Why do so many college students...

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>Why do so many college students eat out? I'm talking about fast food for lunch every day, once-a-week dinner outings, and other activities of that nature.</p>

<p>Maybe I'm odd in that respect, because my family ONLY ate out when we went on vacations, so maybe two or three times max per year (but obviously for longer than one day each time, but still, you get the point)!</p>

<p>Not only is eating out extremely unhealthy, but it's also extremely expensive. Not to mention I can't tolerate too many flavors and actually prefer my food as bland as I can get it. Weird, I know. ;P But that's just how I grew up, so college students' eating habits are shocking to me.</p>

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<p>Your eating habits are different because you have odd tastes and were brought up differently than the vast vast vast majority of people around you. So they eat out a lot because that’s what they’re used to. You don’t because that’s what you’re used to. Done.</p>

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<p>What do you mean people are different!?</p>

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<p>It’s true, though; only college students like to eat out. Bunch of freaks.</p>

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<p>The meal plan at my college is overpriced and eating out is way cheaper.
Dining hall food is generally unhealthy, and there’s far more healthy choices out there.
Eating out provides a lot more variety than eating the same old crap in the dining hall everyday.
If you live off-campus and are a sucky cook like me, eating out now and then gives you a break from your own awful cooking.</p>

<p>Now, if you happen to go to a college where the dining hall serves modestly priced, delightful and varied meals regularly, your point would be valid. But most of us don’t.</p>

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<p>college students also eat a lot of ramen</p>

<p>but sometimes you need a break</p>

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<p>lol when i read “eat out” i was thinking of something else rofl</p>

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<p>Yeah, like the OP, I rarely eat out at home. I guess it is just American culture and we are the odd ones. I always ate dinner that my mom cooked as a family at home, I guess that is not the norm…</p>

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<p>Eating out isn’t much worse than eating the campus food…just sayin.</p>

<p>I’m in the minority. I’ve been at school for 2 months, and I’ve only eaten out maybe four times or so. I agree with the expensive part!</p>

<p>But, it’s because the food on campus gets old, and if you’re going out, it’s a nice way to get off campus and hang out with friends.</p>

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<p>Many of us get sick of the same food they serve at the dining courts or if they live off-campus get sick of making food everyday. Also we get drunk or get the munchies and want to get something to munch on. :)</p>

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<p>Jimgotkp: You attend Johnson & Wales—you should never go hungry. lol.</p>

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<p>I pick up food a lot on the go to someplace else, it’s hard to make time to go to the dining hall enough times in a day to actually get enough to eat. I am not used to being cooked for, either, I have either taken myself out someplace cheap or hit the grocery store since I was like 14. My parents only cook once or twice a week and we never, ever eat at a table together. Not even on holidays unless we have company. And even then sometimes we spread across the house. </p>

<p>It’s also a really easy social thing to do. I may not be able to convince my friends they all want to go to a museum with me but everybody has to eat.</p>

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<p>Because we can’t cook :(</p>

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<p>sorry but all i’m reading here is “fap fap fap”</p>

<p>who cares if other people eat differently than you do?</p>

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<p>Is this a case of meal elitism? lmao</p>

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<p>Well, most people (that aren’t freshmen) at my school aren’t on meal plans at all, actually. </p>

<p>I’m just a little annoyed by the fact that bringing your lunch is considered “uncool” on my campus. Maybe <em>you</em> can afford to eat out every day, but I most certainly can’t…and there’s no way I’m eating lunch at an unhealthy fast food place.</p>

<p>I care because some of these inviduals are my friends, so eating out becomes a social activity, and I am sure it would be rude to bring my own food along to eat while they eat crappy fast food.</p>

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<p>I am on a forced meal plan so I have unlimited meals to any of our like 15 dining halls or whatever. </p>

<p>However, I tend to go through McDonalds on my way to work three times a week because I go to class until 1140, run to my car, and then work from 1230-5. I don’t have time to go to the caf in between and I rarely eat anything more than a bagel before class. If I don’t go out then that is a HUGE gap of time and I can’t leave work to go get food because I work at an elementary school and it would take me like an hour to go get food and come back. </p>

<p>Other than that, I’ll eat out once in a while (maybe once every other week) at somewhere cheap when we’re just out walking around downtown. </p>

<p>I don’t purposely leave my dorm JUST to get food though. I would, but I’m pretty darn lazy lol.</p>

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<p>My brownies are better than your cookies. My homemade brownies.</p>

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<p>romanigypsyeyes, so would it not be logical to bring along a sack lunch? I guess it doesn’t really matter if you have no concerns about the quality of what you’re eating…but even from a financial standpoint, buying loaves of bread and making your own sandwiches is way cheaper than fast food.</p>

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<p>See, for me, this is actually ridiculously true. I hate eating out, because I’m very very very picky and no restaurant food is ever going to serve something exactly the way I want it. Granted, I can deal with this once or twice a week…but NOT every day for lunch.</p>