Eating Healthy

Providing you with healthy options is something your dining team proudly does every day. We help you select delicious, nutritious and satisfying meals, snacks and desserts by highlighting well-balanced menu choices and providing nutritional information and tips to help you make choices that fit your needs.

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Kimberly joined the Rensselaer dining team in 2014 and brings a wealth of knowledge the RPI campus community. With her friendly and approachable nature, she is passionate about sharing her love of health and wellness with students. 

Kimberly Mayer, RDN, is available for complimentary consultations for anyone that has a meal plan. 
Email Kimberly  HERE.

Some of these nutrition topics may include:

·        Food allergies, celiac and other special dietary needs

·        How to eat healthy on campus

·        Vegan and vegetarian dining

·         Sports nutrition


 

Our Promise

Rensselaer is proud to offer you with healthy and delicious options, regardless of your dietary restrictions. There are accommodations for various food allergies, intolerances, and sensitivities in our resident dining halls and retail dining locations on campus. A team approach led by you is the best preparation for a safe school experience. Please reach out to notify us your allergies and dietary needs. If we do not here from you, we believe that you are successfully navigating the dining locations.

Here we provide a brief summary of our program to ensure that you have safe and appealing dining options in an inclusive environment.

 Simple Servings

This award-winning station is available in Commons and Russell Sage dining halls. This hot entrée station is open for lunch and dinner and meals are prepared without peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, wheat, soy, milk, eggs and gluten ingredients. They are prepared and served by an Aller trained employee using fresh plates to avoid cross-contact.

MyZone

This residential “kitchen pantry” is located in Commons and Russell Sage dining halls. All products in MyZone are gluten free, tree nut free, and peanut free and a dedicated microwave, toaster, and utensils are available to students to be involved in their own allergen-safe meal prep. Some of the student’s favorite items offered in Myzone are Udi’s and Canyon bakery breads and bagels, Enjoy life cookies, Ian’s chicken nuggets, and Amy’s gluten free macaroni and cheese.

*The Myzone in Commons dining hall requires swipe access to enter in order to maintain the integrity of the space. To gain access to Myzone, please email our campus dietitian when you get to campus to set up an appointment to fill out a form. Click HERE to email Kimberly Mayer, campus dietitian.

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Our campus dietitian is a Master Trainer and Rensselaer Dining managers and over one hundred supervisors and staff members have been AllerTrain certified, an ANSI (American National Standards Institute) accredited , manager level, food allergy and gluten-free training course designed for those who serve food in a college or university. This knowledge on proper methods for safely handling food to prevent cross contact is essential to everyday food preparation.

Rensselaer is one of the first universities in NY to stock epinephrine in the dining halls. Managers are trained in Allertrain emergency protocols. We encourage students that were prescribed epinephrine to carry it with them at all times. 

 

Mindful

Mindful is Sodexo's health & wellness approach that helps you make healthy choices second nature! We are committed to creating healthy environments for our customers. Central to this effort is providing healthy, nutritious foods. The result of this initiative is an approach that focuses on transparency of ingredients, delicious food, satisfying portions and clarity in message so that you can make Mindful choices!

Mindful offerings meet stringent nutritional criteria based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Each meal part is limited in calories, has fewer than 30% of calories as fat, fewer than 10 % of calories as saturated fat, and is restricted in sodium, and cholesterol. Look for the Mindful icon to indulge in the healthy and delicious items offered at each meal.

While Rensselaer Dining strives to meet medical/disability needs of all students, those who need more than the standard provided by Rensselaer Dining outlined above are encouraged to engage in the University’s process to request a medical/disability dietary accommodation via  Student Living and Learning. Please click here to access the accommodation form.

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Menu items with the vegetarian icon contain no meat, fish or poultry, or any meat products such as soup base. Our vegetarian offerings meet the needs of lacto-ovo vegetarians and may include eggs and/or dairy products.

Vegan-35x35.pngVegan offerings contain no meat, fish, eggs, milk or other animal-derived products such as honey. Vegan options are served daily in all dining hall locations.

Our campus bakery also produces vegan desserts on a daily basis. In 2019, Rensselaer Dining received an A+ rating on the Peta Vegan Report Card.