I was enrolled in CA 461 this past semester which is the senior capstone for communication arts majors at Wartburg. In this course, we made documentaries about a particular topic. My group's topic was hunger, so I learned a lot about food and food prices.
Have you ever noticed that people who are struggling financially are often overweight or struggling with maintaining healthy habits?
It seems like it should be the other way around, that if you are struggling with money, you'd be thinner. However, since healthy foods are so high-priced, those who are having a tough time financially are forced to buy cheap, processed foods that are also unhealthy.
Unfortunately for college students, many who are living off-campus and don't have easy access to healthy foods fall into that category. Off-campus college students are more likely to ignore what they should be eating like fruits, veggies, and grains. Instead, they buy what's cheapest, and the food that's cheapest often isn't very fulfilling, so they're forced to buy more and more of that processed food that's both hard on their health and ultimately, their wallets. So there really is no win anyway.
As opposed to those students, on-campus college students have easier access to at least some healthy foods like what the Mensa offers. They're more likely to eat those healthy things because they can afford them at the moment and their loans aren't foreseeable.
It's definitely possible to eat healthy on a low budget. I did it last summer while living in Cedar Falls. It's just important to read the labels and realize what's actually in the food you're eating. Even though some foods might be cheaper, you'll find that the next price up might be healthier. It's tough to save for college and be worried about other expenses in your life, but food should be a priority. You need your health to survive and live a long life.
I totally agree with this post. If I could afford to, I'd be eating all organic fruits and vegetables all the time. Instead, last summer I ate a lot of canned soup and lunch meat. It's very difficult to but healthy food on a low budget, but I think it can be done if you look for the right things and make food a priority. I had to save money to buy healthy food sometimes, but ultimately I felt a lot better about my choices. And it's true that if you eat healthier, you don't need to buy as much food because you feel full throughout the day.
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