Thirty percent of US college students suffer from food insecurity – that is, “eating or eating disorders due to lack of money and other resources.” According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), food insecurity comes in two forms: low food security, characterized by “decreased quality, variety, or desirability of diet” and very poor food security, characterized by “multiple indications of disrupted eating habits and” reduced food intake. ” Fortunately, there are more than 700 pantries on campus for hungry students across the country, according to the College and University Food Bank Alliance.
You will likely find staple groceries in your school’s pantry. Based on the pantry websites of Georgetown University and George Washington University in DC, University of Maryland and George Mason University in Virginia, these places are stocked with long-life dry noodles, packaged macaroni and cheese, ramen noodles and canned soups, canned vegetables, Canned fish, peanut butter, bread, beans and rice, etc.
However, it is important not to be deterred from accessing ingredients that could aid immunity, as the majority of students have now returned to the classrooms regardless of the status of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate at their respective universities. Anyone who is infected with a variant of SARS-CoV-2 or who feels infected with what appears to be the worst cold is better at eating properly.
Getting sick from COVID is the last thing you need as a food-insecure student who is already burdened with tuition, books and rent. I know because I have not only experienced food insecurity but also housing instability. Since I was unable to protect myself from contracting COVID while living in a shared accommodation in April 2020, I prepared to reduce the risk of a viral infection in order to move on to something much worse. An apple (without pesticides) a day keeps the doctor away. And in my case, that’s the whole point – to be really safe and healthy when masks weren’t prescribed and vaccines weren’t around anywhere.
Eating healthy despite food insecurity sounds easier said than done, but it’s not impossible. The pandemic has helped fight hunger, among other things, by creating a greater and more urgent need to find permanent solutions to disrupted supply chains. Shortly after the universities closed their campus and sent the students home in Spring 2020, Stanford University student James Kanoff and Brown University student Aidan Reilly recruited initial team members and raised funds to rent a truck, to save excess eggs before departure by transporting them to the West Side Food Bank in Los Angeles. The Farmlink Project was born and now works in multiple states to connect farmers with starving people. Pantries that distribute the food diverted by Farmlink can be found by doing a search on Food Finder. Your campus pantry may receive donations through Farmlink deliveries. If not, fresh vegetables and fruits from your local pantries complement what you get from campus pantries to make your meals healthier.
It cannot be emphasized enough the importance of including plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits in your food intake during these times. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that adults consume nine servings (4.5 cups) of vegetables and fruits daily along with other unprocessed foods to get the vitamins, minerals, fiber, proteins and antioxidants our bodies need . The WHO also recommends reducing the consumption of salty and sugary foods and alcohol. Certain foods like purple vegetables, broccoli, kale, oranges, berries, beans, ginger, garlic, onions, mushrooms, beets, nuts and seeds, etc. are packed with nutrients needed to fight disease. The following recipes feature some of these plant-based ingredients, along with shelf-stable items more commonly found in many pantries and other ingredients that are relatively inexpensive to buy in grocery stores:
Recipe 1: ramen noodle soup with broccoli, carrots and herring fillet
ingredients
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1 pack of ramen noodles
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1 carrot cut into 1/4 inch slices or 14-ounce canned carrots and peas
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1 cup pieces of broccoli florets
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1 3-6-oz canned fish in water: tuna salmon herring, etc.
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2 tbsp diced onion
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3/4 cup canned mushrooms
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1 teaspoon of chopped garlic fresh or in a jar
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1 teaspoon chopped ginger optional
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A pinch of ground turmeric optional
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Wedge lemon optional
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Salt and pepper to taste
cash the original post to the full recipe.
Note: Feel free to explore different options with products that you receive in a given week. Try a version without canned fish or canned chicken by adding a tablespoon of spicy nutritional yeast (sold in bulk in health food stores or packaged in a similar way to condiments) to the soup. If the canned vegetables have preservatives or added sugar in them, it’s best to drain them. Instead of canned mushrooms, a mix of mushrooms with garlic and olive oil sold frozen is preferable if your budget allows (under $ 4 for a 28-ounce bag at Trader Joe’s).
Recipe 2: beans in three ways
ingredients
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1 pound dry beans: Red Kidney Pinto etc. soaked for 20 hours
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1 tbsp oil
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1 large onion diced
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1 teaspoon ground turmeric
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1 tbsp chopped garlic
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1 tbsp ground cumin
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1 45 oz canned beets or 1 cup of German-style red cabbage and apples in brine from a glass
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1 cucumber core separated and kept for later; diced
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2 tbsp fermented crushed Calabrian chili peppers
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Juice ¾ lemon
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1 cup of green or red salsa from a glass
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6-8 crackers
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1 carrot cut into sticks
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3 cups of fresh baby spinach or spring baby greens
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1 15-ounce can drained corn; warmed up
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4 cups of brown or white cooked rice or 8 soft tortillas
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Salt and pepper to taste
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Note: An 8-ounce jar of Calabrian peppers in olive oil costs less than $ 3 at Trader Joe’s. Fresh carrots and baby vegetables can be replaced with peppers, celery, and baby vegetables with any type of leafy vegetable (romaine and kale, etc.) as it is impossible to predict what the outlets will produce each week. Boiled unpeeled potatoes are a healthier alternative to corn.
Recipe 3: lettuce greens in two ways
ingredients
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5 ounces baby spinach or mixed salad, washed
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3/4 cup cooked beetroot or red cabbage with apples along with some juices from the can or glass
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1/3 cup pieces of walnut
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1/4 lemon
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1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil optional
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1 teaspoon oil
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1 teaspoon of degraded garlic optional
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1 cup cooked white brown red or wild rice
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1 tbsp nutritional yeast
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Salt and pepper to taste
cash the original post to the full recipe.
Note: Vegetables and fruits are more nutritious when uncooked. However, if you received a tub of baby greens from your grower location that aren’t necessarily the freshest, consume the best of them raw and sauté the rest without exposing them to long heat. Pantries can also have cooked rice in 8-ounce cups or 16-ounce bags. Chunks of walnuts, a 1-pound bag of lemons, and olive oil can be purchased from Trader Joe’s for about $ 10.
