When I think about my college diet I remember late-night runs to Wendy’s, ordering Chinese food, eating greasy pizza from the dining hall and munching on chips while studying. Let’s just say that I wasn’t the healthiest student on campus, but it’s not surprising that everyone had the same diet as I did! When you leave the comfort of mom’s home cooking and are stranded on a strange campus with little food choices or ways to get to food, it’s quite difficult to think about eating healthy.

Eco-Friendly Menu

One woman has made it her goal to help countless food-junkie college kids lose that notorious “freshman 15” and start the healthy food habits that they will carry with them beyond graduation. Her name is Lauren Bell, and her company is called Wild Sage Foods, Inc. Wild Sage Foods has an eco-friendly menu in which over 80% of its items, such as burgers, wraps, sandwiches and desserts, are made from 100% organic ingredients. It’s healthy, good-tasting food that is easily accessible to all students.

Partnering with Sodexho, the largest foodservice providers in North America, she started her college organic food invasion at Colorado College in 2003. What she found was a highly pleased campus of college students that truly appreciated the organic ingredients. Her goal now is to open organic Wild Sage restaurants in colleges across the U.S. in hopes of spreading the green food trend.

Higher Price, Better Food

The only drawback of having primarily organic restaurants is the price. Organic food is a bit more expensive because of its freshness and unavailability in many big cities, and many school systems have a tight budget for meal plans.  That means they usually buy cheaper, highly-processed foods that aren’t as healthy just to stay within the budget. But Lauren hopes that schools like Colorado College will see that her organic restaurant is worth the price and ultimate good health of its students, and will be more open to organic trends in foodservice.

Personally, I wouldn’t mind paying a few bucks more for higher quality food and lower indigestion!