Beetles for Breakfast?

When I was in college I travelled to South Korea to stay with a good friend and her family who lived in Seoul.  During my visit they introduced me to many of the local traditions, including many cuisine and food-related customs. Imagine my never-been-out-of-the-U.S.-before surprise when one of their favorite delicacies was silk worms! What!? I marveled at the women cooking these worms in pots on fire pits outside at a traditional Korean festival.

Although exotic to me, many cultures regularly consume "insects" as protein sources.  An estimated 2.5 billion people regularly consume insects. The United Kingdom is considering adding insect protein to its food supply. The basic reason to include insects in the diet is to provide a non-animal protein source. Read more about it in Insect and food pyramids could help reduce meat consumption , which sourced info from a new article in the journal Appetite called, "Can we cut out the meat of the dish? Constructing consumer-oriented pathways towards meat substitution."

Are you trying to reduce your meat consumption? If so, here are ways that Dining can help you with that goal:

• try Meatless Monday dishes at the grill every Monday at all 5 residential restaurants
• visit Roots, the all-vegan restaurant on Muir College
• choose the vegetarian or vegan options available daily; check Dining's site for the green VT label (vegetarian) or blue VG label (vegan)
• utilize the salad bar
• order a vegetarian sandwich at the deli
• who says you have to have an entree? try a meal of 3 vegetarian "sides" such as the vegetarian soup, a spinach leaf salad with garbanzo beans and tomatoes, and a yogurt
• choose veggie options at a Place & Market
• no, Dining is NOT serving bugs!

Happy Meatless Monday!

Why You Might Be Wrong When You Think, "I Need To Eat More Protein"

People often ask me how much protein they need and are almost always surprised by my estimate of their daily recommended amount. It's likely that the amount of protein that you need is less than what you are used to consuming on a daily basis.

The average male needs approximately 65 grams of protein per day while the average female needs 55 grams protein per day. Of course, there is variation among people but those ballpark figures should help you to understand that consuming sufficient protein is relatively easy for most people, even vegetarians!

Eating too much protein can be a bad thing on two fronts:
1) your health - if you eat too much animal-based protein, especially processed meats or red meats (anything from lunchmeat to hot dogs to chicken fingers to steaks), you could be raising your risk of heart disease and cancer.
2) your environmental impact - the amount of energy it takes to get animal-based food products all the way to your plate is tremendous. There is a significant amount of water consumption that goes into one piece of steak. Perhaps that is a newer way to think about how we eat...but it's becoming more important as we look at global water shortages and environmental impacts.

Here is a pretty cool summary article on the topic of protein consumption with information from my favorite nutrition professor, Marion Nestle, of NYU: http://shine.yahoo.com/event/green/how-much-protein-do-you-really-need-2523319/

Dining Services has joined the Meatless Monday movement by offering only meatless options at the grill station of our 5 residential restaurants every Monday from September through June (the academic year.)

Meatless Mondays in Dining Services

Calling all vegetarians! You asked for more vegetarian options and, among other efforts, Dining Services offers Meatless Mondays at every restaurant location. At the grill of each restaurant every Monday, you will find all vegetarian choices.

Hey, meat-eaters! Don't be shy - try a meatless option. You might find that you love it!

Pictured above: the Chana Masala from today's Meatless Monday at OceanView Terrace on Marshall College. This dish is vegetarian and healthy - it's high in fiber and a good source of protein from the main ingredient, chickpeas.

Meatless Monday!

Every Monday is Meatless Monday at all Dining Services' grill stations. If you are a meat-eater, don't freak out! Reducing your animal fat intake could improve your health (lowering cancer and heart disease risk). Veggie meals also take less energy to produce so, in essence, those greens are green!

Here are some Meatless Monday options for today:

Plaza Cafe: Soy Sloppy Joe's, Philly Soysteaks, Veggies w/Swiss on Flatbread

OVT: Cheese Ravioli with veggies and garlic bread

Cafe V: Vyro sandwich, Black Bean burger, Boca burgers, Grilled Veggie Quesadilla, 3-Cheese Grilled Sandwich

Pines: Eggplant & Hummus Grilled Sandwich, Veggie Loaf

Have a great Meatless Monday!

Welcome Back!

Welcome back for spring quarter! I hope you had a great spring break and are feeling refreshed and ready for the final quarter of this academic year.

Dining Services looks forward to bringing you fresh and delicious meals this quarter.

Fun and Healthy Dining events this week:

• Check out Meatless Monday TODAY at the Grill at Cafe Ventanas (ERC)
• Visit the traveling farmer's market, Farm2U, on Wednesday (3/31) at Earl's Place (Warren College)

Meatless Mondays!

This delicious quesadilla was from Plaza Cafe's (Revelle College) Meatless Monday at the Grill on 1/11/10. It is a whole wheat tortilla with cheese, red pepper, and black bean burger. I ate it with lots of fresh salsa and some jalapenos!

Dining Services' has a Meatless Monday program rotating through one of our 4 full-service restaurants (Plaza Cafe, OVT, Cafe V and Canyon Vista) every Monday. Read more about Meatless Mondays and find out where the next one is at http://hdh.ucsd.edu/diningservices/