Campus Dining 2030 and Beyond - 99

Session 2
THE THINK TANK
FOOD LITERACY
The final theme to emerge from this section revolves around food literacy. According to the Food Literacy
Center, food literacy is " understanding the impact of your food choices on our health, environment, and
economy-and understanding that these impacts are not experienced equitably. " To be able to combat issues
of food illiteracy, it is vital that the foodservice staff be educated and trained on the issues to be able to
" meet the students where they are at, " in addition to providing student-facing content to help educate
them.
This also applies to the physical space in which the students are dining. It was suggested that there should be
flexible seating and various types of seating to help support students' well-being. The feel and look of the
space can influence students' mental health and there should be options that encourage socialization, as well
as seating that facilitates solo dining.
Organizationally, it is important to train employees to connect with the students and form meaningful
relationships to ensure that student needs are realized. It is also salient to implement mechanisms to assist the
employees with identifying students who have issues with food insecurity and for those whose food choices
demonstrate a lack of literacy. Moreover, the organization should work to provide offerings that are in line
with practices that suggest a food-literate college or university. Policies should be created that satisfy the
goals of eliminating or mitigating food illiteracy, and documentation for how this will be implemented should
be established.
To that end, it is important to foster interdisciplinary collaboration. By working with health and wellness
experts on campus, college and university foodservice providers can make more informed decisions that will
directly benefit the students through food choice offerings. This type of collaboration should also be used in
purchasing decisions that translate to healthful and nutritionally balanced food policies and practices that
promote well-being and 'stealth health.' Stealth health is the practice of subtly improving your offerings
without alerting your customers. The rationale for employing stealth health is that there is often the stigma
surrounding " healthy food " that it lacks appealing flavor and taste.
While stealth health strategies will appeal to individuals who may not be overtly interested in healthy eating,
other students will want this information and actively engage with nutritional foods. Promotional mechanisms
for menu management should also be employed to engage these consumers. By marketing specific dishes
and highlighting the nutritional benefits that they provide for mental health and well-being, it may enable
more nutritionally balanced decision-making among the students. For example, using a promotional post or
blurb to explain how a specific dish can help elevate mood, decrease inflammation, and foster clearer
thought processes may help students make the decision to purchase that dish over a less nutritious option.
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Campus Dining 2030 and Beyond

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Campus Dining 2030 and Beyond