CREDIT: ERIKA FAUST
The Oasis in SC building has lots of healthy options, including a salad bar.

You're no longer getting homecooked meals from Mom and you have to face the grocery store on your own — welcome to college! Now that you're fending for yourself, you should become aware of what healthy food options there are on campus and in the grocery store.

We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, even though it's the easiest to skip. For a quick breakfast, Tracy Jones, program coordinator of Fanshawe's Food and Nutrition program, recommended proteins like yogurt or boiled eggs. She also suggested oatmeal — "even the quick packs in the morning, oatmeal's great because it's long lasting in your body, it keeps you full for a long time and it helps balance your blood sugar levels, so that's going to keep your energy really steady for a long period of time."

Brian Harness is an executive chef and Fanshawe Student Union food services manager at Oasis. He said that breakfast items continue to be the most popular choices at Oasis. "The two-egg breakfast is still in the lead, followed closely by the skillets, which are gaining in popularity," he said. "You know, when you actually look at it, a two-egg breakfast is still pretty healthy; we don't cook it in butter, we cook it in canola oil. Really the only not-so-good-for-you option is the home fries."

Pasta and pizza might be a frequent choice for lunch or dinner, but don't worry! Jones explained that pasta is good for you, but for those of you on your fifth box of Kraft Dinner this week, she said it's important to remember that balance is everything — twice a week is good, not every day. "Kraft Dinner is good for you, surprisingly enough, it would be better if it was whole wheat pasta," Jones pointed out. "The milk is a great protein for you." She also recommended whole wheat pasta with a tomato-based sauce, "Tomato sauce is a better option, there's lycopene in tomato that really boosts up our immune system and our energy."

A major staple in every student's diet is pizza. Whether you're heading to Pizza Pizza in D caf or ordering it late-night, Jones has one piece of advice: "Pizza's actually not that bad for you, what you wanna do is try to restrict the amount of cheese you order — don't double up on cheese. It only takes about two ounces of protein a day to be healthy, so if you can keep your cheese on your pizza to two ounces or less, then you have a healthy alternative, and load it up with vegetable toppings!"

Another way to get as many vegetables as you want is to visit the salad bar at Oasis. "Most of our salad dressings we switched over to a few years ago to low-fat and low-calorie … it's not necessarily the thing we advertise out there, but as long as there's no taste difference to the regular customer, then I'll make as many changes as I can without telling anybody," said Harness. " I call it 'stealthhealth.'"

Fanshawe restaurants are also making an effort to purchase some local foods. "About 60 per cent of our purchasing is local which is nice, because when your food has less distance to travel, you are actually going to get higher nutrient count, so the food is going to be healthier for you," Jones said.

Harness explained that it is difficult at times to provide local products, but the Oasis staff does what they can. "We use a local London bakery for our bread now, so it's fresh, produced every morning … (and) right now we're using local field tomatoes from Leamington."

Angela is a second-year student in the Respiratory Therapy program at Fanshawe, she said it's not too difficult to find healthy food on campus. "I think it's easy if you know where to go. Olive Oyle's is a little cheaper than eating at Oasis or any other of the cafeterias."

Carolina, another second-year Respiratory Therapy student, agreed with Angela: "I think it's easy enough (to eat healthy) if you're motivated, like with anything else, if you want to find something healthy to eat, you will."

Jones stressed that one of the most unhealthy things that's offered on campus isn't food. "The very worst thing we have on campus is energy drinks, and I know it's common for students to reach for energy drinks because it gives you that sugar boost, but the sugars that are in the energy drinks, the corn syrup is especially bad for us because as humans we don't digest corn, we don't really have a shutoff valve." Jones recommends Powerade and Gatorade as better alternatives.

For those of you venturing off campus, taking that first trip to the grocery store can be pretty intimidating. Frozen foods are a popular choice among students because they last for a long period of time and are generally cheap. "Frozen vegetables are really good for you," noted Jones, "Sometimes the quality of frozen vegetables will be better than fresh; this has to do with preserving them quickly. The sooner you pull them off the plant, the more nutrients they have."

But not all frozen foods are good for you, so it's important to start checking labels to actually determine what it is you're eating. When looking at food labels, Jones said that saturated fats and trans fats are bad. "You also want to look out for corn syrup: that's bad. You also want to make sure that the sugar and the salts are somewhere near the end of your ingredient list, because the ingredients are listed in the order of the quantity that's used in the product. You want to see those at the end because you'll know there's not very much if it's there."

It's your body, so be aware of what it is you're eating. It can be really easy to slip into bad habits and eat unhealthy foods, but remember that there are healthy options available to you; the choice is simply up to you.