The menu at The 5 dining hall has been redesigned this semester to offer students healthier meal options than in years past.
Changes were made in an effort to offer students balance in their dining options, according to LSU Dining Director David Heidke.
Charlie Casrill, director of resident dining, added that changes were made in an attempt to offer students a greater variety of meal options and more complete meals within the various stations at the dining hall.
According to Briggitte Mosley, director of athletic dining and registered dietician, college students’ bodies are able to handle bad eating habits, but those habits will be problematic later in life. The goal of the change is to help students develop good habits, she said.
Last semester, staff at The 5 noticed the majority of foods offered were fried or had similar unhealthy qualities, Casrill said. Instead of offering students hamburgers, hot dogs, grilled cheese and fries daily, the grill area has been repurposed to serve students lighter entrées like grilled chicken, Casrill said.
Other upgrades include flavored-water dispensers, which offer students an alternative to sugary drinks, Mosley said.
“We have moved to more set meals. Our marketplace [station] is an actual three-course meal. It’s your protein, your starches and your vegetables,” Casrill said.
Menu changes are motivated by a combination of student and parent feedback and societal dining trends, Casrill said. Menus are revised after each semester, but the majority of changes are made during the summer, he said.
“Every semester we do a survey,” Casrill said. “We go through and look and see that they are asking for healthier choices, or they may suggest that we bring back a specific item. Those are the things we pay attention balance.”
 
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Contact Paul Braun at [email protected]