Georgia State embraces veggies
GSU’s renovated dining hall commits to serving more health-conscious, plant-based menu options in 2017
Over the past couple of years, GSU has heard echoing requests for more vegetarian dishes served in PantherDining’s three campus dining halls. In response, the university will be turning its smaller Patton Dining Hall into a lean protein, vegan, and vegetarian refuge, catering to the more health conscious millennial students of today.
The school will unveil their completely redesigned dining hall in time for the fall 2017 semester. In place of the old bistro, GSU is adding a new flat top grill for made-to-order plant-based dishes like cauliflower fried rice, quesadillas, and lo mein. The new décor will feature warm woods and green walls bathed in natural light. Chefs can conveniently pick fresh seasonings from herbs growing on a vertical aeroponic garden wall.
During a whirlwind day of chef training at Piedmont Central Dining Hall last week, the entire GSU kitchen staff split into teams to tackle nearly 60 new recipes including mushroom street tacos, vegetable wellington, and eggplant parmesan.
The new menu was developed by the extreme makeover expert of the dining hall world, chef Wanda White. After opening a successful all-vegetarian dining hall at University of North Texas, White went to work with the Humane Society of the United States to take her vegan dining hall concept across the nation. She has since been to more than 40 schools and military bases and even helped SeaWorld’s cafe add more plant-based dishes to their menu.
“Chef Wanda is real and down to earth,” says Lenore Musick, director of GSU’s PantherDining and Sustainability Initiatives. “She understands that the world will not change overnight, but we are going to be able to change it one step at a time.”
Through the Humane Society and a program called Forward Food, White serves as a chef instructor and visits each institution’s kitchen for one day. In the morning, the teams prepare lunch, hold a huge taste test, then work on appetizers and desserts during the afternoon.
No value assignedMusick says GSU’s chefs are creative and able to think outside the box, with healthy hacks such as using chickpea flour in their crepes to add more protein. PantherDining has also made an effort to source as locally as possible.
“This generation coming in understands there is a price tag that goes with being a little bit healthier,” Musick adds. “We want them to feel like they can go somewhere, be comfortable, and not have to ask a thousand questions about ingredients and preparation.”
Using a smaller supplier, Athena Farms, does mean higher priced products as a whole, but Musick says the Forest Park wholesalers understand Georgia State’s goals and are working with the school to keep costs down by supplying seasonal produce. Good news for students: Officials say the price for the meal plan will not go up with the new plant-based menu.
The closest supplier is GSU’s own Freight Farm’s Leafy Green Machine, a unique hydroponic urban farm built entirely inside a shipping container. Located just 50 yards behind Piedmont North Dining Hall, the Freight Farm will allow the university to plant seedlings this winter to use in their veggie-forward dishes. The team hopes to harvest fresh produce like arugula and butterhead lettuce by mid-February.