Editorial: Publicize eatery’s nutrional information

The new on-campus eatery Greenhouse opened to much fanfare last month, offering Ackerman Union patrons a much-needed option: a healthy alternative to the starch and fat-filled dishes available at Panda Express, Sbarro’s La Cucina, Rubio’s Baja Grill and Taco Bell.

While students may rejoice at the chance to potentially fit into their old, tight clothes again, there is one thing disturbing about Greenhouse and other on-campus eateries not tied to any major corporations ““ their nutritional information is not available to the public.

Student Union Director Roy Champawat told a Daily Bruin reporter that the quantitative nutritional data for Greenhouse and other non-chain restaurants is unavailable at the current time. Further, he went on to say that this information was available at one time but is no longer in the current computer system.

We suggest Associated Students UCLA re-acquire the software necessary to calculate the nutritional information ““ soon.

And we think this creates a potentially sticky situation for these eateries.

Imagine a hypothetical situation where a diabetic came into Greenhouse and wanted to know the sugar content of food items. This person would not be able to find this out, since the data is not on file.

Many students are also interested in counting calories, and to have a health food restaurant that does not cater to the needs of those students ““ who would presumably be choosing to eat at Greenhouse ““ seems like a bad idea.