Despite student and staff request for healthier food from Portland State food service provider Sodexho last spring, foods offered this year in Aramark’s food court do not appear to be noticeably healthier, according to the Student Health and Counseling Center’s nutritionist.
Last April, when Aramark began its contract with PSU, students, faculty and administration told food service representatives they wanted food to be healthy.
Karen Gray, Aramark’s director of business development, and Paul Luedke, Aramark’s associate district manager, acknowledged that request.
Polly Livingston, assistant director of the disability resource center told the Aramark representatives in an April meeting that more and more students need healthy foods.
However, Jordann Henkelman, Student Health and Counseling (SHAC) nutritionist, said most current menu items are packed with significant amounts of sodium and saturated fat.
Aramark was also initially confident that food service could be offered at an affordable price. For example, Leudke said he was confident that 99-cent tacos could be available.
However, tacos are instead offered in sets of three, and cost $5.29.
Sbarro pizza, Aramark’s own burritos and a salad bar, are all new additions to the food court in the Smith Memorial Student Union, and are priced roughly the same as food offered by Sodexho, PSU’s former food service provider.
Henkelman said that the menu is a reflection of student’s preferences–healthy or not.
“Students vote every time they buy something,” Henkelman said.
The choices available, she said, are in direct response to the demands that students make. Henkelman has been working with Steve Wadsworth, director of operations for Aramark, on a wellness campaign that will inform students of the healthiest choices on campus.
Healthy food, she said, is often more expensive. “That is the challenge,” Henkelman said. Younger students have often not yet encountered health problems, and do not realize the impact of eating foods with high fat, sugar and sodium content, she said.
Henkelman commented on many of the most popular items now served at Smith:
Burger:
“The saturated fat content is high, about 50 percent of what should be consumed in a day. You’ll need to balance out the rest of your day with fresh fruits and vegetables at other meals.”
Sbarro Pizza:
– “Pizza has a bad reputation. There are ways to make it healthy-ask for extra sauce and have vegetable toppings. Whole wheat dough also would make a big difference.”
– “Adding pepperoni to this pizza increases the calories by about 300 and nearly doubles the fat content. The sodium content is more than half of a day’s allowance (3,000-4,000 milligrams per day).”
Cheeseburger meal
– “The first thing that sticks out is that this is just one meal, and you’ve already used up a day’s intake of saturated fat. The rest of your food that day should be fruits and vegetables.”
– “With 98 grams of carbohydrates in the burger and fries, it would help if the bun had some whole grains. Since the bun is refined, the nutrients have been removed. Whole grains keep you full, longer.”
Chicken Bento with rice
– “Wow! Over 2,000 grams of sodium is pretty high, 88 percent of the daily allowance. 9.5 ounces is a lot of meat for one meal. I would recommend spitting this potion into two meals.”
Chicken Burrito
– “I guess someone could cut that in half for two meals. The amount of sodium is pretty crazy – close to a full day’s amount.”