Dining Hall 101

In multiple interviews student's expressed that the dining halls did not always feel conducive to establishing a healthy relationship with food and their body. Our society's diet culture coupled with the stress of being in a new environment makes navigating dining halls difficult. Discomfort in the dining halls makes it harder for students to listen to their bodies and find the foods they want.

Welcoming signs posted in dining halls and promoted on the colleges' social media can increase people’s comfort and influence social norms both in and outside of the dining hall. We intentionally use language to encourage people to listen to their body and to alleviate social pressure.

When making these signs we talked students and eating professionals and asked them:

“What do you wish someone told you when you arrived on campus?”

Here are some of the messages we composed based on their responses, they vary from explaining usage of the dining halls to granting permission to eat more and encouraging students to be flexible with their diet.