Trying to Eat Healthy? RIT Dining Services Can Help | January 2020
Many look at the start of a new year as a new beginning and that includes making New Year’s resolutions.
Some of the most popular ideas are to exercise more, diet or eat healthier.
If you are one of the 19,000 RIT students, faculty/staff or visitors who dine on the RIT campus each year and have decided to make better food choices this year, no worries.
RIT has had your back for a while now.
"There is no spike in the number of requests for "healthier foods" in the new year because RIT dining locations offer healthier options throughout the year versus just in January," says Kory Samuels, Executive Director of RIT Dining.
‘’This initiative started about 10 years ago when we started an internal initiative to create an infrastructure to publish nutritional information on our Dining website. “
Samuels says you can find the information on the web link instructions on how to use the net nutrition website below.
https://www.rit.edu/fa/diningservices/how-use-netnutrition
It can also be found in the RIT mobile app under the “Dining Module”.
“We have found the community uses this application to view menus but also nutritional content to make decisions on what they will be eating that day. It also serves as a mechanism to be the first line of defense for viewing allergens,” says Samuels.
RIT Dining Services dishes up 14,800 meals a day at 21 dining spots—from coffee shops and convenience stores to a la carte and all-you-care-to-eat restaurants.
What's popular?
"Grab and go salads and salad bars in general, leafy greens but also compound salads that feature Quinoa and other grains," says Samuels.
“Customers are more conscious of plant based options and some just want to reduce the amount of meat in their diets.”
And there is another trend Samuels is seeing.
"In the last eight to nine years, the number of carbonated beverages here and across the nation has dropped. Customers like non-sugary beverages, teas, lemonades, sparkling seltzers and kombucha. We're even seeing it in requests to our catering departments for more water, tea and unsweetened tea. Soda is becoming old," adds Samuels.
More incentives to help you stay the course will come in the spring.
"You'll see even lighter dishes, lighter broths, and more fish, less hearty items on the menu."
That is a big help for those who are determined to meet their healthy eating goals.
Did you know?
--There are over 1,500 food service workers at RIT.
--Kory Samuels earned his Executive MBA in 2011 from Saunders College of Business. One of his favorite dishes at RIT is the Italian Farro Bowl Bar.
“I like the components offered. It has a good portion size of seasoned roasted vegetables on a bed of farro, which is one of my favorite whole grains. This is actually a vegan dish, although I’m not vegan it is a dish that I don’t feel guilty eating." he says, chuckling.
--RIT Dining Services won the Food Service Operation of the Month award in 2018 by FoodService Director Magazine and last month it featured RIT’s hydroponic farm.