Low-carb diets create bulge in the food budget
The days of college students slurping down cheap ramen noodles in a cramped dorm room might be a thing of the past at Clemson University.
Clemson administrators say students are eating more pork than pasta as the low-carb craze takes hold. And since proteins cost more than carbs, the craze was given as one reason to explain why the college had to increase meal rates.
“For the last couple of years, the college kids have become more aware, I guess since Mr. Atkins came out with his diet,” said Rex Graves, coordinator of food and vending services at Clemson. “The kids seem to go for more protein.”
Marina Harmon, a 19-year-old freshman from McLean, Va., said she did her part to drive up Clemson’s food budget during the time she went on a low-carb diet. For weeks, she avoided breads and ate mostly meats, cheeses and vegetables.
“It was really hard to maintain it, because I never felt like there were any options here,” Harmon said. “So I just stopped doing it, and I went back to normal eating.”
Clemson fiscal affairs director John Newton told his trustees that changing student tastes, along with higher insurance rates, were the reason the school had to increase meal costs nearly 3 percent this year.
One meal in the campus dining hall costs $6.19, a 30-cent increase. For a 15-meal-a-week plan, the $1,022 cost per semester is up $25 from last year.
Some Clemson students say using protein consumption to justify an increase in meal rates sounds like baloney.
“I don’t think they should raise the cost just because of a diet,” said Scott Abrams, an 18-year-old freshman. “They might just say something like that to raise their meal plan.”
Chuck Gagliano, assistant vice president for housing and food services at Michigan State University, said he would never use such a justification, especially when there are so many “valid” reasons to raise costs.
“Gee, I’ve never tried that before,” he said. “I can’t ever imagine standing in front of a board of trustees … and saying, ‘This is the reason we have to raise food prices.”‘
Gagliano said he has noticed no increase in Michigan State students consuming more proteins and fewer carbohydrates. “I’m not even sure they know what carbohydrates are,” he said.
But Clemson’s food service provider, Aramark Corp., has numbers to back up claims that Clemson students are eating more meat than potatoes. Aramark purchased 16 percent more protein products for the school in 2004 than in 2003.
Aramark, which provides food for 400 college campuses, said the company has seen no national trends indicating that the majority of students are increasing their protein intake.
A January survey of 639 college students by the company found that most tend to focus on fat, calorie and sugar intake when choosing a diet. However, 18 percent of students did say their focus was cutting carbs or increasing protein.
Officials at other colleges say the changes at Clemson are no big surprise.
“I would say it’s an overall trend throughout food service,” said Clint Campbell, director of retail food service operations at California State University at Long Beach. A pasta line there has seen a 3 percent decrease in business, and hamburgers without buns have become popular among students, Campbell said.
At the University of Georgia, filtered water has become the top beverage for students who eat in dining halls, and more students are choosing low fat and vegetarian meals.