New Thought on “Freshmen 15” + It’s Eco Friendly!

The New York Times put out an article about the a new idea that colleges in the Northeast have been trying recently… cutting out trays in cafeterias,  as simple as that. It was shown that this has helped cut down on the “freshmen 15”, the typical weight rumor that college students put on from the food. This was because students were only eating what they wanted and not everything they could fit on a tray.

I think that this was a great idea and more colleges should try to implement the idea. Our campus does not offer trays at any of our cafeterias, but there are big portions that they could cut down on. I do not know if this would be the only way, but a great start at healthy eating on college campuses!

Another GREAT aspect that was talked about in the article was the environmental impact that it had on campuses…

“As part of her senior honors thesis, Sarah Whateley, an environmental studies major, conducted a research project to demonstrate how much food was still wasted in the dining hall” (NYT).

“She asked students to scrape their leftovers into plastic bins over two days, yielding 330 pounds of food on a Sunday and 403 pounds on a Monday. The food services staff then illustrated that quantity by stacking the equivalent weight in boxes of rice in the entrance of the dining hall. “People were really surprised,” she said. “Entire sandwiches were being thrown out, and a whole slice of pizza” (NTY).

This could be great PR to talk about on college campuses during entry sessions!

Check out the full article from NYT  HERE!