Bulletin News

09/21/2011 

Best-selling author and Fitness magazine’s nutrition expert Dawn Jackson Blatner has begun working with the executive chefs from Auxiliary Services Corporation (ASC), SUNY Cortland’s campus-based, not-for-profit dining service provider, to create a more nutritious and appealing dining experience on campus.

The new meal options created by Blatner are currently available in Neubig Hall, the College’s largest dining facility, at the “In Balance” station. They will be a focal point at the new Student Life Center upon its opening. 

Blatner authored the best-seller, The Flexitarian Diet, and contributed her nutrition knowledge to the “Dr.Oz Show,” “Dateline,” Newsweek and WebMD. She also is the nutrition consultant to Major League Baseball’s Chicago Cubs. A regular blogger for USA Today and the Huffington Post, Blatner recently received the honor of the 2011 Remarkable Woman Award from Lifetime Television for her achievements in the field of nutrition. 

The “flexitarian” diet that Blatner has introduced is an eating plan that the focuses on eating more plant-based meals and less meat through gradual and realistic changes. Throughout the fall semester, Blatner will meet with ASC staff to boost the healthier ingredients in the dining service provider’s recipes. 

“I look forward to making healthy recipes healthier by using the perfect balance of whole grains, plant-proteins, colorful produce and healthy fat,” Blatner said. “I am determined to deliver delicious, crave-worthy recipe concepts that give the body what it needs to be healthy, fit and energized.”

This January, Blatner will conduct a “Cooking Boot Camp” for ASC managers, chefs and food preparers, where they will learn to prepare the new recipes with the healthier ingredients. 

Blatner will visit the SUNY Cortland campus for the opening of the Student Life Center in 2014. She will offer cooking demonstrations and serve as a keynote speaker at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. The new Student Life Center is aimed to encourage and implement healthier lifestyles, which Blatner is incorporating via her innovative approach to healthy eating. 

 “Overall, we are trying to offer healthier options campus wide, and we are doing a great job trying to meet those goals,” said Kelly Neville, an executive chef from ASC who has consulted with Blatner. “I feel bringing Dawn to campus will help to further our education in creating healthier recipes.”