Date: March 10, 2017

To: Chuck Cantrell

Associate Vice Chancellor for Communication
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
From: Kelsey Pearlman, Student
Subject: Proposal to Implement More Healthy Options on Campus

Purpose

The purpose of this proposal is to request that the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
implement more healthy food options here on campus.

Summary

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga does not offer many healthy meal options. The main
restaurants at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga consist of: Chick-fil-a, Moes, an Asian
restaurant, Burger Studio, Cross Roads, Subway, Which Which, and a buffet named Cross Roads.
Two of the three healthy options that we are have are both sandwich restaurants. The third option
is a Chick-fil-a salad or grilled sandwich. There are not many meal options in general, much less
healthy options. At one point, we had a Tazikis Mediterranean caf in the University Center. This
restaurant had quite a few healthier meal options. Since then, it has been replaced with a Mamas
Kitchen. After speaking to a couple of other students about the disappearance of Tazikis, it was
obvious that there was a lot of disappointment that it had been taken out of the University Center.
I feel that the unavailability of many healthy options contributes to the extra weight studies show
that college students put on, especially their first year. The University of Tennessee at
Chattanooga has the ability to put in more meal options, or even build an additional dining hall
with not only more options, but healthier options. The library could be expanded upon with an
additional dining hall. The dining hall could even be built inside the library and offer only
healthy options. This would serve as quick healthy snack to eat while studying. The university
has attempted to get students input by sending surveys to their emails in hopes of gaining insight
of student dining preferences. Even with input from students, meal options have not changed
significantly. Having healthy meal options will help to promote happier and healthier lifestyles.

Introduction

It has been over a year since the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has offered a survey to
gather students input on food options on campus. Each year there seem to be less and less
healthy options to choose from. Many students are worried that there are not enough healthy
options on campus; especially those who are trying to be healthier.

According to the article The Effects of a Nutrition Education Intervention on Vending Machine
Sales on a University Campus, many college campuses are striving to be healthier and
promoting healthy meal options. A study was conducted and the results showed that the
purchases of red and yellow stickered foods were reduced in most machines but the sales of
green stickered foods increased. Food security, considered as a basic human right, exists when
all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food
to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for a healthy and active lifestyle. Another
article, Student Food Insecurity: The Skeleton in the University Closet suggests that many
students have food insecurities. A poor-quality diet, or unhealthy foods is a result of this food
insecurity. It states that many students are not able to afford healthy food and are limited to
certain options. Unfortunately, healthy food is significantly more expensive than unhealthy food.
Along with helping students to have a more nutrient rich diet, it will also help them with their
studying and well-being. When someone eats healthier, they feel better and can accomplish much
more. Another article, Gender and Race are Significant Determinants of Students Food Choices
on a College Campus suggests that college students are used to having a home cooked meal that
was once provided by their parents. These meals have been replaced with fast food since it is
easily accessible and fits the on-the-go, fast paced lifestyle of many college students. Easily
accessible convenience items such as fast food and store-bought, premade meals are often
substituted for home-prepared meals by many college students. According to a study by Brunt
et al, 95% of all college student participants reported consuming at least 2 servings of fatty,
sugary, and salty snacks in the past 3 days. Many college students do not have a great diet
pattern, or exercise pattern. When most of the offered food on campus is quick and unhealthy, it
is hard to say no. Recommended Guidelines suggest that due to diet and exercise patterns not
being up to par, it is causing a weight increase in both males and females from freshman year in
college to senior year in college.

According to a health assessment conducted by the American College Healthy Association the
first step to a campus implementing healthy options is to identify determinants that may have
contributed to poor food choices among college students. Common determinants of food choices
among young adults include, taste, cost, nutrition, convenience, pleasure, and weight control.
However, this article suggests that gender is overlooked as one of the factors. Men want to eat
different things than women want to eat. In conclusion, there needs to be a wide variety of food
options and healthy options for everyone. The article indicates that there is a reasoning behind
food choices and it showed that overall, poor taste was the primary characteristic associated
with food dislikes (29.8%), followed by poor quality (26.3%), poor nutrition (19.6%), and high
cost (10.7%). Students of other races/ethnicities (9.1%) attributed food dislikes to inconvenience,
whereas white students (1.1%) did not consider inconvenience as a factor of food options.

A survey similar to the one that I would like to conduct, was given to students from a
Midwestern university. 22,000 students were survey about healthy menu items. Every four out of
ten students said that they could not find healthy menu items on campus. The executive chief of
dining services paired with students to complete this survey. This was not only a great way to
help students get involved with campus events, but also helped them to promote wellness on
campus and have increased confidence with dining services.

I believe that this would be a great thing for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to do.
Student will not only be able to have a say in what healthy options should be made available on
campus, but also it would be a great opportunity for them to get involved and have their voices
heard. It would also be a great way for the university to promote itself to potential students. The
university would be helping many students to continue or begin their healthy lifestyles. This in
turn could even help them to maintain their grades. When someone follows a healthy lifestyle,
they tend to have more energy and remain focused. This is what really makes it important for
students to be able to have healthy options. Not only to keep their bodies healthy, but their minds
as well.

Annotated Bibliography

Brown, Mary V., Matthew Flint, and James Fuqua. "The Effects of a Nutrition Education Intervention on
Vending Machine Sales on a University Campus." Journal of American College Health62.7
(2014): 512-516. Print.

HUGHES, Roger, et al. "Student Food Insecurity: The Skeleton in the University Closet." Nutrition &
Dietetics 68.1 (2011): 27-32. Print.

Boek, Stacey, et al. "Gender and Race Are Significant Determinants of Students' Food Choices on a
College Campus." Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior 44.4 (2012): 372-378. Print.

Choi, K.P., et al. "Dietetics Students and Dining Services Executive Chef Transformed Menus and
Promoted Nutritious Foods on Campus." Journal of the American Dietetic Association:
Supplement110.9 (2010): A71-A71. Print.

Proposed Program

Task 1. Research healthy food options

In order to address the issue of there not being a variety or enough healthy food on campus, I
need to find out the best options for meal choices. This will give me a better understanding of
what is available and what the best option is. I can then formulate a survey for students or figure
out the best way to receive their input. I will also research what other universities are doing and
find out what their meal options on campus are. I think it is very important to see what
competitors are doing.

Task 2. Conduct surveys

After finding out which restaurants are the best option to put on campus and what other
universities offer, I will need to send a survey out to students. Surveys have been sent to students
in the past by administrators. I think that this survey should be sent by fellow students who are
involved with making changes around campus. The difference between this survey and past ones
will be that action will be taken this time. Their opinion is important, unlike other times when
nothing changed. Also, a survey will need to be conducted one day of students who are eating in
the university center. This will be a great way to reach out to the student population since our
target market will already be in the university center eating. They will be able to easily give their
opinion to a couple options and how they feel about the current food situation on campus. This
will give me a better understanding of how the student population feels.

Task 3. Examine data

After collecting the data from surveys and students opinions, I will be able to see how the
majority of the student population feels about food on campus. Hopefully I will have some great
input about what type of healthy restaurant students would like to see on campus and their
general attitude towards food on campus and if they believe it is healthy or not. I will be able to
look back at my initial research to compare how I thought results would turn out and how they
actually turned out.

Task 4. Take action

After finding out how the student population feels and receiving feedback on which healthy
restaurant to put in, I will implement a plan. I believe that there needs to be another dining hall
with more options. I will start making the plans for that dining hall to include the restaurants that
the student population has chosen. Also, I believe that the library could use a corner shop. This
could serve as a quick healthy snack while students are studying. Research shows that eating
healthy food helps the brain and for students to stay focused. After completing these plans, I will
hand them to the administrator in charge of all the dining at the University of Tennessee at
Chattanooga.

Qualifications/Personnel

I will personally be conducting this research. I have participated in research projects previously,
qualifying me for this study. I am a third-year Business and Spanish at the university.
Professionally, I am an intern for the Johnson Group, a Marketing company downtown. I have
completed many competitive research projects for clients in which they are still using data that I
had collected.
 Schedule

Conduct Research April 3 April 7

Conduct Surveys April 10 April 14

Examine Data April 17 April 21

Take Action April 24 April 28

Budget

As I am currently a student at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, I will not be receiving

any sort of compensation for this research. There will be no costs for my time, therefore my
budget is $0.