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Healthy eating: the first step to success

If when you hear vegetarian you think salads and nothing else, you’re probably not up-to-date with health food nowadays.
Meatless balls, non-dairy ice cream and vegetarian sausages are among some of the foods touted for being not only healthy, but animal-friendly.
There’s probably a low percentage of our parents who have heard of these food options, and probably an even lower percentage of them that had them available in their college cafeterias.
And that’s because health food and what’s considered healthy is changing.
Although some health foods are a part of fad diets or wrongly advertise themselves, many of them are truly better options than their predecessors. It wasn’t that long ago people didn’t know cigarettes were unhealthy, and people should look at this new knowledge in health food the same way.
It’s easy to push away or avoid – but it’s real.
Even today, not all college campuses offer a wide variety of vegetarian and vegan options. But Bradley does.
Bradley was recently recognized as one of the top-32 most vegetarian and vegan-friendly campuses by Peta2.
However, some vegetarians and vegans that heard this were probably a little surprised.
It’s not that Food Services doesn’t attempt to provide options for students with various eating habits, it’s just that there doesn’t seem to be a wide enough amount of choices for the university to be recognized for this award.
Part of this has to be blamed on the fact that Bradley is a smaller school, and perhaps Peta2 took this into consideration. The university can’t afford to offer as many options as state schools that cater to a larger student body.
What’s good about this award is that it was based on student feedback on Web sites such as MySpace, Facebook and the Peta2 blog. Therefore, Bradley students must be pretty satisfied with the options offered on campus.
However, we urge the university to continue widening its variety of not only vegetarian, but other healthy foods available to students. In addition, we encourage Food Services to list nutrition facts so students can become aware of what they’re eating.
Awareness is important.
And that’s why the Scout has decided to start running ‘Friday’s Flavor,’ a nutrition column written by a dietetics student each week.
Through this column, we hope to provide the knowledge you need to make intelligent dietary decisions.
College shouldn’t be a time for a diet based on Ramen noodles and beer.
Healthy eating has been associated with increased energy and awareness – two components clearly important to a student’s success. And it’s not just about now – what you choose to put into your body will affect you for life.
While PETA is obviously a controversial organization, we agree with them that including vegetarian foods into your diet is good for you and the animals.
Whether you are vegetarian, vegan or a fan of turkey sandwiches – what’s important is making healthy eating decisions, whether they include meat or not.
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The Scout is published by members of the student body of Bradley University. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the University.