Spring Break
Dining hall nutritional guide goes online
Michelle Cleveland
Issue date: 11/25/08 Section: News
During a time when many ditch their diets for Thanksgiving turkey and stuffing, Dining Services has introduced a nutritional initiative geared toward encouraging students to make healthy choices when eating in the dining halls.
Dining Services launched the Eat Smart campaign at lunchtime yesterday. The campaign will add a nutrition analysis tool to Dining Services' website, introduce additional healthy food options and highlight the nutritional meal choices on dining hall menus.
"We're starting an Eat Smart campaign to remind students that they're kind of in charge of their own diets, and that they should make intelligent choices when they're eating," said Dining Services spokesman Bart Hipple.
Dining Services has been working on the campaign since late August, and has been working on the website for more than a year. The online nutrition guide, though "still under construction," according to Hipple, allows students to select a location and their meal to determine its nutritional value. The website lists each meal, sides and desserts. Students can check off what they eat and type in how many servings they had.
Hipple said students will have to estimate portions for food that is self-serve - such as options at the salad bar and the South Campus Dining Hall's Seasons 12 - but the meal portion listed on the website is generally what students are served.
"[The servers] are trained to give out that portion," Hipple said. "It's not always exactly accurate, but we're doing the best we can to get them trained at the same time, so that these things happen accurately."
Once students have selected their meal on the website, the analysis shows the food's nutritional value, including calories, protein, carbohydrates and fat. It also shows what allergens and ingredients are in the food.
Students said they know the dining halls offer healthy options, but their meals don't always reflect that knowledge.
"I think [the dining halls are] relatively nutritional if you choose healthy foods, but I think sometimes people don't choose it," sophomore economics major Zach Halper said.
Dining Services launched the Eat Smart campaign at lunchtime yesterday. The campaign will add a nutrition analysis tool to Dining Services' website, introduce additional healthy food options and highlight the nutritional meal choices on dining hall menus.
"We're starting an Eat Smart campaign to remind students that they're kind of in charge of their own diets, and that they should make intelligent choices when they're eating," said Dining Services spokesman Bart Hipple.
Dining Services has been working on the campaign since late August, and has been working on the website for more than a year. The online nutrition guide, though "still under construction," according to Hipple, allows students to select a location and their meal to determine its nutritional value. The website lists each meal, sides and desserts. Students can check off what they eat and type in how many servings they had.
Hipple said students will have to estimate portions for food that is self-serve - such as options at the salad bar and the South Campus Dining Hall's Seasons 12 - but the meal portion listed on the website is generally what students are served.
"[The servers] are trained to give out that portion," Hipple said. "It's not always exactly accurate, but we're doing the best we can to get them trained at the same time, so that these things happen accurately."
Once students have selected their meal on the website, the analysis shows the food's nutritional value, including calories, protein, carbohydrates and fat. It also shows what allergens and ingredients are in the food.
Students said they know the dining halls offer healthy options, but their meals don't always reflect that knowledge.
"I think [the dining halls are] relatively nutritional if you choose healthy foods, but I think sometimes people don't choose it," sophomore economics major Zach Halper said.
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