New Program Promotes Health
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New Program Promotes Health
It may not be sponsored by a handsome host and involve hundreds of people from the community, but the Hub's Be Well Makeover is providing healthier options for students and faculty, said Alan Andersen, director of Food and Dining Services.
Starting Tuesday, the Hub officially opened Roadrunner Wraps in its own location, where the Taco Time used to be, to be the foundation of the Be Well program sponsored in cooperation with Caroline Shugart, the campus wellness coordinator, and Food and Dining Services, Andersen said.
In addition to the opening of Roadrunner Wraps, the Hub has also instituted new Be Well menu options, which meet the three criteria of the Be Well program: 1) Food items must be less than 600 Calories, 2) must have less than 30 percent fat, and 3) must have at least six grams of fiber, said senior dietetics student and Be Well dietician Brooke Stuart.
Not only are there healthier options under the Be Well program, Andersen said, but they cost less too.
"Too many times to eat healthy it costs you more, and one of the goals that Caroline and I all had was to show people you can eat healthy, number one in the Hub, and number two, inexpensively," Andersen said.
To accomplish this goal of healthier and more affordable food options, Andersen said the Hub will give a 10 percent discount for any marked Be Well options. The Hub is also offering a Come Back Card, which has 10 punch slots for each time a Be Well option is purchased, he said, and after 10 Be Well purchases, the customer will get a free Be Well option of their choice.
"The Roadrunner Wraps have done really well, but the biggest part is that most people don't even know about it yet, but as soon as we told them, we noticed that more people are like, 'Oh, we want the discount,' so they're more prone to eat there than before," Stuart said. "It makes them at least think twice before they get the pizza. Maybe they'll still get the pizza, but they thought twice about it."
Starting Tuesday, the Hub officially opened Roadrunner Wraps in its own location, where the Taco Time used to be, to be the foundation of the Be Well program sponsored in cooperation with Caroline Shugart, the campus wellness coordinator, and Food and Dining Services, Andersen said.
In addition to the opening of Roadrunner Wraps, the Hub has also instituted new Be Well menu options, which meet the three criteria of the Be Well program: 1) Food items must be less than 600 Calories, 2) must have less than 30 percent fat, and 3) must have at least six grams of fiber, said senior dietetics student and Be Well dietician Brooke Stuart.
Not only are there healthier options under the Be Well program, Andersen said, but they cost less too.
"Too many times to eat healthy it costs you more, and one of the goals that Caroline and I all had was to show people you can eat healthy, number one in the Hub, and number two, inexpensively," Andersen said.
To accomplish this goal of healthier and more affordable food options, Andersen said the Hub will give a 10 percent discount for any marked Be Well options. The Hub is also offering a Come Back Card, which has 10 punch slots for each time a Be Well option is purchased, he said, and after 10 Be Well purchases, the customer will get a free Be Well option of their choice.
"The Roadrunner Wraps have done really well, but the biggest part is that most people don't even know about it yet, but as soon as we told them, we noticed that more people are like, 'Oh, we want the discount,' so they're more prone to eat there than before," Stuart said. "It makes them at least think twice before they get the pizza. Maybe they'll still get the pizza, but they thought twice about it."
Andersen said he feels the addition of the discount prices and card and the Be Well menu options to the Hub a beneficial scenario to the eatery and its patrons, even if it does cost the Hub a free meal every so often.
"It was a win-win, easy decision for us," Andersen said. "Sometimes you do have those conflicting goals where business conflicts what's good for society. This wasn't one of them. This was something I felt we could do that was win-win all the way around."
Amber Schoenfeld, manager of the Hub, said she's already seen a difference from the Be Well program. In only its first day since it reopened, Schoenfeld said Roadrunner Wraps had doubled its sales. This could partly be because of the new wrap options at the restaurant, she said.
Roadrunner Wraps now offers Be Well wraps, which are smaller portions, Schoenfeld said, but the benefit is these wraps cost about $2 less than the normal-sized wraps, and include more vegetables because they add to the healthy product.
"We hope that it just highlights that we're trying to offer healthier options. We're not the big, bad, evil empire that wants to make everyone die of heart disease at 40," Schoenfeld said. "We're trying to offer people some healthier options and give people what they want."
Andersen said his goal with the Be Well makeover was to have every station have at least one or two Be Well options. Stuart said every station met that goal, with the exception of the ice cream at Hogi Yogi and the pizza.
To help customers identify Be Well options, there are Be Well menus near each of the food stations, Stuart said. For instance, Hazel's offers the Marv n Joe Lite, which Stuart said is like the regular Marv n Joe, but on whole wheat bread and with less oil, vinegar and cheese.
"It still tastes really great and has all the same seasonings," Stuart said.
Other options in the Hub include multiple offerings at Teriyaki Stix, with sizeable portions of vegetables, Stuart said, and a variety of 6-inch sandwiches at Hogi Yogi on whole wheat bread.
Stuart said improvements have also been made to the salad bar, complete with salad combination recipes customers can try and tablespoon portions of nonfat or low-fat salad dressings in small cups.
"It was a win-win, easy decision for us," Andersen said. "Sometimes you do have those conflicting goals where business conflicts what's good for society. This wasn't one of them. This was something I felt we could do that was win-win all the way around."
Amber Schoenfeld, manager of the Hub, said she's already seen a difference from the Be Well program. In only its first day since it reopened, Schoenfeld said Roadrunner Wraps had doubled its sales. This could partly be because of the new wrap options at the restaurant, she said.
Roadrunner Wraps now offers Be Well wraps, which are smaller portions, Schoenfeld said, but the benefit is these wraps cost about $2 less than the normal-sized wraps, and include more vegetables because they add to the healthy product.
"We hope that it just highlights that we're trying to offer healthier options. We're not the big, bad, evil empire that wants to make everyone die of heart disease at 40," Schoenfeld said. "We're trying to offer people some healthier options and give people what they want."
Andersen said his goal with the Be Well makeover was to have every station have at least one or two Be Well options. Stuart said every station met that goal, with the exception of the ice cream at Hogi Yogi and the pizza.
To help customers identify Be Well options, there are Be Well menus near each of the food stations, Stuart said. For instance, Hazel's offers the Marv n Joe Lite, which Stuart said is like the regular Marv n Joe, but on whole wheat bread and with less oil, vinegar and cheese.
"It still tastes really great and has all the same seasonings," Stuart said.
Other options in the Hub include multiple offerings at Teriyaki Stix, with sizeable portions of vegetables, Stuart said, and a variety of 6-inch sandwiches at Hogi Yogi on whole wheat bread.
Stuart said improvements have also been made to the salad bar, complete with salad combination recipes customers can try and tablespoon portions of nonfat or low-fat salad dressings in small cups.
Plans for implementing the Be Well program have been in the works since November, Stuart said.
"For me it's really cool," Stuart said. "I'm still a student, so for me to be a part of something that really is making a change in our campus is really cool. I never thought I'd be able to do something like that. For me it's really rewarding because it's almost like I'm a dietician, but I'm not yet. It's good practice."
Schoenfeld said the Be Well options in the Hub are a pilot program, and pending its success, plans are in the works for expanding healthy food options to other campus locations.
-seth.h@aggiemail.usu.edu
Media Credit: Seth Hawkins. A worker at roadrunner wraps makes a wrap, one of the healthier options now available at the HUB. After 10 Be Well options, customers receive a free Be Well option. (Photo from the USU Statesman Online.)
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