Students work with dining services to offer nutrition info, vegan dining options

COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Missouri Students Association and the Residence Halls Association are working with Campus Dining Services to make three major improvements to the campus dining halls.

The first change was a reaction to a resolution passed at the fall semester joint session. The resolution asked CDS to provide visible nutritional information available at the point of sale of food, a concern brought to attention by a diabetic MU student.

The unexpected results were an immediate commitment from CDS to add a Zoutrition kiosk, which is currently only in Dobbs, to all dining halls.

“(The resolution) signifies that all of the major government bodies on campus support that action,” Student Affairs Committee chairman Kevin Carr said. “That piece of legislation being passed actually had quite a few unexpected results, and it took very little time to get established.”

The kiosks provide appealing and easy-to-read nutritional information signs for the everyday menu items and is offering that same information at the point of service for food items that change daily, Carr said.

RHA President Steven Chaffin meets monthly with CDS Director Julaine Kiehn to discuss students’ dietary needs.

“CDS wanted to make sure that RHA approved of everything they were doing by consulting the on-campus student body that will primarily be affected by them,” Chaffin said. “I think it’s a good idea, especially in the short term.”

These monthly meetings will judge success of the pilot program of the campus-wide Zoutrition kiosks by student use.

“It’s not about having a lot of students using it,” Chaffin said. “As long as a few students are using it and benefitting from it, that’s great. That’s what we want.”

All students will benefit from the new accessibility of information, MSA senator-elect Abby Ivory-Ganja said.

“Personally, this is super important to me as a Type 1 diabetic,”