Clink on Photo for original photo sourceI came across this post in 101 Cookbooks from a college student dreading his return to college and the land of no kitchens, which really struck a chord with me.
Why is it that students, most of whom would love to save money, have such limited access to a kitchen while they're at college?
No wonder the freshman 15 is a tradition. In my case it was a freshman 20. Which had a lot of contributing factors, but being forced into an exorbitant meal plan played into it . When I say forced, I mean forced. Every single freshman at my alma mater is required to sign up for the meal plan, which, if I remember correctly, provides for every single meal of the week. I don't think our food was particularly bad, and in the case of our famous brunches, was quite nice, really, with waffle makers and an omelet station and hot oatmeal, etc. But even with the best intentions, eating out is eating out even if it is cafeteria food. It's too calorific. And too difficult to regulate. It's too easy to have bacon and eggs and oatmeal with brown sugar every single morning, following by macaroni and cheese for lunch, and tacos, burritos, stir fry, etc. for dinner every night.
And without kitchens in the dorms, there were absolutely no other options.
Unless you acquired some illegal appliances. I stopped going to the cafeteria in my second semester. I decided instead to use my new toaster oven (not permitted in dorms, of course) and practically lived off cheese on toast. This was right after I had discovered Wallace and Gromit, and the way in which Wallace approaches the subject of cheese (Cheese, Gromit! he says with delight, waving his hands; this is my reaction to cheese as well. I love it as much as chocolate and bread, which is saying a lot).
I made cheese on toast (the English version of a grilled cheese) at almost every tea time. As I also had an in-room kettle (also illegal), this was quite frequently, and I don't mean tea time as in four o'clock, but tea time as in how frequently I made a cup of tea.
You see the problem here.
Seriously, though. What an odd relationship college fosters to food. We also had a snack bar that stayed open until one or two in the morning, so it was quite normal to meet up with friends at midnight and order mozzarella sticks, chicken fingers, and a milkshake.
My sophomore year, I lived in a more independent dorm far away from the cafeteria, and we were also exempt from buying the all meals-all week meal ticket, so it was then that I started to learn how to cook. I bought one white enameled pan from the dollar store, brought a non-stick pan from home, and learned how to make soups, pasta, rice.
What was your school experience like? Did you have kitchens? Did you cook? What illegal appliances did you use?
What a strange experience college is, not least of which because of this food dilemma. And millions of kids are about to start school and struggle with their own newly-found nourishment independence. Good luck to them.
4 comments:
I absolutely developed a crazy relationship with food in college. Freshman year, as in your experience, we were all on meal plan. And while the food wasn't that BAD, I found myself eating cereal for almost every meal.... and would keep a box of cereal in my dorm room. My freshman 15 was definitely due to the number of bowls of grape nuts, lucky charms, apple jacks, and multi-grain chex.
Perhaps if I'd been "forced" into cooking for myself right off the bat in college, then maybe I would be more open to cooking for myself NOW.
It's funny, but I actually was lucky enough to live in a dorm with a kitchen all of my years in school. But I almost never cooked! First of all, a shared kitchen, especially one on the entire floor, spells disaster. It was gross gross gross most of the time. Also I didn't really know how to make anything. It was not at all unusual for me to have a bag of chips or pint of ice cream for a meal. That freedom from parents and from the structure of the home cooked meal does really make an impression on younguns, often not in a pleasant way.
I love those brunches though. :D That was my favorite senior week activity, heh.
So true about the kitchens being an absolute disaster. I'm not sure why common decency, like cleaning up after oneself, is checked at the door by many people when they get to college. We had mice in the kitchen one year, but I refused to clean up everyone else's messes. GROSS!
Maybe high schools should teach "how to feed yourself" classes. I think food is going to be much more integrated into curricula as time goes on - how to grow veggies in the garden, how to make healthy meals, so perhaps by the time people get to college, they'll already have an appreciation for taking care of food themselves.
I still think college is in many ways a really bizarre social experiment. "Let's put a whole heap of teenagers together away from their parents for the first time with all of the added pressures that come with it..." and GO! It's a bit like Lord of the Flies;)
I think teaching kids how to cook for themselves in school is a really great thing, both because they do need to learn to fend for themselves, and because I believe it'll help them develop a better and healthier relationship with food. I think it should be part of like a health and nutrition class. Or home ec! Whatever happened to that? Useful class.
Post a Comment