Last Wednesday, faculty members from the Cornell Food and Brand Lab came to talk about the recent changes in food choices in the dining halls. They gave an interesting, economic point of view on food choice. In fact, they’ve conducted research so as to place emphasis on eating healthier.
From their work, the Cornell Food and Brand Lab saw a trend of people filling their plates with the first three courses at a given station. Therefore, most dining halls have conveniently placed steamed vegetables and healthier food options first followed by the more protein centered meals. Furthermore, their research also showed that people who cleaned their plate tend to feel more full, hence plate size also plays a factor in our diet.
Now that I think about what they presented, I do find myself filling my plates with vegetables in most of the dining halls before portioning myself some meat. And by the time I get to the protein, a lot of my plate is already covered with rice, steamed vegetables, or a vegetable stir-fry. It’s fascinating to see the cooperation and live implementation of research done here at the university to the consumer level. I also see that the tactics being applied here are also in line with the new initiatives that Cornell Dining has embarked on, namely the mission to provide healthier choice options for students.
Ultimately, we end up choosing what we want to eat, but it’s intriguing to see that the university is actively improving and subtly changing our eating habits for a healthier lifestyle.
Although I think it’s interesting that they study the food and eating habits of students to try and provide healthier options for students, I do think they could expand there research and look into whether the nutrition needs of vegans/vegetarians are being met and whether the options they are providing for them are equally healthy. As a vegetarian here at this school who has many vegetarian/ vegan friends I think we have all come to a consensus that it can be extremely hard to find food to eat. The options are limited especially when the dining halls needlessly throw things such as chicken broth or shellfish, oyster sauce into dishes that don’t require it. Additionally, the options that are there aren’t necessarily the healthiest. Although this is only a generalization of the food, it would be great to see if they would put more research into this.
The fact that people fill their plates with the first three things they see is very interesting. I’ll have to be aware of this the next time I go to the dinning hall. I don’t usually put much thought into what I eat when I go to dinning halls. I still try to have a balanced meal but after reading your posts, this may not be the case.