The freshman fifteen is a little exaggerated. Maybe it's the alliteration or just a result of melodramatic eighteen-year-olds, but I don't think too many college first-years actually undergo such extreme weight gain. I'll admit that before writing this introduction, I weighed myself and discovered that I had, in fact, gained a few pounds during my first term at Dartmouth. But my jeans are snug -- not busting at the seams.
Nevertheless, there is an obvious method to combating the freshman six and a half: eating healthily. The only problem is, at Dartmouth, like in the real world, maintaining a well-balanced diet isn't cheap. The Dartmouth administration should subsidize the budget of Dartmouth Dining Services to make healthy food more inexpensive.
According to researchers at the University of Washington, junk food is already cheaper and its price is less likely to rise with cost of inflation than that of fruits and vegetables. Low-calorie, nutritious food tends to be more perishable and thus more expensive to transport and maintain.
Additionally, the U.S. government apportions only .37 percent of its farm subsidies to fruits and vegetables, whereas 73.8 percent is handed out to meat and dairy farmers -- ensuring that the cost of high-fat beef remains low.
Tack on the added cost of organic and locally grown cuisine -- an increasingly popular option at DDS establishments -- and it's no surprise that a double cheeseburger at Food Court costs significantly less than salmon and veggies at Home Plate.
Unfortunately, as price-conscious college students wary of going negative on our DDS dollars, we are given the incentive to eat unhealthy food. As Associate Director of Dartmouth Dining Services David Newlove explains, DDS receives no money from the school to conduct its business operations.
The goal of DDS is to break even each year, meaning food prices are set so that DDS makes just enough to run its business -- about a 32 percent markup from the cost DDS pays its distributors.
Ultimately, this means that DDS prices are a reflection of the real world. If beef is cheap at the grocery store, then it's cheap at Home Plate. Kosher chicken will always have a premium, and if students aren't buying enough fair trade bananas to support DDS, then Collis will take them off the shelves.
In a college environment, this is an inherently flawed system. Sure, in the real world prices aren't fair -- Americans seeking to lose weight or stay healthy will inevitably pay more for a nutritious meal than will fast-food crazed teenagers eating at McDonald's. But should a health-conscious student at Dartmouth have to pay such a high premium to stay fit? Shouldn't the College promote healthy eating rather than everything fatty and fried?
Instead of allowing the costs of eating healthily to dictate our DDS spending, Dartmouth should allocate part of its endowment directly to DDS. This money should serve the explicit purpose of allowing DDS to charge less for healthy food. It should also allow DDS to make purchasing decisions based on nutrition, not profitability.
Even if reduced-price vegetarian fare doesn't market well with the entire student body, the College should still offer a greater variety of inexpensive vegan and vegetarian meals for the herbivores on campus -- few as they may be.
Not only would the system be more equitable for those whose diets are in the minority, but over time, it would likely encourage more hardcore meat-eaters to sample healthier cuisine.
Granted, this tactic would cause the College to spend more of its endowment than it currently does -- but given that we spend about $135 million of our $3.8 billion endowment per year, I think it's safe to say that Dartmouth could easily afford the increase. In fact, the College's commitment to providing inexpensive, healthier options to students on campus would likely encourage alumni -- who would undoubtedly see the move as a positive step forward -- to donate.
Dartmouth already promotes health consciousness with its requirement of three physical education credits for graduation.
Why shouldn't it extend this mindset to our dining options?
