With the touch of a finger, students can now find out what’s on the menu, where to eat and whether the selections are good for their figures.
LSU Dining announced Friday the release of a new mobile application and iPad kiosks for campus dining halls.
This new app will allow students to access menus and nutrition information, dining location and hours, and it is available for any Apple iOS device.
Students can download the stand-alone app via App On Campus or through a MyLSU app upgrade.
In addition to the mobile app, iPad kiosks have been placed inside both The 5 and 459 Commons dining halls. The kiosks will display the same information as the mobile app.
Dean Samuels, LSU Dining marketing director, demonstrated the app and explained its usefulness.
“The app was developed simply to facilitate dining menus and nutrition information conveniently,” Samuels said.
The app and kiosks list all of the dining locations on campus — both retail and dining halls — as well as the locations’ hours and menu. Once a menu item is selected, the nutrition information is displayed. Meals can be searched for up to three weeks in advance.
For students with special diets, a list of nutritional highlights will be displayed for each menu item, like a vegetarian option or one made with sustainable seafood.
Samuels said he sees the app as a useful tool for students dining on campus.
“I expect students to be using and enjoy using the app,” he said.
Samuels said he expects the GPS part of the app to be particularly useful to freshmen, who may not be familiar with the layout of campus. A student will be able to choose a dining location and receive walking or driving directions to that location from the app.
Biology freshman Emily Newcomb said she is glad to see LSU Dining joining the trend and becoming more modern.
She added that the nutritional information would be especially useful to students getting healthy for spring break.
Environmental engineering freshman Jonathan Adams agreed that many students will find it useful.
“I like the nutrition facts, I think that is important,” he said.
Adams also said it will be nice to know what is offered in order to plan meals beforehand.
“It’s wonderful,” said associate professor of nutrition Georgianna Tuuri.
“One of the problems of eating out is you don’t know how your food has been prepared,” Tuuri said.
She said she believes the new app will “give [students] a chance to make more informed choices,” as well as serve as an educational tool.
