Ketchup for fruit, beer for water, 99-cent ramen noodles, frozen chicken pot pie, everything a growing college student needs to perform at a high level.
The average undernourished college student’s meal plan is so bad that the local 7-Eleven sounds like a Michelin-starred restaurant. The plight of college students regarding quality food options is nothing new and has been romanticized by our culture.
As of the past 10 years, 95% of American college students still do not consume the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables.
You’ve probably heard the term Freshman 15 because it happens to a lot of people.
University of Minnesota dining halls lack quality options and are generally considered substandard. Students complain, but no real solutions are offered.
On our campus, when students inevitably switch to already overpriced apartment living or decide to live in a house, they are faced with a campus-wide food desert. The only form of oasis is a lackluster target in the heart of Dinkytown.
It’s as if poor nutrition is just another college rite of passage with no benefits.
Ellie McDowell, a social worker who works with food distribution at North Hennepin Community College, said she wonders why this is happening.
“Why do we glamorize the fact that people are starving? Why is it normalized? From a societal perspective, there may be a problem there,” McDowell said. said.
Many people have some knowledge about how food insecurity (lack of access to food of adequate quality and quantity) and nutritional deficiencies negatively impact their lives. cognitive function. However, for college students, there is an additional correlation between food insecurity and food insecurity. academic performance, mental health and the formation of lifelong poor eating habits.
These bad habits don’t necessarily disappear after graduation.
a 2023 survey Approximately 12,000 students from 31 different universities in China said there was a consistent correlation between poor diet and the prevalence of obesity, infectious diseases and other chronic diseases.
Researchers who participated in the study emphasized the need to address the development of these long-term health concerns by providing students with an appropriate eating environment. science daily.
Despite numerous calls to action and an archive of public information documenting our understanding of the relationship between food and health, many universities appear reluctant to invest further in student nutrition.
People often advocate educating all college students about processed foods, harmful and unnatural ingredients, or the meaning of certain packaging labels. Although this is useful information, education may not be very helpful in solving the problem.
We all know that eating Doritos and frozen pizza is bad for you. But when he has to juggle homework, work, interviews, and other college activities and doesn’t have the financial flexibility to spend $6 on organic eggs, affordability and convenience take priority.
So how can we address these issues?
To our university’s credit, there are at least some options for individuals who are severely food insecure. We partner with the government to provide students with access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides financial aid and budget-friendly meal options.
James Sellers, a member of The Food Group, a local food bank, said expanding the program should be a top priority, especially given SNAP’s successful track record.
“Expanding SNAP would at least give individuals more freedom and choice. When we’re talking about food, we’re talking about a lot of variation between individuals,” Sellers said. said. “People at the upper echelons of higher education need to provide more resources so that students can access these things.”
In addition to SNAP, the university also provides students with access to the Nutritious U Food Pantry in Boynton. This pantry provides high-quality food from a variety of local food banks. Information is available on Boynton’s website.
The website also includes links to local, affordable, and healthy food options, such as Kitchen Coalition, Brightside Produce, and other meal kit services. Although not necessarily cheap, these options are time-efficient.
The Nutritious U Food Pantry is a great resource, but it has its limitations. Students are only allowed to visit the pantry twice a month, once a week. Additionally, the pantry is only open the second and fourth week of each month, which limits student usage options.
Similar to SNAP, expanding the functionality of Nutritious U could greatly benefit students. If universities truly cared about student nutrition, they would divert tens of thousands of dollars a semester from the passion projects of their boards of directors and instead make important resources like Nourishing College more accessible. should be allowed to increase. Or, at the very least, put more effort into marketing your food resources than just a link at the bottom of your website or a few emails each year.
Instead of inadvertently promoting the construction of cheaply priced apartment buildings like Identity, which has a liquor store, McDonald’s, and Subway, implementing an easily accessible grocery store with healthy options would improve campus-wide development. What about dealing with food deserts?
Or, more importantly, why not try to expand helpful resources (like SNAP and Nutritious U) that address critical issues like food insecurity?
If universities are not doing their part, perhaps the government could do more to address food insecurity in universities.
The effectiveness of subsidies in influencing healthier food choices is: well documented. In a high-tax state like Minnesota, it begs the question why the government doesn’t allocate more to college student nutrition, especially considering how many people struggle with such an important issue.
As college students, there is not much we can do other than hope that university officials reject the historical precedent of prioritizing financial returns and actually address food insecurity.
Allocating time for meal preparation, not spending too much on eating out, and using meal kit services to save time are helpful habits, but they don’t apply equally to each student.
The only thing we can do is continue to voice our concerns. Proper nutrition affects every student on campus. It’s time to treat it as such.
