Dining Services is currently creating a new large meal management program called CBORD that will make nutritional information available online to help students with allergies avoid problem foods and expand the food selection in the Marketplace and the Wildcat Den.
CBORD should be operational for the fall semester. A component of this new program is NetNutrition that will allow the students to look up the nutritional value of the food. A week’s menu will be available online and students will be able look at each product/prepared dish’s ingredient label.
“Ten years ago, we weren’t facing what we’re facing now,” said Robin Rahoi, Dining Services dietitian. “More students have allergies and those that do have typically more than one. (CBORD) helps us balance the menu better from an allergy and nutritional standpoint.”
When the recipes are entered into the CBORD program they are tagged with vegan, vegetarian and questionable ingredients. Students will be able to select their allergy and eating lifestyle, like vegan and vegetarian because we’ve tagged it, Rahoi said.
NMU is bringing in an intern this summer to help merge marketing and the nutrition components together.
Billy Littlejohn is a junior management of health and fitness major who has been working with Rahoi on the CBORD program. Littlejohn is lactose and glucose-intolerant and vegan.
“It’s been eye-opening, just to see how much they’ve accomplished since I’ve been here,” Littlejohn said.
Dining Services plans on providing students with a smartphone app that will let students look up nutrition content while in the Den or Marketplace.
“Some of the challenges in developing this program are working with the recipes, are the cooks staying true to the recipes consistently in production?” Rahoi said. “Because if they are switching out products there may be allergen present that wouldn’t normally be there.”
The program will also help students who don’t have allergies by giving them the resource to build a healthier lifestyle with their food choices. Students will be able to print recipes and make it at home.
“There are students who want to eat more nutritionally sound base products,” Greg Minner, director of Dining Services said. “The staff is going through secondary allergen training, so that cooks and student workers will know.”
Currently there is no way for students to know the nutritional content of their food. At orientation a flyer is distributed informing students to contact Rahoi.
NMU holds a contract with Gordon Food Service. Of the food currently being purchased, 31 percent is from within a 500-mile radius.
“If (GFS) runs short on chicken that doesn’t have wheat in it, then they can substitute it with another chicken that does,” Rahoi said. “(In the future), if there’s no wheat in one, there’d better not be in the other.”
Students who have life-threatening allergies that Dining Services cannot accommodate will be released from their meal plan.
“Students shouldn’t be afraid to contact us,” Rahoi said.
A food and feedback event will be held from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, April 19 in the Marketplace.
Students will be able to sample foods such as Tampa Maid Shrimp Crab Teazers, New England Lobster Rolls, Krusteaz French Toast Sticks and Rich’s Multi Grain Sunflower Panini Bread.
