Green Girl Dresses the Dining Hall

Winter break is over, and my old lovely memories of the college dining situation are coming back. No more freshly made stir fries and fresh mozzarella dishes for dinner. Nope. Soggy cooked veggies and undercooked rice for the win (or loss, really). At least, that’s what I was thinking when I entered Dewick (the dining hall) tonight for dinner.

Let me go back a little. My friend Marysa came to stay with me for the last few days of break, and over this break, we contemplated our hate for the dining hall and if there was any possibility of lessening this hatred while still being healthy (aka not going for the pizza and pasta because those are the only seemingly edible things available). What we decided was that we could deal with the salads if only the dressings were not so terrible. There is so much sugar in the dressings in the dining hall that I can’t bear to put them on my salads. Plus, they just taste bad in general. But the actual vegetables aren’t bad, and they have a good salad bar, with chickpeas and beans and tofu, usually (though, sometimes I avoid these because they’re next to the chicken–gross!).

Well. Tonight, Marysa and I walked into Dewick dreading, and walked out loving! We had gone to the health food store in my town and bought Annie’s salad dressings–me, Organic Cucumber Yogurt Dressing, and her, Organic Sesame Ginger with Chamomile Vinaigrette, both of which use only fruit juice and honey for sweeteners! We brought them with us to Dewick and used them for dressing, and my dinner was actually good!

It really is the small things in life that make a difference. For those of you uncertain how you can possibly make it through another semester in the dining halls, take my advice: Get little things, like salad dressing, spices, and sauces. Carry them with you when you’re going to the dining hall, and fix your food! It really did help. I left dinner very satisfied and very optimistic about the dining situation for the semester ahead.

Note to self: Dressing for the win.

Lily Berthold-Bond grew up in a chemical-free zone and has struggled her whole life to understand and accept this non-commercial lifestyle. Now a sophomore at Tufts University, she has embraced her green life and hopes to share its possibilities with the rest of her generation.