With graduation fast approaching, I find myself reminiscing about my freshman days, residing on campus and living off dining halls. But as I continue to think back, I have realized something: Every dining hall on campus is buffet-style with what seems to be bottomless food, and frankly, we may as well have been eating at Golden Corral.
Students would benefit from the University doing away with “all you can eat” buffet-style dining halls or, at the very least, adding restrictions. At first, this notion may seem absurd, but it would be far more absurd to leave things the way they are. With obesity rates continuing to rise, University dining halls are only aiding this increase. A common trend among buffet restaurants is to fill your plate with as much food as you can and then add more, and UA dining halls are almost encouraging this same trend. This is only considered OK in moderation, but the problem is that dining halls can account for the majority of students’ meals. There are no restrictions within our dining halls to eliminate this tendency, and by allowing this system to continue as it is, the University is enabling unhealthy eating habits that may follow students even past graduation.
Strangely, grade schools have a better meal system structured to promote healthy eating compared to college dining halls. Maybe it is time for us to take a lesson from middle school and relearn the proper way to prepare a plate in a buffet-style setting.
Within our dining halls, there are no limits on the number of “seconds” one can have, no requirement to include healthy foods on one’s plate and no rule against having multiple entrées (i.e. pizza, hamburger and pasta) all on one plate. From K-12, students are taught the proper way to eat in a buffet setting, but the second you cross the threshold of a university dining hall, all that knowledge goes right out the window. At this age, students are expected to know what a healthy plate should consist of, as well as the proper portion for each food item, but as I look at the plates of students around me, these expectations may be too high. Fortunately, there are changes that can be made to promote the health of the University’s students by encouraging healthier eating habits.
Completely removing buffet dining halls is clearly not a feasible option considering the number of students that must be fed per day. Incorporating restrictions similar to those used in K-12 schools would prove to be beneficial in preparing students to fight the war against obesity and weight gain. Foods should be categorized by entrée or main meal, side dish, salad or soup and dessert. Workers should also be assigned to each station, ensuring no plate exceeds the recommended portion and that each plate consists of all the major food groups.
The University has much to improve on in terms of encouraging healthy eating habits, and the dining halls are the perfect place to start.
