DeKalb | Pedro Rodriguez eats at the Dog Pound Deli in Douglas Hall every day.

Some find it hard to eat healthy on a residence hall diet, but not Rodriguez, a freshman chemistry major and resident of Douglas Hall. All his meals are from the residence halls. He eats a sandwich every day from the deli.

“The food here is really healthy,” he said. “I’m a health freak. That’s why I eat [at the Dog Pound Deli].”

He usually eats eggs in Douglas for breakfast, and for dinner, he’ll eat anything with meat, such as a chicken sandwich at Stevenson, Rodriguez said.

When Sabrina Kahren, a senior English major and Neptune Hall resident, can’t find anything she likes, she opts for her trusty replacement when eating at Neptune and Stevenson.

“Any time I don’t like the main course, cereal becomes my replacement,” Kahren said. “I don’t think there are enough choices in Neptune, and the food is greasy.”

Julius Marshall, a freshman mathematics major and Grant Towers resident, said he usually gets a grilled chicken with French fries and an iced tea for every meal each day in Grant South or Lincoln Hall.

“I think the food options are pretty healthy,” Marshall said. “But just because they’re healthy, which is good, doesn’t mean the students are going to get them. They go for what they like.”

To maintain a healthy diet when dining in the residence halls, Ken Whitney, chef for Housing and Dining, said customers should avoid getting double portions and should choose a variety of the available fruits and vegetables.

Though many of the recipes are home-made, about one-third of the food are convenience items, Whitney said.

The residence halls will be switching to foods made with trans fat-free oils soon and will be expanding on the number of vegetarian and vegan items available, he said. Fat-free dressings and light mayonnaise are also available.

Nutrition information, ingredients and recipes for residence hall food are posted on the Housing and Dining Web site and are also available upon request, Whitney said. The information is gathered from the purveyors where the food is purchased and from the United States Department of Agriculture database, he said.

“Students can go to any of the dining halls’ kitchen office and ask to see any of the recipes,” Whitney said. “We appreciate the concerns students have, and we’d like to hear their concerns so we can right any wrongs.”

For more information on nutrition in the residence hall dining areas, visit the Residential Dining Web site at www.niu.edu/dining or call 753-1525.