While the kitchens of WU prepared to open their doors for the 2022-23 school year, Duke Dining was in the process of quietly executing a new, wide-sweeping policy: a ban on all nuts in Duke dining facilities. Food products containing any trace of peanut, almond, or coconut were tossed from kitchen stocks. Students returned to campus to find that beloved menu favorites – Nutella crepes from Cafe, fish malabar from Tandoor, and almond milk from Bella Union had mysteriously vanished.

The only indication of any policy change was a simple digital flier proclaiming “new dining policies” that flashed across the screens at Pitch and Cafe, and a footnote at the bottom of a Chronicle article. At the time of writing this, Duke Dining still has no notice on their website of this official change.

The peanut ban has had rippling impacts on the availability of food options for students with dietary restrictions. The ban on almond milk has reduced the availability of milk and coffee options to students with lactose intolerance.

Further, the ban on coconut specifically (which is not even a tree nut), has had an outsize impact for vegetarians and vegans, as most meat substitutes such as the impossible burger, beyond burger, or beyond chicken contain coconut oil. As a result, this has nearly entirely eliminated the vegetarian options previously available at Krafthouse, JB's, and Panda Express. It has also specifically affected Tandoor, as several of their dishes (such as the pescatarian Fish Malabar) contained coconut.

At the same time, the ban is completely inconsistent across campus - Panda Express, Red Mango, and Panera still proudly tout their nutty products. There has been no explanation from Duke Dining as to why these national chains were permitted to retain their products while smaller, local businesses were forced to forfeit prized menu items.

Duke Dining never bothered to solicit input from the hundreds of students who are vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian, or lactose intolerant. This policy never saw the light of public input, was never considered by DSG or any other student organization, and was imposed completely unilaterally. We call on Duke to immediately reverse the tree nut ban and restore the multitude of dining options that students relied on for nutrient-rich dining, or make immediate plans to provide adequate substitutes.