Wondering How to Eat Healthy in College? (Here are tips to share with your kids!)
Don't miss the other tips for a safe dorm room, clean water, etc. at the end of this post!
One of my longtime faithful reader friends, Susan, emailed recently about her daughter who was moving out soon, and wondered what to suggest that she eat in her college dorm. She had a timely question that I'm sure many of you wonder about too–I know a lot of you real foodie mama and papas have already gone through this and might have some great tips for us parents who need help!
Kelly, I'd love it if you'd write about how to eat healthy while living at college and eating cafeteria food.
My one and only little chicken is about to leave for college and I don't know how to guide her -except for what she has heard me go on and on about these past few years. She was accepted into 5 colleges, but one of the main reason she chose the one she did is because she did see some organic choices when she toured the campus. The school has a 25 acre organic farm! She was also very excited that one of the cafes on campus sells grass-fed burgers, although the burgers won't be included on her already-paid-for cafeteria card. I told her I will give her extra money to have a burger once or twice a week so I know she will get some good stuff in her!
She already did a search and found she can get Organic Pastures at a health food store only 3 miles from campus. I know she probably won't make it there every week, but she knows the importance of fresh, raw milk and said she would try her best to always have it on hand in her dorm fridge. I will also be sending her with a bottle of cod liver oil.
But other than that, I don't know what to tell her to eat!
I noticed there are a ton of options for vegans, ugh. I told my daughter that at some point, someone got the school to honor the wishes of vegans, and maybe she can be the one who helps the school honor the wishes of those who want their damn saturated fats please!!
I knew because you just returned from vacation that you would understand how hard it is to find something to eat!! The benefit for you is that you got to come home and start feeding everyone right again, but for the umpteen thousands of kids eating in a cafeteria daily, it's a whole different ball game!!
Thanks, Kel!
Here's my reply…
Susan,
My main thought after reading this is WOW, if she can eat a once or twice a week grassfed burger, drink real milk fairly consistently, take CLO, keep real butter on hand, and then fill in with whatever she can find good in the cafeteria, she'll be doing WAY better than most kids heading off to college this fall!
I looked closer at the college nutrition link you shared.
Some of the options could be a good place to get some whole foods: “Meals always include… Fresh Garden Salad Bar, Downtown Deli Bar“. For breakfast, however, the only whole food on that list is the hard-boiled egg! For lunch, at first I thought, “Well, this Creamy Tomato and Roasted Pepper Soup might not be too bad, especially if she could drop a couple dollops of butter in there“, but then I read the ingredients, YUCK:
INGREDIENTS: WATER, SOUP MIX CREAMY TOMATO & PEPPER (DEHYDRATED VEGETABLES (TOMATOES, ROASTED RED BELL PEPPERS, ONIONS), BUTTERMILK POWDER, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, SUGAR, SEA SALT, CREAM (MILK), CANOLA OIL, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, SILICONE DIOXIDE (ANTI-CAKING AGENT), PAPRIKA (COLOR), SPICES, MALIC ACID, GARLIC POWDER, SOUR CREAM POWDER (CREAM, NONFAT MILK CULTURES), DISODIUM GUANYLATE, DISODIUM INOSINATE, MALTODEXTRIN, SALT, NATURAL FLAVOR (SOY), NONFAT DRY MILK, CHEDDAR CHEESE POWDER (MILK, SALT, CULTURES, ENZYMES, DISODIUM PHOSPHATE, LACTIC ACID), SOY LECITHIN, ROMANO CHEESE POWDER (MILK, CULTURES, SALT, ENZYMES, BUTTERMILK, PARTIALLY HYDROGENTATED SOYBEAN OIL, DISODIUM PHOSPHATE, CITRIC ACID), WHEAT FLOUR.)
ALLERGENS: Milk, Wheat, Soybeans, Gluten
Some ideas for how to eat healthy in college:
- She could keep things like grassfed beef jerky or healthy meat sticks on hand since the meats will likely prove to be the trickiest.
- Raw grassfed cheese and organic crackers can be found at many grocery stores now.
- Same with organic whole milk yogurts.
- Have her be sure to keep ingredients to whip up easy salad dressings on hand, then she could put them on the whole food salad options from the cafeteria.
- This granola could be made ahead and sent with her for a snack or breakfast with her fresh milk.
- Here are a few simple and healthy ideas using tortillas.
- Can she have a hot plate in her room? If so the options are endless, easy things too like fried eggs or stir-fries.
- You could send sourdough bread now and then, having that with butter would be really good.]
- Hey everyone, please share more of your ideas and wisdom in the comments, and don't miss the comments there already!
She'll just have to be careful to check ingredient labels before eating in the cafeteria, but how many college students will take that time???
Anyone else have some ideas? Many Mama and Papa bears out there have gone before us, how in the world did you handle this with your kids?
(There are some really helpful comments that came in below!)
More help for a safe dorm room (clean water info below):
- You could also give them one of my books Real Food for Rookies so when they do buy themselves food, they know what to look for, what to avoid, etc.!!!
- Don't forget about safe/clean water, get the dorm pack here (use the code KOP for a discount), both of these can go with them when they move next:
- Go here for a shower filter so they have safe water to shower in for their dorm room. There are currently 2 options there. Both filter chlorine. “New Century” is larger—it lasts 18 months and is one time use. “Restore” lasts 1 year, and that one has replacement cartridges.
- Go here for a gravity water filter for safe drinking water
- Get my homeopath friend Sheena's “Freshman 15” list here, she tells you about the “Essential Homeopathic Remedies for College Students” to keep on hand! Wonder where to find these remedies? They're so affordable!!! First I look here and if they don't have them (they don't carry as many as they used to), then I look for the Boron brand here. (Want a good basics beginner class on homeopathy plus tons of resources, go here for my homeopathy self-study class to learn how to help your family yourself when an illness or injury comes up.)
- Find air filters here to clean their air from fake/chemical fragrances, marijuana smells and everything in between! (KOP code works there too.)
- Also don't forget the radiation blocking options for their phone & computer!
KitchenKop says
In case anyone is interested, there’s more good info on this topic in the comments over at this FB post: https://www.facebook.com/KellytheKitchenKop/photos/a.428911151261/10158115909831262/?type=3
Allison Campbell says
I am preparing to go back to college soon for the Fall semester, and I am trying to decide how to plan how I will get my meals when I am on campus. I have a kitchen in my dorm with a refrigerator to share among seven people. There is also a new healthy food store that one of the school shuttles goes to on weekdays. This store sells beyond organic produce grass fed meats and I am planning on getting a raw milk cow share from them as well. I plan on making a lot of crockpot meals on the weekends and mid week to get me through the week. I need to budget extremely well, but it will be so worth it if I can make this arrangement work out because then I can learn to live on and get creative with a small budget for real food when I am out of college.
KitchenKop says
Wow Allison, you are IMPRESSIVE! 🙂
Kel
Susan says
Thanks everyone for the awesome tips! I know it will be a huge challenge for her to find something she thinks will not only be yummy, but noursihing as well. But I’m glad she has a health food store close by school and plans on using it.
When we drop her off next month, we will eat with her in the cafeteria and I will get a better feel of how to guide her. We will also be staying the night in town -she’s going to be 7 hours away 🙁 – so I told her before we leave the next morning to make the long trek back home, that we will all go to the health food store together and get her some milk, Kerrygold (or something similiar), kombucha and whatever else pops up. I told her to keep costs down, she should buy 2 or 3 bottles of kombucha every time she goes shopping and just drink a 1/3 of it a day for good gut health since she can’t brew it herself and I can’t deliver it to her.
Once she has been there a while, I will come back and share how she has been making it work. In the meantime, I am making a “wellness” box for her. I’m hoping she will remember to take a lot of this stuff daily, but I want her to at least have it should she begin to feel icky. I’m packing Vit C, Vit D drops (and CLO), elderberry syrup, probiotics, zinc and some stress formula Vitamin B complex. Usually we don’t do a bunch of supplements in our house, but being that she won’t be getting a lot of nutrition from her food, I feel better sending her along with this stuff since I am going to be so far away and she has never been sick without me!! Any suggestions?
Thanks guys! You’ve been a big help during a time where this mama’s heart is filled with pride, but also a little fear and sadness too!!
Jennifer says
Make sure she knows not to take the zinc on an empty stomach! I also like Han’s Honey Loquat syrup for colds/sore throats. If she isn’t getting a lot of good fats in her meals, maybe she could keep a small jar of coconut oil (a spoonful can be mixed into hot coffee or tea) in her room to take as a ‘daily supplement’. When my kids go on trips, I send them with FCLO *AND* the high vitamin butter oil (HVBO), because there just aren’t very many options for healthy fats when they’re on trips. Even though we get the FCLO/HVBO combo (in both cinnamon tingle and capsules), I also get the HVBO in capsules for traveling family members to supplement with.
Jennifer says
PS – Han’s Honey Loquat syrup is sold under the Prince of Peace brand through Frontier. I’ve always bought it through Frontier, so if you don’t order through them, I’m not sure where it is sold (don’t think I’ve ever seen it at Whole Foods, etc.)
Cheryl says
I think they would allow Crockpots at college. You can buy 1 or 1 1/2 quart ones if you cook for one or two people. I made Chicken Adobo in mine when I was away at school. One night a friend made pot roast in his crockpot and I made Apple Crisp in mine so we had a potluck!
Julie @ Seeking The Old Paths says
We don’t think of it as all-or-nothing: either eat healthy and miss out on all the fun or sacrifice your health for socializing.
It doesn’t have to be like that. (We’re on SCD as a family and have to find ways to make it work all the time without missing out on fellowship and fun – it can happen.)
She can just keep healthy fill-ins in her backpack to take to the cafeteria, and if the cafeteria food is lacking, then she’s still in good shape – pull out the extras she packed. Then, the stuff she keeps in her room can supplement the nutrition in her pulling-it-together-the-best-she-can meals in the cafeteria.
Petitioning the school should be seen as a long-term solution (if any solution at all, knowing that what she’d be petitioning for is so socially unacceptable in the mainstream circles). Even if it worked, it would take time.
Meanwhile, a girl’s gotta eat.
Amy says
I think it’s important to note that not eating in the cafeteria can have social ramifications worse than the food. Eating alone in your room in no fun. I would say her best bet is just to eat the best she can in the cafeteria (whole foods as much as possible) and try to petition the school to add some better foods (maybe pointing out all the artificial ingredients), and also keep some healthy foods in her fridge to supplement. With soy allergies widespread, it’s really problematic to have all these soy ingredients in everything, and the school might respond to that argument.
Rebecca says
I wonder if they would allow this little crock pot in a dorm. My husband keeps one at his desk at work to heat up his lunch.
Julie @ Seeking The Old Paths says
OK, my Big Kids (4 teenagers) are brainstorming this right now. So far they have come up with some good ideas, and some nutty ideas.
-Keep a small jar of milk kefir going at all times. Drink it warm so you don’t have to use up fridge space in a pinch. A squeezy bear of honey can make it taste yummy.
-Ditto with water kefir.
-Ditto kombucha.
-Keep quantities of dried fruit, crispy nuts, homemade Larabars (that Mom sends regularly, hint, hint) under the bed or in some little nook. (Lots of good nutrition in a small package.)
-Keep good quality nut butters on hand. Don’t even have to have good bread…just a spoon will suffice in a pinch.
-Use the little fridge space you do have just to keep good butter on hand and enough milk to keep up your milk kefir. If there’s enough space, maybe a small block of healthy cheese.
-I can’t imagine them having this much fridge space, but if they do, they could keep a jar of Bubbie’s pickles or Sauerkraut in the fridge.
-Nutty idea: pick the breading off cafeteria chicken (and hopefully most of the crappy oils), eat the chicken (I know, a compromise) then take a doggie bag with the bones back to the dorm to make broth overnight in the coffee pot.
-SomeMommy could make them dehydrated broth cubes. Have you guys seen the recipes floating around for those? They are stored at room temperature.
-Get some Collagen that can be mixed into any temperature liquid. We mix it into yogurt all the time. Also we mix it into whatever we’re drinking – well, not water, something flavored to mask the slight gelatin flavor.
-I don’t know how they’d live without a filter for clean water.
-Are there any healthy pepperoni sticks available that can stay at room temperature? I bet some mommy can come up with a homemade lacto-fermented one.
-Keep a bottle of healthy salad dressing on hand to take to the salad bar.
-My kids like grain-free granola with canned coconut milk on top. Both those could be stored in a nook somewhere.
This was such a neat exercise to have my kiddos do! Their other idea was to make friends with the cafeteria ladies. They could maybe heat up a small thermal cooker for the student to take back to their room. Or, maybe find a friend who lives off-campus that they could use their kitchen once a week.
Can’t wait to see everyone’s ideas!
KitchenKop says
What awesome teenagers you have, thank them for us!!!
Kel
Maryjane says
The problem is that almost all colleges use food service companies that are, by nature, interested in making money — serving the cheapest possible food at the highest possible price. I have nothing against companies making money — my husband is a business man — but the consumer must be aware of what they are getting for their money. Most of the food will be processed food, not real food. And even the food services that *want* to provide a higher-quality product are constrained by rules and laws (read Joel Salatin’s “Folks, This Ain’t Normal”) that inhibit and prevent local sourcing.
The biggest step toward eating healthy at college is the education of the student. The student must know what healthy eating is, and then take whatever steps are possible to make it happen. My last child just graduated from college, and her choices for healthy eating were few at her small, very rural college. Her health has suffered as a result.
Sandy L. says
I am actually looking for a college food service that uses good oils, pastured meats, eggs and butters, whole (preferably raw, but that won’t happen) milk as a major factor in the choice of college -you are what you eat!
Shari Hobbs says
Wouldn’t something like Garden of Life’s green superfood be a good idea to drink daily? If she has a fridge, keep Greek yogurt and fresh berries then soak oatmeal overnight and eat raw for breakfast. Go through the salad bar but watch for foods with mayo and such. Maybe keep Krispy nuts (Nourishing Traditions) on hand and add to snacks and salads. If she likes kombucha tea, she could keep that in her little fridge. It will be a real challenge. If she could buy a partial meal ticket it would keep her from eating just because it is paid for. But good for her for even wanting to eat better. Most college students have no idea how much their food will affect their health later on. I sure didn’t. And have paid dearly for poor choices.
KitchenKop says
Shari, I know! I’m loving all the references in the comments about teenagers who CARE about what they’re eating!!!
Kelly
Leah G says
I’d add yogurts, cheeses, homemade nut/seed butters, bread can be mailed as well. Soups from home. Canning is very easy and guess what else the coffee pot is great at heating things.
Leah G says
I would add soaked oats and eggs can both be cooked in the coffee pot. There is a whole world of foods that can be done in that magical device.
Beth says
This is so timely – thanks for this post. We toured a campus, oldest dd fell in love with it, but the only negative she commented on was how hard it was going to be to choose good food in a setting like that.
It probably depends on the personnel at the time but I wonder if cafeteria chefs would cook any food that one provides. I’m thinking about eggs, mainly – if they would hard-boil a dozen for her once a week or something if she gives them good eggs??
Beth says
Oops, I didn’t finish. 🙂 She asked if maybe I could cook up and mail her some hamburger patties to keep in her mini-fridge.
Michelle says
I am probably dating myself here, but when I went to college they had a kitchen on every floor. If that is the case she might be able to make one or two healthy meals in it.
Sharon says
I’m having the same dilemma with my granddaughter. She will be only an hour away, so I plan to take her a weekly goodie box. Even so, with only a shared tiny refrigerator and no heating element other than a coffee maker allowed in her room, the choices are still limited. I plan to take sourdough Einkorn bread, butter, raw milk and cheese, boiled eggs, yogurt, kefir sodas, but I sure would like to have some ideas of appetizing and healthy options to give her a little variety. I can’t help but shudder at all the GMOs, processed “foods,” soy, high fructose corn syrup, etc that she will eat no matter how hard she tries to make good choices.
ashley says
A chest freezer for her dorm room with frozen meals from mom?? 😛