At Amherst College we want your dining experience to be enjoyable, nourishing and full of exciting variety. We have a number of food stations available each day that consist of static and daily items to meet your dietary needs and preferences. The current food stations available at Valentine Hall include Traditional Entrees, The Lighter Side Entrees, Pizza, Deli, Soup, and Salad Bar. At breakfast Val offers a Smoothie Bar and a station with assorted breads and breakfast pastries, while all day long a Cereal Bar, Waffle Bar, Desert Section, Allergen Friendly Section, assorted hot and cold beverages and assorted frozen yogurt and soft serve ice cream is available for your dining pleasure.

Feeling creative? You can find a variety of sauces, spices, hummus, dressings and other various condiments all day long as well as a number of panini presses and a stir fry station available for use at night so you can do your own thing and create the exact meal you were craving. Val allows you to take bits and pieces from all your favorite stations to make something to your specific taste.  Two student initiatives have even compiled ideas to help you get started.  Check out the history and the ideas:

The possibilities are plentiful at Valentine Hall, so make sure to explore them all!

Healthy Eating At Valentine Hall

We understand that dietary needs and preferences are just as unique as an individual’s personality, so there are many options to meet the needs of our diners keeping them both happy and healthy.

Healthier Options

  • The Lighter Side Station is always available during lunch and dinner containing low calorie, low fat options.
  • You can find whole grain options on The Lighter Side such as brown rice, whole wheat pasta, quinoa, freekeh, wheat berry and farro.
  • Steamed options such as brown rice, freekeh and vegetables have no fat or calories added as oil is not used for cooking.
  • Lean meats such as chicken and fish and potatoes are baked instead of fried on The Lighter Side.
  • The Salad Bar is always up and running for lunch and dinner and is fully loaded with vegetables, fruit, seeds and lean protein.
  • Healthy dressing options are available for your salads including oil and an assortment of vinegars, lemon wedges and nonfat plain yogurt. There is also hummus available daily which makes for a great salad dressing substitute while increasing your protein intake.
  • Non-fat frozen yogurt is always an option for dessert.
  • With the exception of chocolate milk, the dairy milk options are low fat and no fat and there is a nonfat plain yogurt available as well as the regular Greek yogurt option.
  • A variety of cold beverages are diet and unsweetened while others contain 100% juice. Healthy beverage options such as tea, enhanced flavored waters and spring water are also available daily.
  • Many foods in Valentine Hall are local and seasonal. Much of our fresh produce comes from Amherst’s very own Book and Plow Farm!
  • For more information on food and nutrition check out the USDA Website

Vegan and Vegetarian Lifestyle

  • Vegan options are available. This means food choices that contain no animal or animal by-products, including honey.
  • Vegetarian options are available. Typically vegetarian entrée items are Ovo-Lacto vegetarian choices, which mean they may contain milk, eggs or other animal by-products such as honey.
  • There are dairy free milk options such as Rice Dream and Soy Milk in both Vanilla and Chocolate.
  • There is Tofutti Soy Cheese and Earth Balance dairy free spread available daily.
  • There are a number of vegan protein choices around Val such as tofu, in-house made hummus, beans, peas, seeds and packaged peanut butter which can be found on the salad bar. Quinoa is often served on The Lighter Side which also packs a punch when it comes to protein.
  • Daily Vegan dessert options are also available that are made without any dairy, eggs or honey.
  • There is a vegetarian soup on the menu daily.
  • Many times when traditional menu items are served, their vegetarian or vegan counterpart will also be served such as veggie burgers, vegan raviolis, vegan nuggets, vegan tortellini, vegan banana pancakes…the list goes on!