Weeks 1&2 as Yalies

Our cute neighboring cubicles!
Leandra (left) & Kirsten (right)

As we begin week 3 of our internship, Leandra and I (Kirsten) are finally beginning to recount our adventures in New Haven, CT at Yale University. We both moved in to Arnold Hall—Leandra hailing from the University of Saskatchewan and myself from Purdue University—eager to begin our first day of work. We were pleasantly surprised at our meeting to find that we are both Dietetic students! Our first taste of Yale Dining began at breakfast before the work day in beautiful Pierson Dining Hall.  The students at Yale are all housed in 1 of 12 residential colleges, each having its very own dining hall and unique personality. Because the summer session houses fewer students on campus, the first two weeks permit only 2 dining halls be open—Pierson and Calhoun. We loved the fresh fruit, make your own waffle, pancakes, eggs and fair-trade coffee that were all offered on our first morning.

We arrived at work and began with a tour of campus. If you ever want to feel like you have stepped into Hogwarts, venture a trip to Yale…the beautiful architecture is unmatched, and you will soon be speaking in a British accent. We saw “The Cathedral of Knowledge (library fashioned as a cathedral),” Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Woolsey Hall with an ornate organ, Yale Law School, and so many other stunning buildings. We spent the remainder of day one getting acquainted with our fellow employees, setting up our cubicles, setting out objectives and learning all that we could about Yale Dining. Week 1 was full of exciting new experiences—one of our favorites being recipe tasting; Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday brought with them the opportunity to taste and give feedback on new recipes that the university is trying out for the fall menu.  The cooks here are wonderful, and there is a huge focus on local, sustainable, healthy menu options.  These new menu items featured vegan, organic, local, vegetarian, and fresh ingredients, just to name a few. Leandra spent a lot of Week 1 recreating Yale’s Catering Express menu to be more appealing and up-to-date for consumers. It looks wonderful! I spent my first week devising informational posters that will be used to highlight different aspects of the great sustainable work Yale Dining is doing, such as cage-free eggs, antibiotic, hormone-free chicken, local produce, organic yogurt, and vegetarian-fed, grass-raised beef (the list goes on and on). 

We joke that we are always either 1. Planning to
eat or 2. Actually eating. Plate from one of our
many recipe tastings!

Week 2 offered an opportunity for our minds to work together.  We started brainstorming ideas to improve upon the allergen program currently in place here.  The marketing expert created handy icons to represent the “Big 8” allergens, and then Leandra and I researched facts about these allergens that students would want to read/know.  These will soon become posters and online marketing to encourage students to “self-ID” if they have a known food allergy, as Yale is great about providing allergen-free entrée items for students in need. We have also been working on a “Wellness Wednesday,” in which all menu items will meet a certain criteria pertaining to calories, fat and sodium (stay tuned for more info on that project). We concluded Week 2 with a trip to the Yale Sustainable Food Project (YSFP) Farm.  Located north of campus, this small farm is home to a variety of fruits and vegetables—all maintained by student volunteers during the school year and six student interns over the summer.  We received a tour, information about the YSFP, facts about the American Food Movement, and got our hands dirty doing some weeding around the farm (throw in a splash of rain and it made for an interesting afternoon)!

I’m sure I can’t convince you that it has been all work these past 2 weeks. Leandra and I have been keeping ourselves quite busy in our “down time.” When we aren’t working (or eating), you can usual find us out exploring anywhere we can walk to. New Haven is a town with lots of character—especially right now as they celebrate the Arts and Ideas Festival.  For two weeks, the New Haven Green will be bustling with Yalies (a student at Yale), professionals and families alike to take part in the many art shows, concerts, food trucks, and performances taking place. There are also plenty of weekend getaways that have quickly enticed us to spend our paychecks traveling.  New York City, Boston, Providence and even Washington, D.C. are all within a bus/train ride from New Haven, and we have already made a weekend trip to New York—visiting Times Square, Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, and Little Italy (we’re becoming pros at the subway system). Finally, we were invited to attend an evening cooking demonstration at a store called Delia that sells kitchen appliances.  The demonstration was taught by renowned chef—Franco-Camacho—who prepared succulent dishes right before our eyes as we got to enjoy eating them.  We ate 6 courses in total and loved every minute of it!

Enjoying some delicious food at the cooking demonstration we attended!

Sorry to write such a novel, but we were behind on our blogging.  We love to hear what everyone else is up to this summer, so keep us posted!

Leandra & Kirsten