Vegan and vegetarian options are prepared at "Veg Out" at Case Dining Hall on Sept. 4, 2018. Culinary Services workers, along with 700 Residential and Hospitality Services student employees were placed on leave starting Oct. 4, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
An allergen friendly dining hall will open at Michigan State in fall 2019.
Soon to be located where Riverwalk Market is now — inside of MSU's Owen Hall — the dining hall will be allergen friendly, according to an email from Eat at State. Nine major allergens — milk, eggs, soy, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish and sesame — will be off the menu.
The change makes Owen Hall the tenth campus venue to offer all-you-care-to-eat options, according to Gina Keilen, a registered dietician at MSU.
"The venues that are in Owen or the Riverwalk Market area will now become all-you-care-to-eat, as well as being allergen-free," Keilen said.
Owen Hall is located in River Trail Neighborhood, which is central to campus. The new dining hall will service students in the surrounding Shaw and McDonel residence halls, but is open to anybody, according to Keilen.
"There'll be three different locations or concepts coming out of Owen once it gets its facelift," Keilen said. "Once you walk in the door, you'll have access to all three venues."
Owen Hall currently offers cash-based meal options through Riverwalk Market and houses a Sparty's convenience store.
"We are just looking to transform the residential dining area," Keilen said. "...Sparty's will still be there — that will not be certified free from anything — but we'll look to kind of change the product mix to match some of the population coming in to eat with us."
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