For many college students, the “what do I want for dinner” debate often comes down to a handful of questions: What here has a drive-thru? Do I feel like putting on real pants? Are these leftovers still good?
Does ketchup have any nutritional value? And, of course: How many times a week can I eat McDonalds before it kills me? Often, all of those questions — as we are stuffing our faces with greasy fries while driving to work or chugging smoothies in between classes — are followed up with, “I’ve got to start eating better.”
But eating healthy is hard, right?
It doesn’t have to be.
There are a lot of reasons why college students are among the unhealthiest eaters in the United States. For one, full-time students are taking at least four classes. That means four classes worth of homework, reading and studying.
Students are busy. There’s also the issue of living on a budget. We’re living off minimum-wage jobs, student loan refunds and, only in some cases, the generosity of parents. Most of all, cooking seems like a lot of effort.
A couple of foodies at Florida Gulf Coast University would like to make it seem a lot less difficult. Spoon University calls itself “the everyday food resource for our generation.” It covers everything food-related, from local restaurants to simple recipes and hangover cures.
To cater to college students there are hacks for dining hall food, recipes that can be done through microwaves and tips for finding food on a budget. It’s basically an online version of “How to Be An Adult: Food Edition.” And, as a green school, FGCU is the perfect school to start its own Spoon University chapter.
FGCU already has resources on campus to assist students in eating healthy. We have the student-run Food Forest and a farmer’s market every other Tuesday on the library lawn. Now is our chance to start something else that will promote better eating.
After all, who wants to pick veggies or shell out money for fruit and then have nothing to do with them? Some of the work to bring Spoon University to FGCU has already been done.
Rachel Iacovone, a journalism major, has already created a Facebook page and is the “founder” of the potential Spoon University chapter at FGCU. 300 signatures and Facebook likes are required to move on to the next step: choosing a student editorial team of writers, editors, photographers, videographers and marketers.
Starting a chapter would be the next step to taking full advantage of the resources on campus and making all of our stomachs (and heads, on a groggy Sunday morning) much happier.
