When I started college last year I never expected food to be such a struggle. How hard could it possibly be? You swipe into a dining hall, you look at the numerous stations that offer a variety of food, including vegan and gluten free options. Apparently it’s really hard when you are used to eating fresh vegetables, a variety of fruits, food that is properly seasoned and simple dishes.
I am not a vegetarian at home, but at school, I have basically become vegetarian. The meat in the dining hall tastes preserved to me. In addition, it’s never plain meat. It’s always “Curry Chicken,” “Teriyaki Chicken,” or some other sauce or marinade. I just want plain chicken. Since I don’t eat a lot of meat at school now, I have had to find other ways of getting protein. I have a list of foods that can be found in my dining hall that have a decent amount of protein that I must eat every day.
If the meat was the only issue with the dining halls, I would not really be that upset about the dining hall since I never really liked meat or ate that much of it anyway, so giving up meat at school really doesn't affect me that much. Except, by cutting out meat, all there is left to eat are carbs and steamed vegetables. Once vegetables are steamed, they don’t really have a lot of nutritional value left in them and they don’t taste as good anymore - so there’s really nothing in it for me. As for carbs, there are always two pasta stations that put way too much cheese on the pasta and then there’s just rice and bread.
As a person who gets stressed when eating out because she has no idea what to order, it is incredibly stressful to have to worry about what to eat for every meal every single day. Yes I am aware part of being an independent individual involves the ability to choose what’s the best option to eat for a meal. At home I had no problem and it’s not just because my mom only makes one thing for dinner so you had no choice but to eat it. I make my lunches and breakfast myself and sometimes I make my own dinner when I have to work at night. I went to Whole Foods every week with my mom to pick out what food I wanted for the week and it was fine. Dining halls however, I do not get to go grocery shopping with them to pick out the food I want to eat and most of the stuff they serve I don’t really eat on a daily basis.
I hate that I had to spend an hour or so in September planning out what was the “game plan” for eating this year. Basically I figured I really can’t handle dinner or lunch in the dining hall so I need to swipe in for breakfast to get my smoothie and eggs. If I can’t do that, I can still avoid all the other foods by toasting a slice of whole wheat bread and spreading peanut butter on it. I also try to load up on as many fruits as I can and any potential non steamed vegetables lying around. The salad bar kind of grosses me out but I make an effort. I’ve learned that if I need a snack between classes, I can grab a yogurt from Einstein’s. As for dinner, just order something from Late Night Kitchen and ask for salad to be added to it. I’ve given up on finding a satisfying dinner at BU.
I know I’m not the only person who struggles with finding food that they find satisfying on campus. I’ve spoken to a number of people who have this issue also and that’s not okay that the food that BU makes us pay for if we live in a dorm is not accommodating to everyone.
