Dana Lewis of The University of Alabama community has probably changed the way most people in the area eat lunch.

It all started with a simple request. Lewis, a University of Alabama senior who has Type 1 diabetes, wanted to be able to give herself the right amount of insulin while eating in the dining halls on campus.

In order to do so, she needed to know how many carbohydrates are in her meals. The information, at that time, was only available through the Bama Dining Web site. Lewis said that it was nearly impossible to go online and decide what to eat the day before and stick to it. She asked her friends to go online and plan out their meals for the week. “They failed miserably,” she said. She felt that the easiest and most accessible way for students to view the nutritional information was either inside the dining hall or right before entering the dining hall.

Lewis said, “As a college student, food should be a no-brainer.”

Lewis worked with Bama Dining to place nutrition labels with the entrees in the dining hall. She feels that this not only helps students with specific dietary confinements and allergies, but also those students who want to avoid the dreaded “Freshman 15” weight gain. Her simple suggestion to Bama Dining escalated into an internship with their marketing department, which was a perfect fit for Lewis, a public relations major from Huntsville.

A.J. Defalco, the resident district manager for Bama Dining, said that Bama Dining wants to foster a relationship like they have with Dana with all students. Bama Dining, Defalco said, wants students to feel as if their kitchen is the student’s kitchen.