From left, Gabby Williams, Sonny Chang and Katie Whitwell prepare salad at Pangea, a student-operated restaurant in the Memorial Union. (photo: Theresa Hogue)

Healthy meal choices are increasing on campus, and for one Oregon State student, it’s providing her an opportunity to practice skills that will help her land a job when she graduates in December.

Elisabeth Miller has had a busy fall term. She is about to graduate with a degree in Nutrition Food Management and is getting married this Friday. In the mean time, she’s been in charge of designing the menu for Pangea’s new all-you-can-eat vegetarian dishes on Meatless Mondays.

Each Monday, customers who chose the all-you-can-eat option get an entrée with three vegetarian items, and can request more of any or all three for free. And it’s not just a plateful of carrots. Miller said she’s carefully planned each offering to be tasty, nutritious and a bit adventurous.

“I try to include things that are familiar but with a unique twist,” Miller said. “I try to think about things that go well together, so they don’t feel like they’re just eating a plate of vegetables.”

Miller pulls recipes from culinary school menus and reworks them to make them fit the weekly menu, saying she likes the challenge. She tries to make the dishes low in fat and sodium and avoids allergens like peanuts.

“I want to make it tasty but healthy.”

Pangea is a student-run and operated restaurant in the Memorial Union, and MU Retail Food Services Director Robyn Jones explained that everything from ordering produce to serving meals is left in student hands.

“Any of the specials we offer, we have a student developing it, costing it out and producing it,” Jones said.

Jones is a member of the nutrition subcommittee for the OSU Healthy Life Challenge group, and it was there that the idea of an all-you-can-eat vegetable special came to life. She said the success of the special grows each week, mainly by word of mouth and by emails they send out to patrons.

Some of the produce comes directly from the OSU Organic Growers Club, which has provided salad greens, beets, eggplant, leeks and sweet potatoes, allowing the specials to not only be healthy, but also locally grown.

Jones said all of the food retail locations on campus have healthy options, but that customers are not necessarily buying them.

“We don’t eat enough vegetables, and we’re trying to make it easier for people to find those options,” she said.

Nov. 14, the all-you-can-eat special is vegetarian chili served with roasted corn and brown rice, salsa and salad.

To sign up for Pangea’s e-mail updates, contact Connie.Braaten@oregonstate.edu

~ Theresa Hogue

Students in agricultural sciences get hands-on training at six campus-based farms: dairy, beef, horse, chicken, sheep and vegetable. (photo: Lynn Ketchum)

The “Savory Images” exhibit will be in the Murdoch Gallery throughout August and features images from the pages of the magazine, Oregon’s Agricultural Progress, showcasing the bounty of Oregon agriculture.

“The exhibit is a reflection of the role OSU’s research and people play in sustaining our state’s rich agricultural heritage,” according to Sonny Ramaswamy, incoming dean of the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences.

Magazine editor Peg Herring said, “Food is the handshake between urban and rural communities. Our hope is that the exhibit, along with the special food issue of the magazine, will prompt conversations across Oregon about food as a necessary – and delightful – part of life.”

After the August exhibit in Corvallis, the show begins a year-long tour across the state with stops in Astoria, Sept. 1-30; La Grande, Oct. 5-30; the Food Innovation Center in Portland, Nov. 2-27; and Madras, Dec. 4-Jan. 4.
In 2010 the exhibit shows in Prineville, Jan. 4-29; Pendleton, Feb. 16-March 19; Klamath Falls, March 26-May 3; Central Point, May 3-28; The Dalles, June 1¬-30; and Myrtle Point, July 5-30.

The exhibit is presented by OSU’s Extension and Experiment Station Communications and the College of Agricultural Sciences. Photos are by Lynn Ketchum, award-winning EESC photographer.

~ Judy Scott