New dairy-free, gluten-free and vegan meals available on campus
By: Craig Ryder
Last updated: Tuesday, 6 October 2015
On The Pulse - good for your health
SussexFood have responded to student and staff feedback requesting more vegan, dairy-free and gluten free-food by creating a new food concept called On The Pulse.
On The Pulse consists of ten delicious pulse-based recipes. A different dish will be available every day at SussexFood’s largest eatery, Eat Central - and also ‘on tour’ each weekday at a different cafe outlet, allowing more people to easily access the healthy, hearty meals.
Pulse crops such as beans, chickpeas, lentils and peas are grown and eaten all over the world. On The Pulse reflects pulses’ global ubiquity, with dishes that span the globe: from Indian black bean curry to Parisian-inspired almond & green lentil stew.
SussexFood Exec Chef, Luca Nervi, said: “We want to listen to feedback and also keep up to date with food trends, and delivering On The Pulse shows that.
"I believe though that while the dishes are vegan and gluten free, they are utterly delicious and will be enjoyed by everyone, regardless of dietary preferences.”
SussexFood have coincided the new food concept with the UN’s declaration that 2016 is to be the International Year of Pulses (IYP). The IYP aims to "heighten public awareness of the nutritional benefits of pulses as part of sustainable food production aimed towards food security and nutrition".
*On The Pulse on tour:
- Every day – Eat Central (Bramber House)
- Mondays – Doctors Orders (BSMS)
- Tuesdays – Dhaba Cafe (Arts C)
- Wednesdays – Doctors Orders (BSMS)
- Thursdays – The Bridge Cafe (Pevensey 1-2)
- Fridays – Jubilee Cafe (Jubilee Building)
This is good news for someone like me who avoids Lactose, Gluten, Chillies and Caffeine. I often struggle to find something substantial to eat on campus. Thus far I have brought in my own lunches and brought IBS friendly snacks. Now if I fancy not making lunch so often, I know that I have delicious options at work. Great!
This is a very good idea, especially attractive to me as I have a wheat intolerance. But last week I was at The Bridge and I asked them to check the ingredients of the On the Pulse dish and they told me it had wheat in it (so I couldn't eat it). This confused me, because I thought if something was gluten-free it wouldn't have wheat in it. Can someone explain? Thanks.
Also they used to serve wheat-free soup at The Bridge but don't seem to do so now, which is a shame.
Hi Megan,
The issue you experienced has been resolved. The allergen information sheets for all our dishes is automatically produced via an online system. When we initially introduced On The Pulse, the cumin used in the dish you inquired about could not be guaranteed to be "wheat-free" i.e. the factory where it is produced is not. As a result, the allergen sheet automatically flagged up that this dish was not wheat-free (although it was). Since, we have sourced a certified wheat-free cumin and we now use this throughout On The Pulse dishes.
I hope this answers your question.
Thanks and regards.
This is excellent! When I first applied to Sussex it was before my Gluten-intolerant diagnosis, so seeing that I can now access food that I can eat on campus is really useful and means that on evenings where my other disabilities are flaring up to the point where I can't cook, I can still eat. Really happy!
Great news - much-needed. Thanks
Bravo SussexFood :)
I am a pescatarian at the moment (though slowly cutting off fish too), but I try to eat vegan whenever I can, so this is amazing news! I am actually member of a Students Vegan Society (on Facebook), and everyone in that group (all from different universities) has complained that they are quite limited when it comes to food on campus. This is a great step & will hopefully encourage more people to consider veganism. I will now be able to boast a bit on that group :) High Five
Yay! Well done, Sussex Food. (There's also lots of vegan desserts available at cafe 76)
Really welcome this initiative, and the dishes I have had so far have been absolutely delicious...
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That's great - unless of course you can't eat legumes, which happens to be a huge amount of people who can't eat gluten. Still progress is progress. Up to now the assumption is that everyone who is gluten free just wants to eat cake.
From Lucy Robinson on 3 October 2015
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