Opinion: If you want to be healthy, stop eating seed oils

Executive Sous Chef Austin Schmitz flips burgers in olive oil. Megan Li | Collegian

Metz Culinary Management, the company managing Hillsdale’s dining services, recently changed the oil in its recipes from standard seed oils, such as canola and soybean, to olive and avocado.

Eventually Metz will cook all meals without seed oils, according to Tim Wells, associate vice president for Administrative Affairs. Currently, only J. Clarke’s Grille still uses canola oil to fry foods, but Wells said the plan is to discontinue use of the oil at some point this semester.    

“Given the opportunity to increase the quality of the offerings and the fact that many of the recipes currently in place could still be produced with this modification, the viability of pursuing this modification was achievable and sustainable,” Wells said. 

Wells said they seek to provide diverse meal options, including healthier ones.

“We have always sought to give a variety of options while pursuing achievable goals when it comes to quality of offering and the quality of components,” Wells said. “This fell in line with that strategy.”

Wells said any potential future changes to the pricing of meal plans would not be related to the new oils. 

Sophomore Elijah Ahrens said he is excited about the change. 

“I’m excited to see a change toward natural, non-processed ingredients that will greatly benefit our entire student body,” Ahrens said. 

Ahrens said he and Konrad Verbaarschott ’24 met with head chef Adam Harvey in the spring of 2024 to discuss the dangers of seed oils. In recent years, many people have grown concerned that seed oils are potentially linked to heart disease and cancer, despite experts claiming that scientific evidence does not support this, according to the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. 

“A good rule of thumb is to take a thing, whether it’s the seed of a grape or the seed of an olive, and say ‘could I naturally get oil out of this thing?’ If you could, it’s probably safe and healthy to cook with that at some level. If you couldn’t, then you ought to look a little deeper into that,” Ahrens said.

Ahrens said he thinks of health as a “tripod” made up of exercise, sleep, and diet.

“The college puts a lot of focus on trying to get us to have good sleep habits, but something that’s lacking is the actual food we’re eating,” Ahrens said. “We can’t just say, ‘here’s a plate of greens, therefore it’s healthy’ if such greens are cooked in oils or are sprayed with pesticides that harm our bodies. A lot of people think they’re eating healthy when in reality they’re eating food that’s really unhealthy.”  

Despite the turn toward olive and avocado oils, some students think Metz has a long way to go in improving their recipes. 

“I want beef tallow,” sophomore Zac Briley said. “That’s the end goal. If something is fried, it should be in beef tallow and not canola oil.” 

Most students, however, are excited Metz is taking a step toward healthier meal options. 

“We’ve all heard the phrase ‘you are what you eat,” Ahrens said. “There’s much truth to be found in that. You don’t have to become a crunchy homeschool mom overnight, but it’s always good to be improving what you do in life, and diet is a great way to do that.”