College can be a four-year journey filled with late nights and early mornings. Finally on your own, you have your own space and kitchen. The food essentials needed to make it throughout the day can come in many forms: bags, cups and packages.
Whether you eat dinner in the Alumni Dining Columns at 5:30 p.m. or you stop by Brisco’s around 9 p.m., once you head back to your dorm room or apartment to finish that homework you have been putting off, you may start to feel a common symptom many college students experience Your stomach starts to growl—you have just developed the “late-night munchies.” CBU students have the choice of the ADC or Brisco’s for many of their meals but what about when students want a snack or are running low on their meal plans?
Freshmen Cierra Stull shares how she is no stranger to late-night munchies.
“I love to have Wheat Thins, Goldfish Crackers and cereal! But most importantly, I must have strawberries in my refrigerator. They are my favorite,” Stull said.
Sophomore Dylan Covell relies on the delicious taste of Oreo cookies to satisfy his hunger during odd hours of the day.
“I always have to have Oreos in my pantry. They taste really good all day and taste even better with milk,” Covell said.
Senior Kyle Miller admits that he likes to snack. He does not store larger meals or a surplus of snacks because of his meal plan. Instead, he mostly has snack foods like Cheez-Its, Cliff Bars, beef jerky, cereal and fruit. Along with his combination of snacks, he has an assortment of fruit juices and milk for his cereal.
Freshmen Elizabeth Crate goes for a different approach. She does not fill her dorm room shelves with unhealthy junk food to eliminate her hunger during late homework nights. She would rather stock her cupboards with foods that benefit her overall health.
“My favorite snack to have is trail mix because it curbs almost every craving,” Crate said.
Another popular food that also lingers around campus in students’ pantries is the forever guilty pleasure of chips, including: Hot Cheetos, Doritos, FUNYUNS, Ruffles, Lay’s Potato and Sun Chips. Cookies can also be found in a majority of college students’ cupboards with a variety of brands like: Chips Ahoy, Oreo, Pillsbury, Mother’s, Keebler, Famous Amos and Grandma’s Cookies.
Everything about college life is fast, so food needs to be faster and ready when needed. A majority of the CBU student population have some sort of “instant” food available. Many students have Kraft Easy Mac, Nissin Cup of Noodle, Maruchan Ramen noodles, instant hot chocolate, frozen pizzas and microwavable popcorn stored in their pantries.
And what would all these delicious guilty pleasure foods be without beverages? Although many CBU students stock up on water, there is no avoiding the energy drink frenzy that affects most college students. Overall, beverages like Gatorade, Powerade, Monster Energy and caffeinated soda drinks are necessary to help college students find the energy to work into the dark hours of the night.
After reviewing all the notes from peeking into students cupboards, a list of particular foods were reappearing. The top 10 list of popular foods in CBU students cupboards are:
10: Orange juice
9: Milk
8: Sandwich ingredients: bread, meat, cheeses and condiments
7: On-the-go bars
6: Fruit
5: Cereal
4: Instant noodles
3: Energy drinks
2: Cookies
1: Individually-packed snacks: chips, Cheez-Its, etc.
