This past quad, I witnessed something in the cafeteria that a decent number of girls were doing. At first I was very perplexed, but now I’m wondering if they are perhaps on to something. Said girls would carry two, three, even up to six bowls of food to their tables. By the term bowls, I am referring to small soup bowls (sometimes referred to as cups).

In one bowl would be a small salad or perhaps a heap of vegetables. In another bowl would be a hearty soup. In a third bowl would be some fruit, and if there was a fourth bowl, it would be filled with perhaps 4-6 oz of chicken, fish, or some other protein. (Sometimes the protein was placed on top of the bowl of veggies and a slice of pizza or some pasta would replace the contents of this bowl.)

At first I thought it was “National Bowl Day” as I witnessed all of these girls carrying bowl after bowl to their tables. When it continued for days, weeks, and months, I realized that something was up. Perhaps something brilliant.

We’ve all heard the two words: “portion control”. But let’s face it. Life as a student can be pretty crazy. Even if we feel we have our lives somewhat together, it’s easy to pile on one too many slices of pizza onto the plate, or go for another plate or two of tacos. When I was in my Wellness class as a freshman, I remember watching a video on some of the psychological aspects that occur when choosing what to eat, especially in buffet settings (such as cafeterias). A person will almost always get more than one plate of food. Which is why I think the approach to getting two, three, or even four plus bowls of food is genius. The desire to have more than one plate of food is met, and yet the small sizes of the bowls keeps a person from overeating!

Perhaps this is just a fad that will die out. Or maybe this is one step closer to helping America with its obesity problem. Regardless, it will be interesting to see how long this sort of thing lasts. Who knows, maybe I witnessed the beginning of a healthier America, and it all started in my cafeteria!