A Texas university has banned pork from its cafeteria because it’s too unhealthy, according to the university’s president.
The 500 students who attend Paul Quinn College, a small liberal arts college in Dallas, will now have to forgo bacon when they eat on campus.
Eating too much pork can lead to high blood pressure and cholesterol, said university president Michael Sorrell.
“It really has less to do with making a statement against the pork industry than addressing the discrepancy of the kind of food our students have access to,” Sorrell said.
The old cafeteria menu featured bacon, pulled pork sandwiches, and green beans with ham. The new menu will replace pork items with chicken or turkey, Sorrell said.
“That doesn’t mean there aren’t healthy kinds of pork, like tenderloin, but that’s not the kind served in the cafeteria,” he said.
The ban is the latest step in a “Renaissance” for the college. Since Sorrell came to the college in 2007, he has instituted a dress code, expelled under-performing students, and replaced soft drink and fried food with healthier options.
Sorrell also cut the football team in 2010 and turned their field into a community farm to provide fresh fruit and vegetables to the cafeteria.
Sorrell said his students do not mind the pork ban because they “understand we are encouraging them to make better decisions.”
But universities should not limit people’s food choices, said Rafid Jamal, a third-year engineering student at Carleton University.
Jamal is Muslim and does not eat pork, but said he would not want the meat banned on campus.
“It’s just a meat,” Jamal said. “Not everybody hates pork. I might not eat it because of a couple of reasons, but you eat it because it has nothing bad in it.”
Second-year Carleton engineering student Kristen Balogh said she understands why the college would want to ban certain unhealthy foods.
“As students we tend to get really bad days, and we run towards the bad food, especially when it’s cheap,” she said.
When she lived on residence last year, Balogh said she relied on the cafeteria for all her meals, and “when there was bacon, people flooded to it. They got really excited.”
“If it’s there, it’s hard to resist it. I guess if they didn’t have any junk food around, it would definitely be a lot harder for me. I don’t buy bad food, so when I come to school and I see a lot of stuff, it’s kind of tempting,” she said.
As for Paul Quinn College, Sorrell said the school plans to build a grocery store to make it easier for students to get nutritious food.
“It’s about helping our students make better decisions about health,” he said.
“It’s bigger than pork.”
