<p>"A study recently published by the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior surveyed 354 students at Western Oregon University and found that 59 percent felt that they did not have enough access to affordable, healthy foods – a condition known as ‘food insecurity.'"</p>
<p>And they never asked my generation. I know a ton of people (guys mostly) who would stock up on Kraft mac and cheese near the end of a funding period (month, semester). One used to do it before his parents visited, pointedly.</p>
<p>One of the most expensive meal plans at that particular Oregon school in the survey cost $1650 annually. That provides 19 “heavy” meals (their description) per week over three quarters of the year. With each quarter 13 weeks, that means students buy the plan to cover 39 weeks of food, at 19 meals a week, and the per meal cost is $2.22. And now that so many colleges offer more than just one food line and offer far more access to the dining halls and other food, there is no excuse for students to deal with food insecurity, except for the obvious reasons, they are not buying the meal plans, and do not have any life skills to help them shop for groceries and cook homemade meals if they have chosen to bypass dining options. That Oregon school costs over $20K a year, and parents need to factor in food costs. More important than new cell phones, or new clothes, or entertainment. Food, shelter, education.</p>
<p>Now, if colleges ran dining halls like the school I attended my first two years, then, yes, I could see some issues. The dining hall was open for about 1.5 hours for breakfast, 1.5 hours for lunch, and 1.5 hours for dinner. There was one food line, and no matter your nutritional needs, you got one spoon of that and one spoon of this, and no seconds (even for the athletes.) I was not an early riser, and had never liked eating breakfast much, so I never ate in the mornings. Lunchtime, I had about 30 minutes of free time between my extra classes, and never could get lunch because the line was too long. Dinner, well, I always made it there or I would not have eaten the entire day. We were not allowed to have refrigerators in our dorms. And I lived off of my high school job savings, so about $5-10 a week, to cover laundry, maybe a cheeseburger at Burger King on Friday night, and not much else. I suppose I would have been considered food insecure. I was often hungry. I can tell you that with the lack of access to the dining hall, and my daily 3 mile walks, I came home skinny, skinny, skinny. No Freshman 15 for me. I would not want other students to experience that, and so I am glad that colleges have expanded dining options far beyond what my first school offered (even that school finally joined the modern world.)</p>
<p>Because of that experience, I definitely have food on my mind for my son. It will be a priority. He will have a meal plan, especially that first year, and I will expect to hear from him that he is making it to the umpteen choices to eat good food throughout the day. He knows how to cook, and we have already talked about him keeping some eggs and cheese and milk on hand, for some late night omelets, and also some good oatmeal. I believe all of the schools he is considering allow students to take to-go boxes of fresh fruit and other items back to their rooms. I am thankful for that. My only concern is the availability of the fast food restaurants on campus. I don’t want to hear from him that he is eating fast food everyday. I would rather he eat a mystery meat casserole than fast food chicken nuggets. Thankfully, he will not be limited to those two choices. And, hopefully, he will take what he learned about healthful eating while at home, and keep making good choices in the dining halls. If I choose to nag him about anything, it will be whether he is eating.</p>
<p>access to affordable, healthy foods is an issue on the rise in America, period.</p>
<p>haha, I thought food insecurity would be insecurity about eating in public.</p>
<p>I just skipped the meal plan and learned to cook a bunch of new dishes. Although my schedule is so that I have an hour for lunch 4 days of the week, so the only options are eat at a fast-food or quick-service restaurant, or pack some fruit or leftovers. Usually I do the first option, and make my own dinner. Overall I find it significantly cheaper and healthier than meal plans here.</p>