salad instead

Mia Davis | December 10 2012

SALAD INSTEADGetting Stanford Students who live in an apartment to pack a homemade salad at least 3 times a week for lunch

Why?

College Student’s Nutrition Pyramid(What they eat most from Left to Right)

http://healthhabits4life.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/how-to-know-if-you-need-nutritional-help/



Why?

College Student’s Nutrition Pyramid(What they eat most from Left to Right)

In Nutritional study of 582 college students, many

students not even eating one serving of fruits and

vegetables a day.

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/aug/17/news/la-heb-college-students-nutrition-2010817



Why?

Unhealthy eating habits now...

Why?

Unhealthy eating habits later

So why not?

So why not?

Eat healthier

So why not?

Feel healthier

So why not?

Be healthier

Starting with...

SALAD (instead)

My storyStarted making salads for lunch 4/5 days a week over the summer during my internship *while living in an apartment* because it wascheap, easy, and most of all, delicious! (I’ll share my go-to recipe at the end)

Statistics on Existing BehaviorsBased on survey of 27 apartment-dwelling college students

56% grocery shop once a week, 81% Safeway, 11% Trader Joes

Once a month

Once a week

Never/ Extremely Rarely

Twice a month

Frequency of Grocery Shopping


63% usually prepare their own meal instead of buying it

Frequency of Food Preparation


52% no meal plan, and 33% apartment meal plan (5 meals/wk + $50 meal plan)

No meal plan

Card Plan

Apartment Meal Plan

Meal Plan Distribution


41% rarely eat a salad, while 33% eat a salad almost every day

almost never

almost every day

once or twice a week

Salad-Eating Frequency

What does this mean?


Students already go to the grocery

store


Students already prepare their own

meals


Students already spend their own

money on food

Let’s change the “norm”

almost never

from

to

almost every day

starting with...

once or twice a week

Target group:Students who already grocery shop regularly ~ change one behavior at a time, starting with salad preparation.

Three “Barriers” to Salad Creation


“Don’t have time”


“Don’t have time”“Salad tastes bad”


“Don’t have time”“Salad tastes bad”“Not really filling”

“Don’t have time”College student perception that they don’t have time to make a salad every morning for lunch.


FALSE!

Best Tested Solutionsfor “Don’t have time”

Pack 3 and refrigerateAfter returning from the grocery store, pack 3 salads. Refrigerate on top shelf for easy access.

Pack 3 and refrigerateThese tupperware containers are great for keeping salad FRESH and dressing separate!


Make salad

Pack at night. Grab in the morning.As part of EXISTING bedtime routine, pack salad at night, and grab it in the morning.


Set reminders as necessary.To start this behavior, useful to schedule daily alarms around usual bedtime.


Use pre-made salads/ ingredientsSafeway and Trader Joe’s sell pre-made salads and pre-cooked ingredients such as grilled chicken, which can be quickly and easily added to a salad.


“Salad tastes bad”

“Salad tastes bad”Many students, especially males, complained that salad is “flavorless,” “bad,”or “not good if I make it.”

“Salad tastes bad”

FALSE!

Salad is

delicious

Consult the ExpertsI took it to the Quora “experts” to ask for easy, delicious *of course* salad recipes for college students

Best Tested Solutionsfor “Salad tastes bad”

Expert TipsTake favorite salad ingredients and make them into a salad. Any vegetable variety works. Recommended: Cucumber and tomato with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Yum!


Expert TipsAdd “texture and nutritional variety.”Examples: nuts, feta cheese, carrots cut into cubes, cranberries, olives


Expert Tips


“Not really filling”

“Not really filling”Majority of surveyed students who don’t eat salads regularly as a meal said it was because they are “not filling enough.”

...“I’d probably need to eat a loaf of bread with it”

“Not really filling”

FALSE!

Protein, Protein, ProteinWhen talking to regular salad eaters, all agreed that adding protein was the best way to make a salad filling

Best Tested Solutionsfor “Not really filling”

Protein, Protein, ProteinGreat thing about protein is it comes in a variety of forms:Nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds, pine nuts)Cheese (feta, goat, blue, cheddar)Meat (steak, tuna, chicken)Eggs (hard boiled)QuinoaBeans


Protein, Protein, ProteinTried it with studentsResults:“Adding chicken definitely helped fill me up.”“Added leftover steak from a dinner, and it was great! Really filled me up, too.”“The eggs were key.”


Increase PortionsUsually it’s not great to increase the portions of a meal, but because salad is healthy (without all that extra dressing), increasing your portions isn’t a bad thing and will help fill you up. Salad sent into @saladinstead by avid

salad eater


Carry a healthy snackTake the extra nuts you don’t add to your salad and carry them with you in a baggy or tupperware container. Then, if you get hungry, eat a handful of nuts to sustain you until dinner.


Summary of TipsPack 3 and refrigeratePack at night. Grab in the morning.**Set reminders as needed**Use pre-made salads/ ingredientsAny ingredient you like works in a salad... leftovers, favorite vegetables, etc.Add texture with cheese and nutsUse two + kinds of lettuce for varietyAdd proteinIncrease portions (be reasonable)Carry nuts/ veggies as snack

Build into existing behaviors (add salad prep to grocery

shopping, make salads at night as part of routine, etc.)

Reminders are useful in establishing new behaviorIncrease variety to sustain behavior

In Conclusion

Finally, as promisedMia’s Favorite Go-To Salad Recipe: Spinach, Strawberry and ChickenIngredients:Trader Joe’s grilled chickenBaby spinachStrawberriesGoat and/or Feta cheeseTrader Joe’s sliced toasted almondsOlive Oil and a little Balsamic VinegarMix and enjoy!

Thanks for reading! I would love any

feedback.

Mia Davis email: miadavis@stanfordtw: @saladinstead

salad instead

Health & Medicine

best tested solutionsfor

salad filling

pack salad

salad tastes badmany

salad isdelicious

time salad tastes badnot

toregular salad eaters

students alreadyspend