The inner conflict triggered by the choice between fries or salad for dinner can be enough to make the healthiest student surrender all self-control.
However, with efforts such as online nutritional facts, listed on University Dining’s Web site, students can weigh accurate calorie and fat counts into their choices.
This link provides the nutritional content — calorie, protein, carbohydrates, grams of fat and serving sizes — for all food served at the dining halls. This enables students to learn exactly what they are getting out of each meal, and helps to plan caloric intake and meals accordingly.
But even with such information online, some, such as Wes Eppele, a sophomore in turf grass science, choose not to use the resource. While Eppele said he tries to “eat in moderation,” he said he doesn’t necessarily focus on healthy options.
“I try not to plan my meals based on the food pyramid,” he said.
Upon venturing into a campus dining hall, the grill station serving hamburgers and hot dogs is almost always crowded.
Joe Nalley, a food service supervisor at Clark Dining hall, said that while the staff works to provide nutritious options, student enjoyment is also a high priority in their menu decision. He adds that many fatty meals such as macaroni and cheese are student favorites and thus remain on the menu.
However, Nalley said that the dining hall staff works closely with N.C. State’s full-time dietitian, Lisa Eberhart, to ensure that each meal contains a proper balance of nutrients. Nalley added that Eberhart reviews every recipe and corrects the menus if they include too many offerings of one food group such as carbohydrates or fats. In addition, Nalley attends chef meetings every week, where he discusses any problems or ideas for improvement.
Still, cooking meals for such a large quantity of students, and being sure to include student favorites, means that nutritional quality is sometimes compromised.
Brett Herring, a freshman in biological sciences, said although he attempts to eat healthy, “[Clark Dining hall cooks] saturate everything in cheese.” Herring said he asks the chefs to substitute egg whites in his omelets, but it’s not always guaranteed that this option is available.
Although students may not always get their first choices at dining halls, Nalley and his staff focus their efforts on planning nutritious meals that offer variety and accommodate students with specific health concerns.
According to Nalley, the meals are planned by semester on a four-week cycle. He said this ensures enough variety so students won’t have to eat the same dishes in a short period of time.
A fairly new addition is the inclusion of a vegan and a vegetarian dish in every menu. Nalley and his staff also limit their use of peanut oil to one or two dishes per semester, and while allergen information is included online, Nalley said unit managers are hoping to implement labels in the dining halls.
Nalley said making nutrition a high priority when cooking for students is not difficult at all.
In fact, the University’s tradition of the Chef’s Challenge requires participants to dream up recipes that are trans-fat free. Nalley will be competing in the challenge at Fountain Dining Hall this February.
What’s on your plate?An important part of the dining staff’s efforts are easily accessible through the Web site. By going to ncsu.edu/dining, students can view the menus of Clark, Case and Fountain Dining halls for breakfast, lunch and dinner of that day.
Viewing nutrition information for on-campus fast-food restaurants such as Taco Bell and Chic-fil-A require a little more effort, since their menus are not listed on the school Web site. However, the nutrition section provides a link to an unaffiliated Web site, which lets users search a massive index of popular restaurants for nutrition information.
Dietician Lisa Eberhart has calculated nutritional information for eateries that don’t have Web sites, such as Lil’ Dino’s.
source: ncsu.edu/dining
