The campaign dubbed “healthier you” (HY) seeks to bring together various stakeholders from the Northeastern University to fight unhealthy eating and especially obesity. The realization that the university’s dining halls do not offer the students healthy food choices informs the campaign. The dining halls are filled with junk foods which are likely to make the students obese.
The root of the problem of unhealthy eating in the university can be traced back to the policies that the university applies when renting out university space. Over the years, the policies look into whether an individual or an organization renting adheres to the rental agreement with the University. Am emphasis has not been placed on considering the kind of food that the renters provide to the students . The campaign sees this to be an excellent opportunity to curb the entry of junk food into the university. By screening the kind of food that the renters serve in their rented spaces, the university administration has the power to ensure that only servers of healthier foods are allowed.
Historically, the university’s renting policy only requires the renter to meet the rental costs and adhere to rules that are not related to health. Key among these regulations touches on alcohol. The university has a strict policy when it comes to the selling and serving of alcohol, with those responsible required to contact the president’s office for approval. This campaign is built on the idea that the same strictness observed when it comes to policies that touch on alcohol need to be applied to the dining halls. The president’s office can take proactive steps to ensure that all the business organizations offered rental space within the university adheres to healthy eating concepts, especially in their menus. Besides, the office can make deliberate attempts to consider renting out spaces to businesses who majorly deal with healthier foods . The goal of the campaign, therefore, is to make these historical approaches in lending out university spaces to change and take into consideration the health of the students.
Significance of the issue
This campaign recognizes that proper nutrition contributes to the individual health development, well being, and eventually the high quality of life. However, when individuals suffer from over-nutrition, under-nutrition, and malnutrition health related problems occur. Poor diets have been linked chronic diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, Type-2 diabetes, cancer, and obesity . Poor nutrition and inadequate physical activity are widely known as the primary drivers of obesity among young people. As the rates continue to rise, the adverse effects brought about by unhealthy eating emphasize the need to develop a nutrition program to curb the worsening trends.
Poor nutrition is a global issue that must be tackled (Food and Nutrition Service, 2010). This has prompted the formation of this campaign. The university students stand at the risk of developing health related complications due to their eating patterns. Despite the fact that the choice of the food eaten is dependent on a myriad of factors, the lack of healthy options in the dining halls is a factor that leads to university students eating junk foods. The effect of poor nutrition is evident in the wider society. Obesity as a result of poor diet has quadrupled in adolescents and doubled in children in the past 30 years (Fung et al., 2012). This rate is also exhibited in college students, and this sets a worrying trend in the community. Engaging in healthy lifestyle habits can reduce the risk becoming obese and contracting other health related diseases, these activities include healthy eating and physical activity.
Despite the availability of literature explaining the importance of taking healthy foods, university students across America have been observed to be some of the heaviest partakers in junk food. The experience in most universities is similar. Even when students have the desire to eat healthier foods, entering a university dining hall destroys such a plan. This is because most of the servers have invested in the display and making of foods such as pizza, with fruits and vegetables ignored or poorly presented. Besides, the cafeterias offer very limited options for selection, meaning that healthy eating aspirations of the students are compromised .
As pointed out by the International Food Information Council Foundation, most adults find it difficult to reach the recommended quota or servings of fruits and vegetables. College students make up this struggling group, and this can be traced back to the unavailability of healthy options in their dining halls . The struggle is worse for students in college with reports showing that only a little percentage can eat a single serving of fruits and vegetables in a day. This campaign, therefore, seeks to rectify this situation by urging stakeholders to come up with policies that will improve the access students have to healthier food options.
Anticipated obstacles
Any form of social activism is faced with a host of challenges, especially from people who benefit from maintaining of the status quo . In this particular campaign, achievement of the goals of the campaign will compromise the business outcomes for some stakeholders. The implication is that such business interests can prove to be a big challenge for the campaign. Since the argument is for the Northeastern University to change its renting policy to ensure that renters serve healthier foods, some of these establishments serving junk food may oppose the drive.
Reports indicate that players in the food industry perceive the millennials to be an excellent target when designing and marketing products. This is because this is an age that promises years of loyalty once they accept the product being served. College students who are majorly millennials have therefore become a realistic target for the fast-food industry . The implication is that some industry players have been proactive in opening university-based locations. This is made to tap into the purchasing ability that the students have in addition to the potential of marketing the brand that the colleges offer. Such business installations, therefore, pose a significant challenge to the campaign. Given their power to influence policy, they may stand in the way of achievement of the campaign goals.
Another possible challenge to this campaign comes in the form of resistance from the audience, especially the students. Healthier foods are usually costlier when compared to the junk foods. The implication is that the Northeastern University students who are limited when it comes to spending may opt against spending more money on healthy food . Given that most of the university students operate within tight budgets, the campaign may find it difficult to make the students see the benefits of the campaign goals.
Goals of the campaign
The Healthier You campaign will have some goals geared towards making healthier foods a reality to the university students. The first goal will be the lobbying of the university to change its policies when it comes to the renting out of University spaces. These changes are to ensure that health-sensitivity is emphasized on, given that current policies lack this sensitivity. The president’s office, in this case, will be persuaded to give more room for renters who offer healthier foods, as opposed to ones who exclusively offer junk food to the students. When this goal is realized the students will have a wider variety of healthy foods to choose from. The second goal will be lobbying of the North eastern University administration to regulate what is offered within the dining halls. The same enthusiasm that the administration uses to regulate the alcohol sale and consumption need to be directed towards junk foods.
The campaign will also have the goal of sensitizing the students on the need for healthier eating. This will be done through sharing of information on the threats they face from junk foods. Achievement of this goal will unify the students towards the achievement of other campaign goals.
Besides, the campaign will seek to lobby local state actors to come up with policies that are health-centric. The idea here is coming up with legislations that require universities to procure a large percentage of real and healthy foods. Realization of this goal will see the University procure more than 40% of real or healthy food to be served in the dining halls.
Audiences
This campaign targets audiences are Northeastern University’s students, grade school and undergraduate students ages 17 to 26. These students are the perfect targets because they are almost always busy with academic-related activities. They are at risk of a sedentary lifestyle and poor diet because of their busy schedule and school catering.
Other key stakeholders in the success of this campaign are decision makers at the university, especially on issues of renting of the University spaces. A review of the University policies shows that the office of the university’s president is critical in determining who gets allocated the rental spaces within the university. These individuals will have a big say on whether students get healthier options in the dining halls.
The campaign will also seek to engage the members of the University Dining Services. These are the members with the power to positively influence what is served to the students. These members can put in place policies that require cafeterias within the dining halls to improve their quota of healthier foods. Also, the members oversee the food procurement process for the university, meaning that they can ensure that the University procures a high percentage of real and healthy foods.
The campaign will also use the same platforms when it comes to the communication among members. Live and constant communication have been identified as one of the key components that make campaigns grow stronger . The idea here is to make the campaign members be in touch with the campaign goals and for the members to own the campaign. Apart from the use of various digital platforms, the campaign will employ some of the classical methods of member recruitment. Here pamphlets that clearly highlight the goals and objectives of the campaign will be produced and distributed within the university. Besides, canvassing, which involves public announcements about the campaign will be done in strategic locations within Northeastern University .
The Healthier You campaign will be strategically carried out with various predetermined milestones used to give the campaign a sense of direction. First, the campaign will engage in information seeking process . Here, it will look into the eating habits of the University students with the goal of having clear data on the kind of food available for the students. This data will be crucial in legitimizing the campaign goals and activities.
The campaign will then move to create a petition where the university’s office of the president will be requested to review the policy on renting out of the university space. The office will be urged to be more proactive I ensuring that the students are served healthier foods by carefully screening the renters. The campaign will ask the office to consider giving the priority of renting to the businesses that deal with healthier foods. The ones serving junk food should be the minimal thus improving the access of students to healthier foods. The petition will also target the University Dining Service members. Here, the members will be asked to join in the effort made by the campaign to help students eat healthier foods. Given their capacity and ability to control the percentage of real and healthy food procured by the university, the members will be urged to increase this proportion. The members will also be requested to be stricter in monitoring the menus in the university’s dining hall. The goal here is to ensure that all the servers increase the healthy food options in their menus.
The campaign will then organize for a public launching of the program. Here, a setting that resembles a food festival will be arranged. Through the collaboration of already enlisted members, non-governmental organizations, and the local government, the event will be used to address the issue publicly. Students will be publicly informed of the dangers that come with poor eating habits, meaning that the launch will also be used to recruit more members . Besides, students will be given the opportunity to pen their signatures on the petition to be presented to the university administration. An attempt will be made to get a member of the local government, who will address the launch. This will improve the legitimacy of the campaign while also enlisting the support of the local government in the push for policy change.
The next move of action for the campaign will be the production of literature published in brochures and magazines. Campaign members will be urged to write articles to be featured in the university’s publications and even the local newspapers. This will ensure that the campaign ideas are continually spread within the student body. The campaign will push for the initiative to create dialogue within student circles and around the local community . The initiative will also enlist endorsement from the various student organizations and groups. The faculty members will also be urged to join their initiative, with their endorsement going a long way in helping to realize the initiative’s goals. The basic idea behind the creation of these milestones is to ensure that the campaign evolves. When this form of evolution takes place, the campaign arguments become more relevant and appealing to both members and key decision makers.
A variety of communication strategies and tactic will, therefore, be employed in this campaign as highlighted through the different campaign milestones. Tactics, especially in health awareness campaigns refer to a communication activity which targets the eliciting of a particular effect on the target. For this campaign to work, it will be necessary to show the backing of a majority of the students. Various tactics, therefore, will be used to shore up the support of students. The digital age provides a myriad of opportunities where the campaign messages will be passed. These include Facebook, YouTube, blogs, and podcasts . Besides, this campaign will employ some conventional approaches used in activism to pass messages to the targets and audiences. Some of the methods to be used here include non-violent demonstrations and confrontations. These are methodologies that have been proven to work since they are a show of the public’s support for the campaign agenda .
Funding
This campaign is majorly run by students, meaning that the funds will be limited. This means that the ability of the drive to engage in activities that require an enormous financial investment will be limited at first. Social media will be the free platform upon which the campaign will run its agenda. Efforts will be made to utilize effectively the free advertisement such that funding from other sources, especially well-wishers is realized .
The campaign will then require the establishment of a blog through which members will be able to contribute to the campaign. The blog will first offer information on what the campaign is about and the reasons that should make a person financially support the initiative. Apart from the funds obtained through crowd sourcing on the internet, the campaign will also enlist the support of non-governmental organizations that are environmentally-oriented . These are the groups that are more likely to support these initiatives.
Dealing with resistance
As in every other form of activism, it is expected that the campaign may have some dissenting voices that are against the agenda being presented in the campaign. To this end, the campaign managers will seek to engage in many activities that will enable the campaign achieve its goals and minimize resistance. First will be the strategy of being informative . Some of the people or actors showing resistance may be doing so as a result of ignorance. The campaign will seek to offer the required information to such groups to reduce their resistance.
Another effort to deal with the resistance to the campaign will be the involvement of the local government in campaign activities. The inclusion of the government is a show that the agenda being preached is widely adopted and for the greater good. Opposers are likely to quit once they see that the government is behind the campaign. In trying to communicate the campaign agenda, the members will be urged to remain peaceful. In most cases of activism, true agendas are soiled by the use of force and destruction of property . This campaign will, however, try to ensure that all the members remain peaceful.
Besides, the campaign will see to it that the right communication lines are observed and respected during the campaign period. Communication lines here entail respecting the senior management of the University and other individuals involved in the dietary activity of the students. Besides, the whole campaign effort will make an effort to avoid any form of bad publicity which is often a cause of campaign resistance.
Bibliography
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