Where College Dining Options Are Lacking

Sustaining a healthy or plant-based diet on a college meal plan shouldn’t be so challenging.

My college experience thus far has been unique, being that I have gotten to experience three different college campuses due to changing interests and learning what sort of environment works for me. For years I have been following a very specific diet due to personal beliefs and a few diagnosed dietary restrictions. Needless to say, finding food to eat on campus was always a concern of mine when first heading into college. It didn’t take long for me to realize that maintaining my diet, and consequently my health, would be a challenge — at least at my first school. The standard college dining options available were simply not suitable for needs like mine — and needs that have certainly become more prevalent in today’s society. The dining options at my second school were no different, and neither do they appear to be at my current school (as I have experienced so far); the options seem to only reinforce the notion that college dining primarily caters to a rather unhealthy diet. All of these colleges have customary salad bars (open only sometimes at the first school), and small refrigerators with a limited array of gluten free, or vegan options, but certainly not enough variety to actually sustain a healthy and busy college student with particular dietary needs — not to mention a large population of said individuals. My interest in the lack of plant-based, allergy friendly options on college campuses was peaked.

When I decided to explore my current school’s dining options, it ultimately begged the question “Are there healthy and well-rounded college dining options out there at all?” Figuring that the appeal to an unhealthy diet appears to be a common trend in college dining, I set out to survey a number of college students on how they view their college dining experience as it relates to health, or special dietary needs.

In my survey I found that students did care about their personal health in relation to the food choices available on their respective campuses, and those who followed a specific diet were dissatisfied with the limited options available. I began by asking students about what they liked to eat on campus and if they considered it healthy. A few students considered their choice healthy solely because their meal included a salad. The general consensus, I soon gathered, is that salad is considered the supreme healthy option. Salad is obviously healthier than most dining options, but it is not really enough to sustain students with restrictive diets for an entire semester, or more. Furthermore, I asked if the students thought their campus offered a reasonable and easily accessible variety of healthy options, and if yes, to give an example. Nearly half of the students I surveyed just simply responded with ‘no,’ and a few who responded ‘yes’ indicated that the school offered salad — again, a salad being the primary and practically only ‘healthy’ option available to students. Other students who responded ‘yes,’ indicated that the reason they believed their campus offered a variety of healthy options was because of the location of their school in relation to off-campus dining options (like living in the city, or having access to food trucks). The last few questions on the survey were much more straightforward, looking for just ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers: “Do you make your food choices with nutrition in mind?” “Do you often think about where food comes from? (i.e. how it’s grown/produced)” “Would you be willing to pay slightly more for food if you knew the way it was produced was better for your health and the environment? (i.e. organic, non-GMO, ethically sourced)” To each of these questions, the majority of the surveyed students answered yes. This is interesting because it shows that students do care about what they are eating, and would even be willing to pay more for better options. Should a university change their dining options to suit healthier, more plant-based eating habits, it is safe to say students would not be so heartbroken to give up a plethora of fast-food selections.

My survey gave me information that inspired and had ties to further research. For instance, from a tour of the Ithaca College Dining Services, which is now trying to establish special dining locations to provide allergy-friendly foods and options that would also support plant-based diets, the students revealed that they were dissatisfied:

As I had found in my survey, students with special diets felt there weren’t enough options.

An article from the Vegetarian Journal shows the results of an online poll conducted by the Vegetarian Resource Group. The poll surveyed college students from different colleges with the intent to discover which vegetarian food options were available to students and which options were preferred. The results of this survey indicate again that there just aren’t that many options. The top 5 available/favorite campus foods were as follows:

This relates directly back to my own survey — salad made the list twice, and “There aren’t many options” was such a common response that it made the list as a favorite food. Where this differs from my own survey, is that this surveyed a wide range of students making this collected information more noteworthy — a general consensus.

Another interesting source that I utilized was how colleges might advertise their dining options compared to what they actually are in reality. I looked no further than my own college’s website to see the difference between presentation and the truth of the matter. Under the dining services tab, I first stumbled upon a page titled, “Health & Wellness.” On the page was a brief proposal of sorts, which began:

Not untrue, but this little blurb suggests an exaggerated reality of the limited healthy options on this specific campus. The claim continued, and one particular sentence caught my eye:

Eating healthy (and sticking to it) can be difficult, however the lack of healthy options and the emphasis on fast food in college dining halls makes it more difficult than it needs to be. A busy student will often look for something quick to grab and go — something that looks appetizing and satisfying — and a small display of salad greens or plain rice next to rows of hot, fast food are going to be overlooked. My university’s website even claims that the dining services will provide help to students in their quest for health, but fails to be very persuasive when the only articulated upsides to switching to a healthier diet are increased energy, focus, and potential for success. There are an innumerable amount of reasons why switching to a healthier, cleaner diet is beneficial, and it is unfortunate that even in writing they are lacking a certain passion for health.

Looking further into my college’s dining website, I found a few different links to various eateries on campus. The main dining hall’s page, which includes a list of the food options available, actually indicates vegan and vegetarian friendly options. On one hand, the vegan options, such as rice, various cooked vegetables and fruit at breakfast are nothing exciting, but better than only offering salad and a questionable ‘veggie’ burger (as I had experienced at different universities).

On the other hand, the vegetarian options certainly sound healthy simply being labeled ‘vegetarian,’ but anything can be vegetarian so long as it doesn’t contain meat. Eggs and dairy products are still fair game when it comes to vegetarian options, and these in excess are not healthy. Science correspondent, Ian Johnston, states:

In comparison to an unfortunately common western diet (i.e. red meat, little fiber, refined sugars and saturated fats) the vegetarian diet can be equally detrimental to one’s health. Colleges who promote vegetarian options should be making more of an effort to offer the vegetarian choices that have clear health benefits — not just a meatless option that tries to compensate with tons of dairy and fat. The students who have special dietary needs, or are health-oriented aren’t going to be attracted to these sorts of foods, making the college eating experience even more frustrating. For example, at my first school, french fries were one of the items advertised as being vegan. While this is technically correct, it is really just a sad excuse for a vegetable that has been deep fried in oil. It qualifies as a vegan food, but health-conscious individuals are not going to be inclined to eat an item like this daily. College student, Sophia Bien, speaks to this same frustration:

Hopefully, the more students who realize and vocalize their dissatisfaction with the lack of suitable food options across college campuses can have a positive impact. It seems that in today’s more health-oriented climate, college campuses are struggling, or not even trying to keep up.

…

“VEGAN on Campus.” Vegetarian Journal, vol. 32, no. 1, Feb. 2013, pp. 24–25. EBSCOhost, proxy-wcupa.klnpa.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=awh&AN=85129791&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

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