pizza, drinking beer and going for days without sleep. A person who has eaten healthy for their entire life can get pulled into this lifestyle very easily. It seems that almost everyone on the campus lives like this and when you look at a student’s schedule, eating healthy would almost take too much time. It is much easier for one to order a pizza or drive down to the Taco Bell pick up window than it is to cook a well balanced meal. College dining halls have never been known for the nutritional value of their food. When a dining hall or cafeteria is mentioned, casserole and macaroni and cheese come to mind. However, college chefs have been working towards a better, more nutritious and diverse menu. “We’re seeing a change in ingredients, not a lot of heavy creams and fats, but a demand for rotisserie and spices,” says Lars Kronmark of the Culinary Institute of America. “It’s up to the students to choose. They can still get french fries and fried fish, but it used to be they didn’t have a choice,” he adds. While colleges are working toward a healthy more diverse menu in the dining halls, students can be very critical when it comes to food. Lisa Dwinnell, a chef at Smith College for over twelve years, once served blackened catfish. The Students were disgusted with the meal choice and the next day there were empty pizza boxes littered all over the campus. When the healthy choice for food does not satisfy the taste buds, students turn to the easy greasy option. With more international students enrolling in American universities, Dining halls try to cater to the ethnic tastes of these new students. These students can be tough food critics as well. “When we put something that doesn’t belong in a dish, they know,” Kronmark states. Just because there are straw mushrooms and bamboo shoots in a dish does not necessarily make the meal Asian. If this dish were to be ...
