Corn - Friday's Featured Whole Grain, October's Featured Whole Grain

Corn is Dining's Friday featured whole grain and October is Whole Grains Month. Dining Services continues in the month-long Whole Grains Challenge, which involves serving at least one whole grain dish per day in all five residential dining restaurants (Plaza Cafe, Pines, OVT, Cafe V and Canyon Vista). Fridays are Corn Day!

The Whole Grains Council (http://wholegrainscouncil.org/ ) chose corn as the featured whole grain of October: http://www.wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-grains-101/corn-october-grain-of-the-month .

You might wonder, why corn? Well, it's true that corn has gotten a bit of a bad rep as of late in the U.S. due to hotly debated topics such as high-fructose corn syrup and the nature of the U.S. food system. But...those are topics for another day. Actual corn can definitely be part of a healthy diet!

You might also wonder whether corn is a grain at all - or is it a vegetable? Well, who cares really? But basically fresh corn is considered a starchy vegetable (is that confusing enough for you?) and dried corn is considered a grain. But here's the Real Deal, the Whole Grains Council chose corn as its featured Whole Grain during Whole Grain Month so I'm going with that!

What else is cool about corn?

• it's high in vitamin A
• it's gluten-free
• popcorn kernels can pop up to 3 feet in the air
• most of the world refers to corn as maize and I don't know if it's an American thing like we measure our weight in pounds unlike anywhere else. On another side note, if you're a fan of Modern Family, you will remember Cam posing as a Native American to get his daughter into a prestigious pre-school and referring to corn as "maize" - it's a great scene.

Happy Corn Day - is that corny? Oh gosh...

Calcium - you need it, are you getting it?

Calcium is a nutrient that many college-age students, especially college women, do not consume in adequate amounts. Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the body and serves many functions. Our serum calcium is very tightly regulated but the majority of our body's calcium in stored in our bones and teeth where it maintains their structure and function.

How much calcium do you need?

• Adults aged 19-50 need 1,000mg calcium daily
• young first year students (ages 14-18) need 1,300mg daily

A large number of college students do not meet these daily calcium requirements from food. The picture to the right is of two of my favorite ways to get calcium from food - Greek yogurt, and a decaf, nonfat latte. Yum! I got both of those from Roger's Place & Market on Revelle College.

If you find that you cannot meet your daily calcium needs with food, a calcium supplement makes sense to help you get to the 1,000mg daily requirement. How do you know how much calcium you're getting from food? Check this out http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/calcium#h3

Protect those bones, get that calcium!

Whole Grains Challenge Month

Dining Services is participating in the Whole Grains Challenge this month -- are you?

Dining is offering daily whole grain foods:

• Sundays - whole wheat pancakes


• Mondays - popcorn


• Tuesdays - whole wheat pastas


• Wednesdays - whole grain bread


• Thursdays - assorted whole grains (quinoa, wild rice, brown rice)


• Fridays - assorted corn choices


• Saturdays - oatmeal

In addition, the Places & Markets are featuring their daily whole grain choices as well. Look for whole grain displays and/or ask a manager for help finding the whole grain choices.

Why whole grains, you ask? Whole grains, like fruits and veggies, contain tiny but mighty antioxidants and phytochemicals. These antioxidants and phytochemicals fight disease. So many times we focus on what we shouldn't eat...it's far more effective and enjoyable to focus on what we should be eating. Whole grains? You should be eating them! For more info, check out the Whole Grains Council at http://wholegrainscouncil.org/

The WHOLE GRAINS CHALLENGE - are you in!?

Oatmeal, Whole Grain Goodness

Diets rich in whole grains and other plant foods and low in total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease and certain cancers.
(This health claim is approved by the FDA.)

Here's the deal: whole grains are good for you. Here's the other deal: you're in college, which means you have a busy, variable schedule and probably live on a tight budget.

So, how can you get some affordable, quick whole grains?

Oatmeal! Dining Services offers steel cut oatmeal every day. Every Saturday of this month, we'll be offering even more mix-ins to help you enjoy your delicious whole grain, college-friendly oatmeal. Not everyone loooooooves oatmeal but give it a try. It looks a little weird but it's tasty and good for you.

Whole Grains Features in Dining All October

As part of Dining's Whole Grains Challenge, we will be serving fun, whole grain features everyday in October.








Here is what you can look forward to:

• Sundays: whole wheat pancakes


• Mondays: popcorn (yup, it's whole grain!)


• Tuesdays: whole wheat pastas


• Wednesdays: whole grain breads


• Thursdays: assorted whole grains such as quinoa, wild rice, brown rice


• Fridays: corn day - corn on cob, corn salad, corn salsa, corn chowder


• Saturdays: steel cut oatmeal with fun mix-ins (dried fruits, syrups, brown sugar)

Whole Grains Month - UC Eats Real

October is Whole Grains Month. In honor of whole grain goodness, Dining Services will be featuring daily whole grain choices in Residential Dining and in our Places & Markets. Look for the UC Eats Real logo above in Dining Services.

You can also find Whole Grain stamps (also pictured above) on packaged goods that contain whole grains.

Today's feature in Dining Services? POPCORN! Yes, popcorn is a whole grain and a really fun one if I may say so. Dining will be offering popcorn in two really yummy ways today: cracker-jack style and white cheddar cheese popcorn. Ok, ok, so plain popcorn is the healthier way to eat it but we're trying to have some fun with our whole grains.

Eat whole grains, eat well!

October: Whole Grains Month in Dining Services

Happy October!

For the month of October, Dining Services will be featuring WHOLE GRAIN foods everyday. We are participating in the Whole Grains Challenge http://www.wholegrainscouncil.org/get-involved/whole-grains-challenge and want to spark interest among the study body in incorporating more daily whole grain foods.

So, join Dining Services in eating more whole grains this month and from now on! Look for the whole grains feature everyday this month in your favorite Dining restaurant and Place & Market.