It’s a college student-eat-ramen world out there.
Students often struggle to find ways to eat healthy and cheaply on a college budget. Financial trouble forces many students to stock their pantries with cheap but filling options like hot dogs, mac and cheese and ramen.
“Food is one of the expenses we can’t really cut down on,” said Abby Rux, the director of Albany County’s branch of the Cent$ible Nutrition Program, which is a state-wide effort to provide nutrition education to those in poverty. “But there are ways to make eating healthy work on a budget.”
Many students are baffled by the prospect of cooking for themselves in general, and the idea of cooking with healthy ingredients seems almost inscrutable. Add a tight budget into the mix, and most would rather microwave a burrito than learn how to cook an onion.
“Only 20 percent of Wyoming residents get enough fruits and vegetables,” said Rux. “The average student is overfed and undernourished, they eat a lot but they don’t get the nutrients that they need to live an active lifestyle.”
The traditional college diet is heavy in processed carbohydrates, a molecule found in breads and noodles. While processed carbs provide the body with the sugars it needs to survive, they result in a lot of empty calories.
Fruits and vegetables also have a lot of carbs, but they are less refined, which make them more easily absorbed by the body.
Using fruits and vegetables isn’t as hard as it seems, Rux said. While common knowledge says that fresh fruits and vegetables are nutritionally superior to their canned and frozen cousins, Rux said that’s not the case.
“It doesn’t matter what form you eat them in — any form counts for fruits and vegetables,” said Rux. “In fact, frozen vegetables might actually be better for you, because by the time fresh food gets to us in Wyoming, it’s been processed so much.”
Fruits and vegetables do not have to break a budget, either. Canned and frozen options are usually much cheaper than fresh, and they also keep far longer, which helps to prevent food waste.
Often, shoppers can find more money by developing financial literacy. For food shopping, this means shopping with a list, carefully budgeting your food options, and only buying what you need.
“On average, we’ve found that shopping with a list saves seven cents on the dollar, which is a huge amount.” said Rux. “It’s important to only buy what you need, people think they need a lot more food than they do.”
Lastly, forgoing fast food in favor of home cooked meals takes a bit more time, but saves hundreds of dollars in the long run. Rux recommends staying away from the restaurants in the Union and in town, and sticking with Washakie or with meals prepped yourself.
“Fast food is a good way to get a lot of empty calories. You shouldn’t make a habit of going to Subway or the Pita Pit,” Rux said. “And when you go to Washakie, be sure to take note of what you’re eating, and how much of it you’re eating.”
For those interested in learning more, Rux will be teaching a class April 9 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Ivinson Memorial Hospital, and continuing every Tuesday night after that. The class is open to anyone who qualifies for public assistance, and cookbooks with recipes for cooking healthy on a budget will be provided.
