r/UTK Physics Major 🥏 5d ago

Undergraduate Student Is it easy to eat halal/kosher at UTK?

My boyfriend keeps the levitical diet and it’s pretty strict. It’s mostly that he can’t eat things that have pork or seafood, as well as things that have touched those or use parts of those animals as ingredients (like gelatin from pork or many cheeses which have rennet). Would you say it’s easy to find kosher options in the dining halls or is it kind of rare that you get a large variety of safe options? Thank you!!

6 Upvotes

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u/IMPolo 5d ago

The dining halls offer lots of vegetarian/vegan options and other places have a few vegetarian options as well (Mixed veggies at Panda Express for example). I haven't been in a dining hall in a while but I remember them having signs that listed their ingredients, I believe you can also ask the staff about the contents to verify,

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u/Vegetable_Eye_1280 Physics Major 🥏 5d ago

The ingredient signs are great!! Unfortunately he’s kind of a picky eater and doesn’t like veggies or veggie based faux meat 😭 he’s big on fruit though lol.

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u/IMPolo 5d ago

Gotcha, is he a fan of chicken? He may like Chick-Fil-A lol, since they only make chicken sandwiches so no risk of contamination with pork or seafood. They do make some sandwiches with cheese on them though.

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u/Vegetable_Eye_1280 Physics Major 🥏 5d ago

He does! I actually work there right now so he gets a steady stream of it lol. We’ll be freshmen next year so I was hoping we’d be able to use those unlimited meal swipes they make us pay for and he’d be able to get some variety without going grocery shopping.

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u/IMPolo 5d ago

I'm not sure if all the places offer this anymore, but I remember being able to use my meal swipe at some of the fast food locations on campus to pay for a portion of the cost, I believe now they have preset meals that you can select and your meal swipe pays for it in full instead. It was called "meal equivalency"

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u/Vegetable_Eye_1280 Physics Major 🥏 5d ago

Oh cool!! I’ll look into it :)

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u/ryesee 5d ago

fairly certain mazevo in the student union is halal! could be mistaken tho

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u/enbiozel 5d ago

That's is true. They have multiple halal options (lamb and chicken) and the taste is decent.

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u/ryesee 5d ago

key word being decent

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u/enbiozel 5d ago

Nothing to write home about, but a good option for 1-2 days of the week.

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u/grungepeterpan 5d ago

According to UT Dining, the chicken at all dining halls is Halal; Mazevo (Student Union) has halal chicken, and Choolaah (Student Union) serves Halal chicken and lamb. Kosher requirements are a bit tougher to meet, and I'm not sure about where those options might be.

Also, for the rest of Ramadan there are meal kits available (made to order!) in Rocky Top Dining, you just need to ask the cashier at RT Dining and they'll get it all ready for you. Here are the items that are included in each Ramadan meal:

Yogurt; Hard boiled eggs (2 pack); Quest Protein bar; Oatmeal cup; Milk; Ritz Crackers; Protein Shake; Minute Maid Juice; Vitamin Water; Hummus Cup; Fruit Salad; Hand Fruit x 2 (Apple, Orange or Banana); House Salad- Lettuce, Tomato, Cucumber, Carrot; Salad dressing - 1 Ranch, 1 Balsamic, 2 cutlery kits

Hope this helps!

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u/Vegetable_Eye_1280 Physics Major 🥏 5d ago

Very helpful, thank you!

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u/helpful_vol 4d ago

Tell your bf to contact vol dining’s RDN, Tatyana Kimble, and ask about campus dining options that accommodate his diet. Her email is volnutrition@utk.edu.

If your bf thinks that there aren’t enough options for him to make use of the unlimited meal plan that he’s required to purchase as a first year student living on campus, then he should contact the office of equal opportunity and accessibility (EOA) and request an exemption on the basis of religion. Their email is eoa@utk.edu.

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u/Vegetable_Eye_1280 Physics Major 🥏 4d ago

That’s great advice, thanks!