NC State was recently named one of the 15 healthiest food operations in the nation by FoodService Director Magazine. The magazine highlighted operations across the country that showed excellence in all around food wellness, from farmer’s markets to college campuses.
“We were chosen because of the wide variety of things we do here at NC State and how we’re one of the few campuses that actually know what’s in all our food,” said Lisa Eberhart, NC State’s registered dietitian.
The university’s agricultural program plays a large part in making NC State a healthier campus, according to Eberhart.
“27 percent of what we provide in the dining halls is local,” Eberhart said. “If you go to the dining hall and get milk, it came from a cow grazed right here on campus.”
University Dining also accommodates to a wide variety of diets and food allergies. About six percent of the school’s student population is vegetarian/vegan, according to Eberhart.
“We have vegetarian/vegan options everywhere so that students who are choosing that lifestyle, or for religious reasons have that lifestyle, can make sure they have options,” Eberhart said.
All food options on campus are labeled in order to accommodate for allergy- sensitive students.
Nikki Short, a junior studying nutrition and a dining diplomat, plays a major part in making students aware of all the healthy initiatives University Dining is doing here on campus.
“We engage on social media on the University Dining website and on the blog site to put University Dining out there,” Short said. “We also do nutritional promotions in the Brickyard.”
NC State is one of the two universities in North Carolina that has a self-operating food system, the other being Appalachian State University. Other universities operate with contract food services, meaning they hire an outside company to control their dining on campus.
“That means all the money from dining comes back to the university,” Eberhart said. “That then lets us have some really great dining options for students on campus, and students play a much larger role in decisions about what’s happening in dining.”
Although there are unhealthy options on campus, Eberhart says it is for a reason.
“University Dining is a business, so we have to sell to students,” she said. “We have to give students what they want because they’re the customer. We give them healthy options and some not so healthy options; we just make sure we balance things.”
NC State recently joined Michelle Obama’s Partnership for a Healthier America and is currently one of the 20 universities recognized.
The healthy initiatives NC State partakes in include Dietician’s Dish, MyFitnessPal, Fresh Start Monday, and Healthier Choice Labeling.
“We really want to be one of the healthiest schools in the nation,” Eberhart said.
