students. Affairs. The menu intentionally increases the ratio of plant-based foods to animal products without compromising flavor, he said. Whether students are vegan or eat kosher or halal, the goal is to provide more options for our diverse student community,.
2. Student input into menus
Many global universities are working with students to meet their dietary needs by encouraging them to give feedback on the types of food they would like to include in their menus. After Mayat reached out, CSU Residential and Dining Services hired him to survey Muslim students about their needs, and the results prompted them to include halal foods on campus. Jeremy Morgan, executive chef of Colorado State University Residential Dining Services, said the university continues to offer a variety of halal foods every day through its halal program. " Our online menus are now easier to navigate, and our guests can easily search our menus and filter our menus by a variety of preferences, such as allergens, vegan, alcoholic items, pork and more.
Meaningful international students can contact most university food services directly online. For example, the University of Groningen, based in the Netherlands, offers a food and beverage webpage that provides everything from dining venues to service desks for questions about the products offered. The university posts weekly menus on its RUG Food&Drinks Facebook page, and prospective international students can also contact university staff via social media. At the University of Glasgow in the U.K., Scott Girvan, executive director of hospitality, said the hospitality team surveys students and staff each year and suggests menu items. "We listen and we do change.
Girvan said this includes incorporating everything from vegan, halal and gluten-free to "changing our approach to sustainable coffee cups and packaging and local and seasonal foods now." Pamela Edwards, assistant director of dining services at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said international students often bring recipes from home that the dining center uses to prepare food. "Students also help with the evaluation process of assessing recipes, with the goal being that the international menu items feel as much like home as possible," Edwards said. As a result of personally influencing the menu at Colorado State, Mayat encourages prospective international students to plan to voice their dietary concerns. "Take charge and take action, and I'm sure universities around the world would be very happy to at least have a conversation with you," Mayat said.