Columbia Dining Halls to Offer Trigger Warnings on Food


Image Credit: Isaiah Bennett

Image Credit: Isaiah Bennett

JOHN JAY – Effective starting the spring 2017 semester, Columbia dining halls will offer trigger warning stickers. In addition to the current selection of gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, nut, and dairy stickers, foods labelled with “TW” will denote a dish which has the potential to induce a traumatic and life-threatening response simply by looking at it.

Christina Lee, Columbia’s registered dietician, stated that all food items will have a trigger warning, except for kale for obvious reasons. “We hope this change will help Columbia Dining be more welcoming and friendly to its victims,” said Lee. “We also hope that this change will distract your attention from the poor quality of food until we come up with another gimmick, like locally sourced beets.”

Overall, the new change has been well-received by students. “I can’t tell you how many times I have been traumatized by seeing meatloaf and fries without trigger warnings in John Jay Dining Hall,” said Natasha Brown CC ’19. “Now I can finally eat in peace, knowing the dining halls are going to be a safer space.”

As for the locally sourced beets, Lee said they will be available in March.




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