Being Gluten-Free at JMU

For someone like me who is not gluten-free by choice but rather necessity, eating on campus is extremely difficult. While JMU may be ranked #6 in the nation for dining services, there are some major flaws:

1. Sometimes the dining halls just don’t order gluten-free bread. Sometimes I will walk up to one of the only stations that offers food I can eat and someone will tell me that “they just didn’t order gluten-free bread and don’t know when it will be back.” My reaction to this is usually sarcastic finger-guns because I don’t know how else to respond.

2. Even when there is gluten-free bread, it is the full price for half the food. I love hearing my friends talk about how a Cheese Please is so hard to finish when a gluten-free sandwich is actually half the size and the same price. Not only is it not filling, but I have to use dining dollars to get an extra snack if I want the same amount of food as everyone else.

   3. The one gluten-free station at E-Hall is mediocre, and not there for breakfast. This may sound a little nit-picky but honestly, there is only one choice for food for me when I walk into a dining hall. Now let’s say that the food is bad that day. Not only did I just waste a punch, I can’t go to another station. JMU could easily just make a batch of gluten-free pasta or gluten-free waffles in a separate container, but they don’t. And the gluten-free station isn’t even open for breakfast.

4. JMU could just label food gluten-free, but doesn’t. There are so many foods in the dining hall when I walk around that I know are gluten-free, because how could rice not be gluten-free, and all JMU would have to do is label their food better for convenience, but they don’t label all their food, making it difficult for me to be sure it is gluten-free.

5. Sometimes they don’t change their gloves. Countless times I have walked up to the sandwich station (when they have my bread) and seen a worker not change his/her gloves when making a gluten-free sandwich. What is the point of having gluten-free bread when the station isn’t free of gluten? A crumb of cross-contamination can send a person with celiac disease to the hospital.

It can be incredibly frustrating to be gluten-free by necessity, and not just as a lifestyle choice, and not be able to eat full meals when I need to. There is a few options at JMU, which is better than some other schools, but there is definitely some room to improve.

• celiac disease
• diet
• dining
• food
• gluten free
• health
• lifestyle