If you live on-campus and eat food, then you’ve probably seen the flyers in the dining halls advertising upcoming food specials. Last week there was a “Last Barbecue of Summer” event during dinner (stupid, considering it’s fall), and a couple of weeks before that was “Ice Cream Sandwich Day.” There have been quite a few events already, and I see the flyers while I’m waiting in line. Normally, I don’t take much notice of them, but there was one that caught my eye. Before and during Parents and Families Weekend there was a flyer advertising the “All You Care to Eat” buffet at a reduced for families during that weekend.
The thing that struck me about the flyer was the wording: “All You Care to Eat,” and not the usual “All You Can Eat.” I would guess that the change in wording is due to the increasing obesity rates and the greater push for healthy eating habits in America. It’s not a wording I’ve seen before, but I would assume Penn State is not the first institution to adopt the change.
Labeling something as “All You Can Eat” does not promote healthy eating habits. It promotes overindulgence, and overindulgence in often unhealthy food, at that. “All You Care to Eat” implies that, although you could theoretically eat until your stomach burst, you’re invited to eat only as much as you would like.
I know that I, for one, like to get my money’s worth. So, when I’m eating somewhere with a fixed price, I think it’s in my economic interest to eat as much as I can. (It’s different for me here, where my parents have kindly paid for meal plan.) This mindset often causes me to overeat and go home feeling stuffed.
“All You Care to Eat” is not only a nice reminder for people to eat only as much as they are hungry for, but it could also benefit the restaurants/institutions if indeed the message convinces people to eat less food.
What are your thoughts on the matter? Can one simple word change make a difference, or am I overanalyzing the situation?
You’re definitely not overanalyzing it. We’re all so accustomed to seeing “All You Can Eat” signs at buffets, that changing the wording would obviously come to our attention. I think it’s a good idea to have this “All You Care to Eat” sign on a college campus of all places, for the stigma of the “Freshman 15” is something everyone’s afraid of. I think you’re right in saying that this is a push for better eating habits, and it seems like it is intended to subliminally persuade students (and in this case their parents) to eat less and therefore consume less calories. In the long run, this will benefit both the students, who won’t gain weight, and the dining halls, who won’t go through as much food. This was a great observation!
Note: Whoever created the wording for that sign has clearly never partaken in National Cheeseburger Day at Pollock. It was an absolutely phenomenal, limitless meal.. 5.0 forks out of 5. Absolutely life-changing.
That being said, my some of my roommates have stopped going to Pollock for exactly that: they want to get their “money’s worth” but end up regretting half the things they eat! I don’t think you’re over-analyzing the flyer, I’d probably think twice too if I saw it.. to me it comes off as a bit rude, but it totally falls in line with the rest of Penn State’s “healthy dining” initiatives like posting calorie counts and online meal planners. Good post!
I definitely don’t think that you are overanalyzing this situation at all. When I first started reading this post that was the first thing I noticed and thought was strange even before you mentioned it. I think that this is absolutely a call to the rising levels in overweight and obese young adults in the United States. Especially with places like the dining halls where you have the opportunity to eat as much as you want with one swipe, this wording is making an important distinction. I think that this should be thought of more often though because just because we are in the dining hall where we can eat as much as we want, we should always be thinking about eating in the terms that this flyer puts it into. This was a really notable distinction.
I actually saw the same sign and thought the same exact thing as you family weekend. I feel like if you go to an “all you can eat” buffet you’re going to maybe a lower quality place to eat as opposed to “care to eat.” In either case I didn’t want to take my dad to the dining hall for family weekend because I
actually wanted a real meal and we went to some restauaraunt down town. It was awesome. But yeah that sign was definitely something that caught my eye. Whoever thought to change the words is pretty smart, I definitely wouldn’t of thought of that so good for them. The “all you can eat” aspect of American culture is something that has to stop. I’m getting fat and it sucks. It’s not like I have football or wrestling to keep me in shape anymore like I did in highschool so I really don’t blame guys for getting fat after they graduate. There has to be some sort of culture change to occur in our generation or our kids are going to be whales.