This year, Grand Valley State University’s Campus Dining restaurants are attempting to improve students’ overall dining experiences by conducting an online feedback survey and introducing more thorough health and nutrition labels.

The program, called Healthy for Life, is a new way of documenting nutritional values in order to educate consumers and support healthier lifestyles.

Deb Rambadt with Campus Dining said the program’s aim is to give guests more information, which will allow them to make more informed choices.

“Hopefully these programs will bring awareness to options and encourage thoughtful choices,” Rambadt said.

An online dining-styles survey showed more than 75 percent of students surveyed in the past year were striving to be careful about what they eat, and want to know how to make better nutrition and lifestyle choices, according to a press release for the Healthy for Life program. The program includes new menus that feature lower calorie, lower fat, whole grain and vegetarian or vegan choices, as well as tools that are designed to make sustainable, healthy choices more available to students.

Michael Stutsman, a student at GVSU, likes the new changes to Campus Dining.

“As a person that needs to watch food for sodium, it was very difficult to find out before how much was in each item,” Stutsman said. “With the implementing of the new system, I think it’ll be a better way for students to know about what’s in their food.”

On more than 30 college and university campuses where the program was tested, Healthy for Life helped students gain a better understanding of food and empowered them to make balanced choices, according to the press release. Feedback from participants at test locations emphasized that Healthy for Life works because it’s not a diet program, but instead a lifestyle program.

Another program implemented by Campus Dining is an online or mobile survey, Your Voice Counts, which began last November and has been brought back this academic school year because of its success, according to Dominique DiPiazza of GVSU’s Dining Marketing.

The survey allows participants to rate the value, service and quality of their dining experiences, and the feedback is given to restaurant managers to review and discuss with their employees. The purpose of this survey is to improve guest service in a timely manner.

This year’s mobile version of the survey has been modified in order to make it more convenient for students to participate and takes approximately four to six minutes. Every person that completes the survey will receive 10 chances to win a $1,000 daily cash prize.

Students are invited to take the Your Voice Counts survey by visiting www.campusdiningvoice.com, or www.gvsu.edu/campusdining. Campus Dining guests can also provide comments and questions at each restaurant using comment cards or by emailing [email protected]. For more information on the Healthy for Life program, use the online program Just4U by clicking on “Campus Nutrition” located on the Campus Dining website or the Smartphone app “CampusDish.”

[email protected]