University students share how to eat healthy while staying on budget: Jasmine Mangalaseril | CBC News

As costs for tuition, textbooks, supplies and rent continues to rise, for some students, managing their cashflow can mean cutting back on healthy food.

Student food insecurity is a growing concern at post-secondary schools. It can impact physical and mental health, which can contribute to poor academic performance.

Like many colleges and universities, Wilfrid Laurier University has developed resources to help address student hunger.

Originally created to help address food insecurity for Indigenous students, the Food Justice Garden gives student volunteers a hands-on opportunity to learn about sustainability through urban agriculture.

It’s a partnership between Martin Luther University College’s Centre for Earth Consciousness and Gender Justice and Laurier Students Public Interest Research Group (LSPIRG).

Harvests, including squashes, tomatoes, kale and herbs from 10 container gardens and a greenhouse help stock the Free Weekly Distro.

The Free Weekly Distro is an all-year weekly grocery pop-up offering fresh food, pantry items and other essentials.

“Basically, students walk in and choose what they need and what they want,” explained Tavia Weber, Distro program and Luther’s development manager. “We don’t ask to see a proof of need. The only thing we ask to see is the [Laurier] student card.”

Last year, almost 6,000 students used the service.

On top of the weekly food items, Distro has begun offering recipe cards and cooking seminars to help students develop their skills.

The Students’ Union food bank

The Students’ Union has several food insecurity initiatives at their Brantford and Waterloo campuses.

The food bank distributes parcels of non-perishable foods and hygiene products. Parcels can be curated to suit dietary preferences and restrictions. Students can request up to five food parcels per 12-week term; discreet pick-ups are available for those concerned about hunger-related social stigma.

Laurier also has the emergency hot meal program which provides four dining hall credits to students with extreme need. 

Students with ongoing need are referred to the dean of students’ office for additional supports.

Maria Gonzales, vice president of programming and services at Laurier’s Waterloo campus, said monthly events provide additional food resources to students.

“We did the fresh food market. There, we offered different types of vegetables, fruit,” said Gonzales. “Students literally show up and grab whatever they would need.”

For students wanting to build culinary skills, Brantford’s campus created a cookbook of accessible recipes and Waterloo’s campus is considering creating cooking videos.

Cooking on a student budget

For Jaycob Linnamaa and Shively Holland, both undergraduates in their final years, knowing how to cook is a life skill they rely on.

“It does bother me a bit how many people I’ve encountered in university that don’t really understand the basics of cooking, when it’s such a fundamental skill, especially if you’re trying to save money,” said Linnamaa.

He believes being able to cook his own meals meant he saved a few thousand dollars after he moved off-campus after living in residence where he had a meal plan.

Holland says they’ll bulk cook familiar meals and use herbs and spices to change up flavours.

“Because I have several roommates, and they all have pretty different tastes…so there are lots of chances to make different things,” Holland said.

Since Holland and their roommates often eat rice-based meals, they’ll co-ordinate cooking to not waste rice.

Linnamaa saves vegetable scraps and bones to make stock, which he can use for soups and other dishes.

While Holland will break from batch cooking and get takeout during busy spells, Linnamaa avoids fast food entirely.

“I could buy the ingredients to a decent steak dinner at the grocery store for the same cost … to get a fast food burger. It really doesn’t seem worthwhile for me,” he said.

Both students are part of WatSFiC (Waterloo’s science fiction and fantasy club). They’ll organize soup nights, which Holland often hosts.

Sometimes they work from a recipe and split ingredient costs and sometimes they each bring soup to share. Making Stone (or Nail) Soup is also an option, with everyone bringing an ingredient from their fridge.

“We have lots of people in the kitchen splitting up the work,” they said. “We’ll have everyone coming in and out of the kitchen taking a little spoonful, figuring out what else we need to add …and adjust the seasonings.”

Recipe: Peanut Sesame Noodles

Source: Wilfrid Laurier University Student Wellness Centre

Sauce:

• 2 tbsp peanut butter.
• 2 tbsp sesame oil.
• 2 tbsp soy sauce.
• 2 tbsp hot water.

Optional Toppings:

• cooked lean meat or tofu.
• peanuts.
• fresh cilantro (coriander).
• bok choy, peppers, or other veggies.
• fresh lime juice.

Method:

Combine noodles and vegetables together, mix well with warmed up sauce. Serve with toppings of your choice.