Blog written by Living Well's nutrition Peer Counselor Veronica Gomez. 

We always hear about eating “healthy” in the context of the American diet.

When we think of changing our eating habits, the average student will envision a diet completely different than what they are accustomed to. Suddenly, this student has to cut out all cultural foods and abide by a diet that has been pushed by mainstream white media. While media refers to modern television, Tik Tok, Instagram etc., institutions such as hospitals and schools will perpetuate this way of thinking as well. College students born in America would have been raised with MyPyramid. This pyramid shaped the lunch programs a lot of students weren't fond of, and it served as a guide for hospital meal plans as well. While the current dietary guidelines infographic, MyPlate, is more inclusive and immersive, a lot of college students today live on with the little nutrition education they were exposed to before college.