UConn’s new food program

Picture this: mouthwatering “cashew cheese ravioli,” “Caribbean coconut pasta salad,” and “cucumber flying disks,” all available for students in various eating areas at UConn.

Sound unbelievable? Well, what may seem like a fantasy to all students’ taste buds now may become a reality with the new raw food program available to the university called SAIN.

Various options through SAIN will be available at the Bookworms Café and Wilbur Café exclusively. Students are excited about new, healthful dining options for the university, as well as the locations where SAIN products will be sold. These products will be sold Mondays through Fridays.

“I spend so much time at Bookworms anyways that it is nice to know these new, delicious-sounding options will be available,” said Michael Piersall, 5th-semester political science major. “It is great that the university is providing such options for us when we are studying and doing work.”
Besides sounding delicious, these options are also quite healthful. The “Nut-N Honey Lettuce Wraps,” available on Mondays, and the “cashew cheese ravioli,” available on Tuesdays, are vegetarian and vegan products.

“I am glad that the university is taking further steps to make the university a healthy place to get a meal,” said Paul Wildenhain, 5th-semester political science major.

Wildenhain’s opinion tends to be the same as the majority of students: excited about the increasing amount of healthful products available.

Whitney Washburn, a 5th-semester physiology and neurobiology major, believes that adding the SAIN food line is another way to make the university a healthy environment. “I love that the university provides such healthy options for the students because it really provides more variety,” Washburn said. “When I came to school, I was nervous that I would not be able to eat as healthy as I did in high school. Thankfully, I have been pleasantly surprised with the amount of healthy options we have available.”
Besides the new SAIN options for healthful eating, there are a plethora of other choices available for students. On the dining.uconn.edu website, each dining unit not only shows the food that they are serving that day, but also what the “healthy options” are, as well as what the nutrition information is. Each dining hall carries “healthy husky” options for students. Whitney Dining Hall, located in East campus, is also a part of a food cooperative, carrying many healthful vegetarian and vegan options, as well as locally grown food.

“I know there are already so many healthy options here at UConn,” continued Washburn. “I am just excited to know with new options like SAIN, we are continuing to grow and expand in choices.”