Last week, the university’s new health organization, Healthy UNH, was at Stillings dining Hall, offering students healthier alternatives to the usual lunch fare.
Healthy UNH had a table at Stillings, Monday through Thursday, which featured information for students about the organization and how to choose healthier food options while Dining Services served only food with “guiding stars.”
Stillings manager Andrew Porter said the lunches consisted of recipes that were already in their system, but were the healthiest options.
“We offered our daily fare,” Porter said. “However, we chose a menu where everything had guiding stars.”
The guiding stars program is also new to the university and is a way for students to choose healthier options in the dining hall through a system that rates food items on a 100 calorie basis from no stars, meaning there is little nutritional value, to three stars, meaning the best nutritional value.
“One of the points of guiding stars is to get people aware of the healthier choices they can make,” Porter said.
Stacey Gabriel, program support assistant for Healthy UNH, said the healthy lunch alternatives was a great way to collaborate with the guiding stars program.
“It’s a great collaboration with dining and guiding stars,” Gabriel said. “Guiding Stars is a great way to help students make better decisions while eating.”
Some of the different food items offered last week at Stillings were honey mustard chicken breast, sweet and sour lo mien, general gau’s chicken, and various pasta dishes. Healthier alternatives were also infused into the daily specialty bar, Porter said.
“We still had the specialty bars like the burger bar and sub smorgasbord,” Porter said. “But we incorporated healthier options like Boca burgers.”
Gabriel said that initiatives like the healthy alternatives lunch can help encourage students to eat healthier.
“I hope students look more at the food they eat,” Gabriel said. “I think showing students correct portions can really make a difference.”
Healthy UNH launched in fall 2009 and began as a charge from President Huddleston that was meant to cut some of the costs the university spends on health care by making the campus a healthier place. The goal for Healthy UNH is to make the campus the healthiest in the country by 2020.
Gabriel said the organization is still unsure of how to accomplish this mission.
“We’re still looking at how to measure how healthy the campus can be,” Gabriel said. “We certainly feel like it’s possible though.”
For now, Healthy UNH will continue to hold events that encourage a healthy lifestyle and eating habits. They will be holding another healthy alternative event at Holloway Commons on Nov. 12.
“We’d like to do this type of event more often,” Gabriel said.
Porter said that having an organization like Healthy UNH is a luxury for the students and for dining.
“It’s nice to have something back dining up,” Porter said. “We can really help each other.”
