Performance Eats @ The Beach - A Nutrition and Educational Enterprise
California State University, Long Beach, College of Health & Human Services (CHHS) is partnering with Long Beach State Athletics to build an 8,500 square foot state-of-the-art nutrition center as home of Performance Eats @ The Beach. Slated for completion in 2025, The Performance Eats @ The Beach Center will be part of a new Peterson Hall One replacement that will house multiple health and wellness and clinical health disciplines within CHHS.
This educational enterprise will advance athletic performance by delivering an evidence-based meal and snack program to CSULB student-athletes. It will also provide interdisciplinary research opportunities for students in the CHHS academic disciplines of nutrition, dietetics, food science, and hospitality management.
“The Beach breaks barriers for our students, faculty, and staff and provides cutting edge research for communities around the globe,” says Jennifer Moore, the Director of Development for the College of Health and Human Services. Therefore, we are setting out on a mission to create a robust new program that will shape the future of what an academic and athletic partnership can achieve.”
Performance Eats @ The Beach will allow our student-athletes to perform at peak physical condition by focusing on what makes an athlete great – physical ability, mental resiliency, and nutritional health. We believe what athletes put into their bodies directly impacts their physical output and overall performance both on the field and in the classroom. Our approach to multidisciplinary research on dietary intake will set precedence for future college athletes across the globe while providing academic, hands-on opportunities for our students.
Performance Eats @ The Beach will feed 350 student-athletes three meals and two snacks per day during our Fall and Spring semesters annually. Each athlete will receive a personalized set meal and nutrition plan using an evidence-based interdisciplinary approach to research and dietary intake related to a host of performance and health outcomes.
Students pursuing a career in nutrition, dietetics, food science, and hospitality management will utilize the Performance Eats @ The Beach Center to develop, test food and beverage products, feed athletes, conduct research, and more. We are developing a team of faculty in conjunction with a full-time culinary chef to make this vision a reality.
“Thousands of students, faculty, and staff will be a part of this new and exciting enterprise that will advance learning through doing,” Dr. Monica Lounsbery, Dean of the College of Health and Human Services says. “Performance Eats at The Beach is pushing the boundaries of how we think about and pursue interdisciplinary education and research. It embodies the future of the BEACH and supports the kind of innovation that advances the higher education enterprise.”
