Students CAN cook

We all come to university with some sort of idea of what to expect, especially when it comes to food. When looking forward to my days as a student, I was told to expect endless ready meals, chinese food… and baked beans towards the end of each term as the student loan dwindles. However, my experiences at university have been quite different to what my parents have related to me.

It’s my honest belief that students these days genuinely care about what they’re putting in their bodies. Obviously this doesn’t apply to everyone, but the students I know that live off ready meals are certainly a minority.

The truth is, students these days can actually cook for themselves, and what’s more we enjoy it. You’re more likely to see a vegetable stir-fry or a homemade cottage pie in a student kitchen these days than a Tesco ready meal. Even my housemate’s allergy to cooking has been cured by the discovery that he can make a damn good omelette!

Not only are students more aware of what they’re putting in their bodies and how what we eat affects our health, it’s also a great way to socialise. A communal dinner is one of the best ways to get together with your flatmates, even if it’s just cooking separate meals together, whilst offering to cook a meal for friends is a great excuse to have a relaxing night together and a catch-up over some (hopefully) good food. We’ve come to realise that the kitchen is great for socialising over cooking, not just over bottles of alcohol and a ring of cards.

Students are even willing to shell out a bit more in the interests of getting good food rather than just cheap food. While Vialli’s is of course a great option after a night out, society socials in my experience are more likely to book a table at Zizzi’s or Prezzo than roll up to a McDonald’s or Pizza Hut.

Yes there are always going to be those students living off ready meals and takeaways, but the undenyable evidence is pointing to a drastic shift in student priorities. And one of those priorities is getting food that is not only good value for money, but tastes good and does us good as well, something that I say should be celebrated and encouraged, and hopefully continues to pervade the student lifestyle.