The plan would end the days of takeout chicken nuggets. Watch video
NEW BRUNSWICK -- In a makeover of its dining hall menus, Rutgers University plans to eliminate chicken nuggets, hash browns and other unhealthy foods from its takeout section and incorporate more nutritious options in the all-you-can-eat cafeterias.
By the end of the fall semester, Rutgers expects chicken wings will be baked instead of fried, hot sauce from the jar will be replaced with fresh spices, and processed meats will be traded for poached salmon or turkey roasted and smoked by university chefs, among other changes.
The food on the new menus will be more than just healthy, it will be "absolutely good," said Ian Keith, the Rutgers chef leading the menu overhaul.
"The Millennials are a populace that really is sort of demanding this," Keith said. "They want to know how their food is prepared. They want to know where their food comes from."
No items will immediately be removed from the all-you-can-eat menus in the sit-down section of the dining halls, but the university will monitor sales of all food to see which items are still in demand, said Joseph Charette, executive director of dining services
Students will essentially "vote with their meal card" to determine which food is eventually taken off the menu, he said.
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The changes at Rutgers -- home to the calorie-laden "fat sandwiches" and a $20 million Coca-Cola contract -- are the university's latest effort to promote healthy eating. The decision comes as colleges nationwide have put a premium on campus dining options and the price tag for meal plans continues to rise on many campuses.
Rutgers, though, believes it should actually save money, in-part because it will be serving less meat, Charette said.
Menu changes will occur gradually beginning in April with a new takeout menu at the Neilson Dining Hall.
That menu should come to the takeouts section of all of the dining halls on the New Brunswick campus by the end of next fall, along with fresh smoothie and juice bars and changes to the cooked-to-order stations in the cafeterias, Keith said.
The menu revisions are part of a national movement called Menus of Change led by Stanford University and the Culinary Institute of America. The initiative calls for making vegetables, whole grains, nuts and beans the center of the plate, serving less red meat, offering a greater variety of seafood and reducing added sugar and salt.
For Rutgers students, that means takeout chicken fingers will be replaced with grilled chicken, and hash browns will swapped out for Peruvian hash made from heirloom potatoes, spinach and roasted onions.
Instead of pork sausage, Rutgers will serve smoked chicken sausage with spinach on a whole grain English muffin. A new bagel bar will feature a vegetable cream cheese mixed at Rutgers and loaded with broccoli, squash and scallions.
Plant-based meal, such as tofu and broccoli stir fry, will become more prevalent.
"This is the right thing for you to be consuming," Keith said.
University officials said students, not the administration, pushed for healthier options and more natural food.
"Our students are concerned about what they are eating and where it comes from,'' Charette said "They ask a lot of questions, and they are eating smarter, so we have to make more choices available that are not only better for their health but better for the planet.''
The dining hall menus at Rutgers have always been student driven, and routine changes are made based on student feedback, said Peggy Policastro, Rutgers' director of behavioral nutrition.
Rutgers in recent years has seen increased student demand for lighter meals and more gourmet fare, Policastro said. The latest menu changes were made with the input of a student advisory panel, and many of the new meals were taste tested by students and faculty, she said.
Student who are trying to eat healthier still sometimes order whatever is easiest to get, said Alex Kania, a student on the advisory committee, said
"Students are going to eat what is convenient for them and, right now, what is convenient is processed food," Kania said. "If we make it more readily available for people to eat healthy, they will.''
Rutgers previously tried to promote smaller portion sizes and less food waste by removing trays from dining halls in 2014. The decision forced students to take only as much food as they could carry in their hands.
A year before, Rutgers switched to using cage-free eggs. Students pushed for the switch because they said purchasing the costlier eggs -- which come from farms that allow hens to roam free -- would be more humane than using eggs from chickens forced to live in cramped cages.
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