Students eating in campus cafeterias Thursday night were exposed to a special initiative to encourage healthy eating. The Rate Your Plate program featured special signs and information booths in the Highland and Pentagon dining halls to guide students toward a balanced meal. Students who rated their plates were also able to enter a lottery offering healthy prizes. The event was the result of collaborative efforts among LSU Dining, Students on Target and the Wellness Center, said Jeri McCullough, LSU Dining marketing director. In addition to the usual signs featuring foods’ positions on the food pyramid, new signs displayed a point system that rated foods’ nutritional values. The signs also color-coded foods by their position on the new pyramid found at mypyramid.org. Signs near high-sugar and high-calorie dishes boldly cautioned students and suggested an accompanying serving of vegetables. Nicole Whatley, registered dietician at the Wellness Center, helped organize the event. She said part of the program increased students’ chances of selecting a healthy meal. “The goal is to increase their awareness of the options at [LSU Dining] and increase the nutritional value of their meal, to increase their awareness of the health department,” Whatley said. The Wellness Center provided booths loaded with health guidelines including nutritional information and activity charts. The booths also served as centers for participants to drop off their completed lottery cards. Students with more than three healthy options checked were entered into a drawing to win prizes. “Smoothie King is sponsoring some of the prizes from Rate Your Plate,” Whatley said. Mary Hutson, business junior, is an executive member of Students on Target. “[Students on Target is] a branch of Student Government that promotes wellness,” she said. Hutson is the wellness chair of Students on Target and helped coordinate the dining hall activities. “I do anything regarding wellness,” she said. Hutson said the Rate Your Plate event aimed to help students choose healthier meals. “It’s designed to make students aware of healthy choices and healthy eating,” she said. Hutson said she would consider the event a success “as long as it makes an impact on a few.” Laura Hartz, math freshman, was one student who participated in the program at Highland Dining Hall. She said she enjoys eating at the cafeteria “when there’s good food.” Hartz said she noticed the special signs displaying foods’ health information. “I noticed the point system they had,” she said. “It was pretty cool.” Hartz said she thinks Highland Dining Hall does a good job of offering different foods necessary for a balanced diet. Joy Leopold, management freshman, also participated in the special event. Despite eating out a lot, she said she enjoys eating some of the foods at the dining hall. “I like the okra,” she said.
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