Nutrition

Healthy Eating

Providing you with healthy options is something your dining team proudly does every day. We help you select delicious, nutritious and satisfying meals, snacks and desserts by highlighting well-balanced menu choices and providing nutritional information and tips to help you make choices that fit your needs.

Meet the Dietitian

Katelyn Ryder, RD, is available for complimentary consultations on topics such as:

• Food allergies, celiac disease, diabetes, or other special dietary needs
• Eating healthy on campus
• Vegan and vegetarian nutrition
• Weight management
• Campus Presentations

She has a passion for leading a healthy lifestyle and empowering people of all ages to reach their healthiest potential through food and nutrition. Katelyn works with students, faculty and staff to encourage a healthy and holistic lifestyle. She also assists students on campus that have dietary restrictions, helping them become more comfortable in their new dining environment. Email us at Bearcatdining@nwmissouri.edu to set up a consultation.

Food Allergies, Intolerance and Medical Needs

We want to meet one-on-one with anyone who has individual dining needs to ensure that your dining experience is safe, delicious, and social. For students with medical conditions that impact their ability to dine well on campus, we strongly encourage a conversation with our Registered Dietitian, Executive Chef, and/or General Manager. In many instances, our dining team can easily assist with special needs.

Occasionally, Dining Services cannot meet a student’s medical needs within normal service. We may require additional medical documentation to enable us to develop a more specific meal plan accommodation. In this situation, please visit the Office of Accessibility & Accommodations at Northwest for details and instructions on how to submit an accommodation request. This process is for those with medically documented diagnosis/-es that need to request special dining accommodations or have medically prescribed diet plans for the treatment of a medical condition. Together, our departments work to serve our students with medical needs related to dining on campus.

Mindful

Locate a healthier choice! All Mindful offerings meet stringent nutritional criteria based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Each Mindful item is limited in calories, has fewer than 30 percent of calories from fat, fewer than 10 percent of calories from saturated fat, and is restricted in sodium and cholesterol. Mindful items are clearly marked in our dining venues. Learn more about our mindful program.

Simple Servings

Simple Servings is our allergen-safe, dining option for our customers with food allergies or gluten intolerance. This station offers food free from peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, wheat, soy, milk products, eggs, and gluten-containing ingredients. Simple Servings staff members are carefully trained to avoid cross-contact with food allergens.

Separate equipment, storage areas, utensils and preparation areas minimize, but do not totally eliminate, the chances of gluten and allergens in our Simple Servings foods. 75% of Simple Servings items also meet our Mindful criteria, which makes it an easy and healthy choice for customers who are focused on ingredients and portion size to control weight, blood sugar and other health issues.