Columbia University Dining

You Are What You Eat! Regardless of if you want to perform better in the classroom, on the field, on the court, or elsewhere, take a close look at the food you are eating. There is a tremendous amount of power in the foods that we eat, therefore we want to choose the best food for our bodies! Certain foods can help us improve our memory, endurance, self-esteem, relieve stress, and make us feel generally well. Here at Columbia, we want our community to eat well and strive high! 

Columbia Reaching Out With Nutrition (C.R.O.W.N.) is committed to helping the Columbia community make healthy choices by providing research-based information that can be applied to life as well as ensuring that delicious, wholesome foods are available at each of the 12 on-campus dining locations. This commitment is founded on 3 main principles - Eat for your Health, Eat for the Earth, and Eat for Peak Performance. Be sure to explore our website for current information, nutrition tools, and tips, and keep checking back here for more updates from our evolving C.R.O.W.N. programs.

Questions on What to Eat? - Ask Ina, your Nutritionist!

Our Registered Dietitian, Ina Tsagarakis, joined the Dining Team at Columbia University in August 2006. Ina has a B.S. in Nutrition & Dietetics from New York University and a M.S. in Nutrition Education from Teachers College at Columbia. Ina is also a Certified Dietitian Nutritionist (CDN) in the State of New York. As a passionate nutrition educator, Ina seeks to improve nutritional well-being throughout campus and is always available to speak with and educate students, faculty, and staff about healthy eating and nutrition. Columbia Dining cares about the future of our environment and gives priority to making sustainable choices! Learn more about our growing number of local & sustainable practices.   

Our goal is 100% satisfaction, and we gladly welcome all questions and comments! Here on campus, all our food is prepared fresh by our chefs! If you are allergic to a particular food, have concerns about ingredient information, are on a physician-prescribed diet, or have general comments, please feel free to Ask Ina, your Nutritionist!

We take food and nutrition seriously here at Columbia and we want to make sure that everyone stays well nourished and educated! To guide staff and students to make heart healthy food selections we offer the "Healthy Choices Program" - this program has already been implemented in John Jay Dining Hall & Ferris Booth Commons and we hope to expand it throughout campus! Not only do we serve healthful food items made from quality ingredients but we are also devoted to providing food to those that suffer from disease and allergies. Gluten sensitivity and intolerance are prevalent conditions therefore we offer many options for students in need. For further information on these services please contact Ina and be sure to check out the Gluten-Free blog for students!

We understand the importance of addressing individual needs. Many students have food allergies, intolerances or dietary preferences and while we offer a full line of Gluten-free, Vegetarian and Vegan options sometimes students are still unable to meet their needs. Having a Registered Dietitian gives us the ability to offer individual assistance as we are happy to cater to individual needs! For more information, see the section on Food Allergies and contact Ina directly at iet2101@columbia.edu.

In addition, Columbia offers on-campus Nutritional Services through Health Services. If you have a private concern and would like individualized assistance please contact Health Services to make an appointment.

For general inquires please email eats@columbia.edu and for private concerns, you may contact Ina directly at iet2101@columbia.edu.