Katie Armes

Review staff writer

Linfield will adopt a new dining program, The Balanced Way, through Sodexo on Sept. 23 to help students make healthy food choices.
The Balanced Way offers a variety of dining options, but all meals will have similar proportions. Fruits and vegetables make up 50 percent of the meal, whole grains 25 percent and protein the last 25 percent.
“It’s based off of the food pyramid, so it’s taking that thinking as far as a way to eat and putting it on a plate,” Sodexo Catering and Retail Manager Jason Briles said.
In addition to emphasizing what food groups students are served, all meals contain fewer than 600 calories, at least three grams of fiber and fewer than 800 milligrams of sodium. The food will not contain trans fats either.
“We’ve probably been doing something like this for years, we just haven’t highlighted it as much,” Sodexo General Manager Bill Masullo said.
The program is based on the book “Fill Up, Not Out” by Franceen Friefeld, a nutritionist who works
with Sodexo.
Beginning Sept. 23, Balanced Way options will be available at one or two of the food stations for dinner. As the program catches on, elements of the eating plan will be incorporated into all of the stations, identified by an icon on the menu. Eventually, it may spread into retail locations such as O’Riley’s.
“I think it’s a really good idea because with a crazy schedule and how fast paced students’ lives are, it can be really easy to eat unhealthily on the run,” freshman Brenna Peterson said. “Especially at a college like Linfield that’s really astute, it’s another little perk.”
Another goal of the program is to give students the information they need to make good eating choices in and out of the dining hall.
“I think it’s good because it’s harder in college to get that nutrition,” sophomore Jenny Worcester said.
Other than adding new menu items, The Balanced Way will not cause many changes at Dillin. The program cost Linfield little to put into place, Masullo said. The system of food stations will remain intact and student jobs at Dillin will remain the same.
The program is being publicized in Dillin Hall with a contest to win a mini-fridge. Friedfeld will also be visiting campus in October to speak about the program.