Students on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University will now be able to make more educated food choices thanks to the implementation of an easy-to-use food classifying system.

Chartwells Dining Services has recently integrated a visible, dietary "tool," located near the menus at the University Center and Towers, to aid students in differentiating between healthy and unhealthy food choices. Simple icons explain the general dietary information.

"It's really just knowing about nutrition," said Trevor Sumner, Chartwells' marketing director. "We are helping to explain what is healthy and what your needs are."

According to Sumner, the biggest factor when it comes to eating healthy is learning to eat in moderation.

"And that's one of the toughest things to teach, like at Towers, which is all-you-can-eat," Sumner said.

Portion sizing is also what Chartwells focuses a lot of its efforts on, and it is in the process of teaching and reinforcing that, according to Sumner.

"What we've implemented is 'Balanced U,' and it's our main nutritional program," Sumner said.

Several segments make up the Balanced U program.

"One of the things that we've done is identified different food choices by using icons that make selections easier," Sumner said. "For instance, we have identified things that are vegan, vegetarian, and we've come up with a general basic, 'balanced' icon, that is generally a good-for-you choice."

Chartwells has also designed specific parameters for the food choices offered at Southeast.

"If it's less than a certain number of calories or fat, it will be labeled as such," Sumner said.

Balanced U is not a specific dietary system, according to Sumner.

"Part of this is also understanding portion size," Sumner said. "For instance, a serving of chicken, the recommended portion size is about 3 oz. now. ... So that's our biggest concern. It's all about how you build your plate."

Food choices within this grouping rotate, and different options are available each week. According to Sumner, as part of this rotation concept, one of the requests received from students was an all-healthy menu. All whole food entrees available in the UC contain 350 calories or less, all grains are whole grains at 150 calories or less and the sides include a fruit or vegetable, which have 100 calories or less, according to Sumner. This all-healthy combo includes a bottled water, and costs less than $7.

"The disappointing thing is that it is probably our least popular option," Sumner said. "And it's one of those challenges that we're always up against. Not only is it healthy, but at the same time you're going up against Papa John's and Chick-Fil-A."

According to Sumner, rotations of options has been implemented for a year and a half.

Chartwells registered dietitian Laura Vollink said that if a student is interested in learning more about how to eat healthy on campus "Ask the RD" is a once-a-week question-and-answer event that rotates between the UC and Towers.

"What we really do is identify healthy options that we are already offering that maybe the students haven't thought of," Vollink said.

According to Vollink, "Ask the RD" focuses on the background as to which foods are classified as "healthy." It also educates students and directs them towards healthy on-campus eating.