Nutrition: It's a Matter of Fact

By: Annie Roe
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March is National Nutrition Month® and this year’s slogan is “Nutrition: It’s a Matter of Fact”.  The American Dietetics Association and dietitians everywhere are encouraging consumers to look beyond the gimmicks, bust the myths and find the facts about nutrition.  Here at Washington State University, Dining Services is working on a number of projects to help students, faculty, staff and guests make informed nutritional choices. 

Over the years, university food service has made a move away from the old cafeteria style of eating to more of a restaurant feel.  At WSU, customers can choose food from a variety of different cooking platforms within each of our three primary dining facilities, Northside Café, Hillside Café, and Southside Café. Platform areas include the Big Cat Grill, Stonewall Pizza, and Chef’s Creations as well as Field of Greens and the Crimson Bakeshop and Deli.  Each dining center also has signature offerings including International options at Northside Café, Asian noodle bowls and sushi at Hillside Café’s Chopsticks, and Silos N’ Wraps at Southside Café, the newly renovated facility opening after spring break.  There are always vegetarian and vegan options, and thanks to the cook-to-order style that has been implemented, chefs can work with customers with special dietary needs to provide safe, nutritious, and tasty options.   As Dining Services continues to grow and develop, customers are given more and more options.  It is Dining Services goal to provide accurate nutrition information so that customers can look at the options and make fact-based food choices.  Projects to look for include Eat Well icons, an expanded Nutrition Website, and a nutrition assessment tool called Net Nutrition.

In collaboration with University Recreation through the Wellbeing Initiative, Dining Services is developing icons to identify Vegan, Vegetarian, Organic and Healthy Options foods.  Customers will start to see these icons displayed on menu boards in the dining centers, in the markets and espresso bars, and on the vending machines.  Dining Services hope that these icons will make it simple and easy for customers to identify healthy foods.  In order for a Healthy Options icon to be displayed, food has to meet calorie, fat, saturated fat, and sodium guidelines.  In addition to making healthy foods more visible in the dining centers, markets, and vending machines, Dining Services is working to provide students, faculty, and staff with a website to go to for general nutrition information.

The current Dining Services Nutrition website will expand to include tools to help customers determine dietary needs, set goals, and evaluate progress.  There will also be information about physical activity guidelines and a tool to determine daily caloric expenditure.  The site is designed to be both informative and interactive.   From this site, customers will be able to access Net Nutrition, a tool that is directly linked to the Dining Services data base.  In Net Nutrition, customers will be able to evaluate the nutritional value of food served in the dining centers.  A person can select which dining center they ate at and then choose the foods eaten and view the nutritional content of their meal or day.  People with food allergies, intolerances or preferences, such as vegetarian or vegan, can select to view only those items that meet their personal needs or desires.  Dining Services is in the process of testing and evaluating all recipes and items served in the dining centers.  This will ensure that the nutrition information provided to customers is accurate.  

This year National Nutrition Month® is all about finding the facts.  Washington State Dining Services is committed to making this an ongoing goal.  As we continue to grow and develop new items in our dining centers, we will be providing customers with accurate nutrition information.  Ultimately, each person is responsible for making their own choices.  It is the goal of Dining Services to make healthy options available and to provide students, faculty, staff and guests with the tools they need to make informed nutritional choices.