Nourishing students’ bodies — and their minds

If you think the dining hall experience at post-secondary schools still include tater-tot casseroles, stacks of burgers piled high on a plate waiting to be dressed, or falafel as your only vegetarian option, then you may be in for a culinary awakening.
The food offerings at today’s universities and colleges now include authentic world cuisines, ingredients sourced from local producers, sustainable food practices, and dishes that reflect religious, dietary and allergy restrictions — everything you’d expect from that new, must-try restaurant in the city.
“I am about 60, and I went to Carleton University,” said Chris Roberts. “If you were a vegetarian — I don’t even think the word vegan was used back then — the options were pasta with tomato sauce or salad. Those were your only choice. And vegetarians were just grateful there was something.”
Roberts is now the director of hospitality services at McMaster University in Hamilton, which operates the on-campus dining options. Among its offerings are 25 dining halls, cafes and grab-and-go options, with spots that accommodate vegan, vegetarian, halal and gluten-free dietary restrictions.
“When I think about the differences from when I was in school, one of those things is diversity and how kids are these days. In the last 10 or 15 years, as diversity has increased in Canada, the university has mirrored that progress. And it is not just the international students. The domestic students are extremely diverse.
“And their expectations now are for authentic cultural food. Not the Canadianized version.”
For example, hospitality services meet with members of the McMaster Muslim Students’ Association to develop halal standards and protocols to ensure food was being handled, prepared and cooked properly. “How do you operationalize Ramadan, to get those students through?” Robert said about the annual month-ling period when Muslims fast from dawn until sunset.
Then there is the partnership with indigenous-owned White Buffalo Coffee Company, or how, when it serves Indigenous menu items as part of its rotating offering of global cuisines, it explains the importance dishes like Three Sisters Stew by providing a QR code students can scan to learn more while they wait.
There is even a global comfort food station where students bring a family recipe and then cook it with the chefs for a week-long period. And how 50 per cent of all menu items at the school are plant-based. And 15 per cent of sales comes from its SIMPL food stations that are free from the top 10 allergens in Canada.
“We are very focused on our cultural menus, our diversity menus, and we are very focused on allergens. Back when we were in school, and the main allergy was lactose intolerance, and over the last number of years there are allergies that can kill you,” said Roberts.
“I truly have a belief that we can help recruitment to this university. I know that it is a small part, but being able to tell a parent that we have concepts dedicated to being free of the top 10 allergens in Canada, and that we have special training for it, well when you have a son or daughter that has a severe allergy and you know that can be looked after at university, it does weigh on some people to send them here.”
Vijay Nair is the executive chef with hospitality services at the University of Guelph. At his school there are about 20 dining facilities on his campus. It also serves authentic world cuisine as well vegan, vegetarian, kosher, halal, gluten free and allergen sensitive options. It has been named Canada’s best food university by Maclean’s magazine in its annual school ranking.
“We often hear students say that they came to Guelph because of the food,” he said. “In this day and age, a lot of students are exposed to the world, because of social media and Tik Tok, or they are coming from major cities where food is an experience and there are multicultural restaurants.”
If the food offerings were an issue, Nair said he would hear about. First, there is an ombudsperson, a student living in residence who is on the Hospitality Services Advisory Committee to act as a student liaison between customers and the food service team. The ombudsperson does student surveys, which dining services then acts on it.
Then, there is the ability for students to comment using a campus texting system that places messages sent to a special number on a screen people can see. A sampling (periods added): “my mongolian slapped today.” “idk what u put in the hashbrowns today but they slapped so hard I want to cry.” “this burrito bowl is bussin.”
With Guelph well-known for its agricultural degree, Nair said using local ingredients, like at its 100 Mile Grille, is important. It is based on the belief in buying and eating food that’s produced within a 100-mile radius of where you are.
“We want to make sure we make good food, and good food happens when you get great ingredients,” he said about the school’s farm to food services approach. “We are lucky we are an agricultural school, and we are in Wellington County and we have so many producers and farmers around in this area. It does help, but we also are committed to supporting local farmers and producers.”
Roberts said McMaster also has a belief in buying local. It has a local purchasing target of 35 per cent — which, he said, it has exceeded in the last three years – and also buys free-run eggs, sustainable fish and seafood, fair trade or ethical coffee and compostable products. It is part of a wider green procurement policy that began in 2022.
“I am a firm believer that, while you have students here for four years, you can educate — it no longer lies solely with academia,” said Roberts. “We want to educate students to be better global citizen. We can teach them to cook. We can teach them about nutrition. We can teach them about diversity and inclusion and the impact of their food has the environment.”
He said it’s noticed by the students and by their parents who, at an event in the fall and spring, can tour the university and its food service offerings.
“When the parents come through, they are blown away. There is that general reaction that, ‘Wow, I wish I had that when I was in school.’” said Roberts. “There is a faction of students that still wants the fries and gravy and the tater tot casserole types or things, and we will always have that, too.”