Raw in College

[treegirl]

Hey, I have a question for everyone out there in college - how do you do it? I'm entering as a freshman this sept. and I'm kinda worried about staying raw. I'm going to Spokane, which si seven hours from my home, and they don't have much in the way of raw food, as far as I can tell. Plus, I'm poor as dirt. Any suggestions? Encouragement? Help?

[Random Violin Guy]

Well I've got my own apartment, which means my own kitchen in which I can make whatever I want. I suppose it would be different if I were in a dorm. What are you doing for housing? Are you going to be on a meal plan? Will you have a kitchen?

For money, I'm also dirt poor. I'm struggling to make ends meet, but I refuse to cut back on my food bill by eating SAD or frankenfoods. My health is more important than having money to hit the bars or go out to see the movies. And I'd much rather feel good than feel bad.


A few money tips though:

Learn to forage. I haven't yet, but would like to. Some people might even dumpster dive for produce. It's another thing I haven't done, but it sure would cut costs.

Sprout. It's something else I have yet to do. Actually, today I'm planning on researching it and buying everything I need to start sprouting. It's cheap and nutritious. And of course, raw.

Order in bulk. Stuff is cheaper that way, and you'll go through a lot more produce as a raw foodist than the average person. If everything ripens at the same time, you can always freeze it for a bit. Oh, and sometimes you can find somebody or a few people to go in on bulk orders together. If you can get enough people together, you might even be able to order directly from the wholesaler without going through a store.

Start your own garden. Or garden indoors if you can't. Growing your own herbs and produce brings you that much closer to nature, and whatever you eat from the garden is super fresh.

If you can, it wouldn't be a bad idea to get a job at a health food store (HFS). Often times you'll get an employee discount and get to take produce home for free if it's going slightly bad or has a bruise on it.

Also, if you spot something that's starting to go bad at the grocery store, sometimes they'll let you take it home or give you a discount on it. It's worth asking, anyways.

Find the farmers markets and CSAs (community supported agriculture) in your area. Check out http://www.localharvest.org/ to help you do this, and also ask around at your local HFS.


OK, I think I'm out of ideas for now. I'm just parroting back what I've heard others say, anyways. If you do a search for the word "budget" you'll find a bunch of threads about the money issue. Hopefully I've given you an idea or two that you wouldn't have thought of on your own :)

Cheers!

[rande]

i have my own apartment also, i dont know how i'd do it living in a dorm or eating in a cafeteria...i dont have much money, i work a couple days a week, and it pretty much ALL goes for food. and i have to say, its totally worth it! i could spend my money buying clothes, seeing shows, or partying but if i felt like crap it wouldnt be any fun anyways. sprouting is great, i'm always sprouting...farmers markets tend to be a little cheaper than grocery stores...conventional produce is cheaper than organic although i buy as much as i can organic anyways. pretty much if you really want this, its entirely possible even on a very small budget!

[Cherry-tree]

I think that you will be OK! In the dining commons, just have your salads and fruit and maybe you can order some things that you particularly like, like any crackers or bars, online for your dorm room.

If you have a mini fridge in the room then just load up on cheap veggies like carrot sticks and celery and you can even keep olive oil and vinegar in your room for a quick dip. Also, nuts are not too expensive and do not need refridgeration at all. Those would be good for snacking, too.

In all, I think that you will be successful if you do not let the others pressure you into eating SAD. HAVE FUN!!!!

[treegirl]

Thank-you everyone! Yeah, I'm living in a dorm on a meal plan...I will definitely look into you're suggestions. I don't do much sprouting - but it sounds like a good idea to start.
I really appreciate the tips!
keep 'em comin'.:)

[peachy_pie]

Hey sweetie, I know about the budget thing because I'm at uni too, renting with my bf, but THANK GOD we have a decent kitchen. otherwise i would cry lots. Sprouting is a great idea, because you don't need any equipment except for a bowl and some water and stuff. If you want a really good snack that I take to the movies, I toss sprouted chickpeas and some raw almonds in spices... most recently curry powder, salt and pepper, but it can be anything... basically your favourite herbs and spices.

With the money thing, it is best to shop at supermarkets as they are closing because of the great deals you can get on produce. last night I picked up two enormous organic beets, so we'll be having red baron salad for a couple of lunches this week!

If you don't have a fridge, shop twice or three times a week for things that are yummy but easy to eat, clean up after etc... like carrots, celery, apples, etc.

Hope this helps!

[catscharm74]

Ask parents, friends, whomever buys you things for the holidays or special occassions to get you gift certificates to your favorite stores, online websites etc. I traded work hours at a farmer's market for food- fruit, vegetables and they even gave me some tea and bread. If you could maybe get a little freezer to store things for down the road. Buy in bulk. I buy discounted bruised fruit for smoothies- who cares it is still fruit right?? I got a whole box the other day for about $4.00. Just ask the produce people. Eat as many green smoothies as you can= they will give you energy and fill you up. Eat seasonally. I will try to think of some more things.

Good luck and congrats on college!!!

[Raw Ani]

Hi Treegirl,
I'm a year out of college. While there I was not raw until the very end when I had my own place, but I always kept a VERY strict diet of organic simple whole food that was not easy to come by (ok, impossible) in the cafeteria. And, I, too, was required to be on a meal plan. ( I assume yours is required, if not beg your parents to give you that money to buy food on your own! :) So I have a few suggestions:

Be Prepared - Keep a mini-kitchen in your dorm: Bring your own blender/processor, knives, cutting boards, even a dehydrator if you can manage. I bet if you're crafty you could even make a neat desk sized one that would be a great conversation piece!

Stock up: This was already mentioned but literally bring as much as will keep in nuts, seeds, beans & bars if you eat them (smartmonkey/larabars). This may be the last time your parents are willing to foot a $300 grocery bill and it will be so worth it when you still have free snack bars at midterms.

Take advantage: Even though there may not be much to eat at your cafeteria, get as much as you can out of it -- in most cases you've already paid for it.

Be Vocal. You many not find many raw foodists, but LOTS of college kids are concerned about healthy diet and organic/local foods. Find common ground and push for Real Food in your campus dining halls. Universities always respond to the momentum of their students. If you want something you can get it, you just have to be persuasive and active.

Ok just one more you should look into-- You might be able to start a raw food club and become entitled to a share of student activity funds. The whole premise of your club could be to use those funds to put together a great raw meal and watch an environmental video or something -- It's a little work but you would get a free raw meal per week out of it!

Good luck. Hope that helped a little. Don't be nervous. You'll fine like-minded and supportive people for sure.

Ani

[Random Violin Guy]

lmao I like the way you think. There's a meat-eaters club at MIT that does something similar to what you mentioned. So yeah, stuff like that is definitely possible, cuz hey, it's already been done before! I'd love to start something like that up... except that I'm moving and taking some time off from schools.

By the way, Ani, welcome to the forum! My name's Eric, and I'm a Random Violin Guy. :)

[treegirl]

Wow, a lot of good suggestions! thanks guys!

[lytlsprout]

If you are "required" to be on the meal plan I would be on the smallest one possible. Or see if they'll let you out of it because they can't provide for you. When I was in school I had to be on the meal plan, but I got out of it because they didn't provide enough vegan options. Then ask your parents to give you the money instead of the school meal plan the money. I also don't buy organic unless it's not too much more. When it's twice as much I pass. But things that would have a lot of chemical on them I try to stay organic, like apples. (there's top 12 lists online for that) also you can have a food processor and a blender in your dorm, which will help you make most of the staples for raw. You don't need a kitchen because you don't need a stove which is what most people think for for a kitchen. Then just wash stuff out in the bathroom. And you just have to such it up that it costs more. It's so stupid that you can live on junk and pay no money but if you want to eat healthy it's expensive. But that's how our country is run right now.

[samariah]

I lived in a dorm my first year of college. I was raw for a little while during that period. I was required to get a meal plan so in the dining hall i ate lots of fresh fruit, veggies, salads. I also took loads of fruit from the dining hall. I had a blender in my room so i could make smoothies. In my room i kept nuts, seeds, raw honey, some ezekial bread, cocoa powder, flax oil, herbal tea, raw almond butter, etc. I went to the local grocery store and bought some fruits and veggies i couldnt get at the cafeteria every now and then too. Thankfully I had a health food store near my house. If u want to make it happen, u can do it.

[treegirl]

yeah, I'm on an 'All You can Eat, Whenever you need to eat' meal plan. I don't know what options they have, but I'm sure they have salad and some fruit choices - who doesn't ? My worry about getting off the meal plan is not having enough time to buy myself other foods often enough and giving into cooked food because I don't have any food anywhere else. I'm sure I can stay raw if i try really hard - I'm pretty committed. there is a wholesale fruits and veggies store near the college, and a lot of natural food stores in Spokane. I'll probably eat a lot of salad and fruits from the meal plan and buy 'special' items every so often. I'm looking for a mini fridge too and I have a blender.
Encouragement is SO appreciated - thanks!

[currious]

both my sister and i are in college, but the difference is my sis boards. like my self she has diet restrictions and through the process of trying to figure out how to handle them she discovered that the school would make acomadations in the caffeteria and offer food she could eat, so maybe there is a way you could get the school to offer limited varites of raw food, like whole foods does.

good luck on your journey through school!

[dreamrawalwz]

My first two years of college I stayed home, so that was easy. My college now requires meal plans if you're living on campus. I don't know how I would have done it. Apparently our school is ranked number 2 as far as food in the entire united states. Let's say they probably have enough vegan options for me, but not raw! All they have is a huge salad bar and 3 types of fruit, non-oragnic of course. Now I'm living in an apartment with a kitchen and a nice Kroger's 5 minutes away with a huge organic raw selection (and non-raw too). I also have a health food store with some produce 2 minutes away. Sorry I'm not much help! Just offereing my experience! Others above had some great suggestions though.