Last week I went without breakfast and lunch for all but two days.
While this eating regimen is sadly normal in many parts of the world, it's a fair way estranged from how the average Dunedinite usually eats. For many in the student community, eating like this is a regular occurrence. Most of us embody a ‘feast or famine’ approach, choosing to spend big on food on weekends while forgoing a hearty meal during the week as a consequence.
Most flats I know construct a cooking regimen where each member of the household is required to make a meal one night of the week, and in return have dinner served to them for all other nights. Theoretically this works, particularly in larger flats of 5-8 people where everyone has ample opportunity to chip in.
To flex the fact that we can cook nachos and pasta, our flat has even constructed a food page where meals are religiously documented for others to inspect.
A point of real pride amongst the flatting community, there are now dozens of food pages all vying for the attention of the one or two people in the world who care.
The tension between these pages is so thick that we have been repeatedly subjected to attack from a rival food page in the comments of each of our posts. The fact that we pretty much cook the exact same meals has obviously escaped them.
While the food pages are a point of pride for many, ensuring that many remain nourished in the name of Instagram glory, this is pretty much where the effort stops. The majority of students who find themselves balancing study, work, socialising, and other hobbies are so busy that they find themselves further alienated from healthy eating habits. To combat the incessant hunger, most students develop into serial snackers by day and night.
I like to keep things classic with the old 2-minute noodles, but many others, such as my esteemed flat mate, branch out with niche items like raspberry jam. Time, money, and tempting snacks are but three of the many factors keeping students constantly in nutritional strife.
Yet, there is one saviour.
The free breakfasts and $4 dollar lunches which OUSA provide are an absolute godsend for impoverished sods like me. These provide a healthy meal and something to look forward to on days when all you have to look forward to is study and even more of your flat mates' complaints about power usage.
While the ‘famine or feast’ mentality is not universal, the average student lifestyle is one which encourages the degradation of the human body.
I am particularly bad for entrenching poor eating habits on days when I need some form of stress relief, but there are even more burnt out individuals than me who are taking this approach at their own peril. Friends of mine are trying to become Whittaker's chocolate ambassadors having covered their entire living room wall in the luxurious branding.
The next time you see a student in the supermarket carrying nothing but chocolate, just know that there are more than a few factors at play stopping them from picking up a carrot.
Love it or hate it, I think that this kind of thing is sadly inevitable. Even if my life as a student becomes miraculously stress free, I still don’t think I would be able to resist the pull of a Night’n’Day chicken meal on a night out.
- Hugh Askerud (19) is a politics and religious studies student at the University of Otago
