<p>I have been know to worry about the food my son eats at college, so he sent me this link:
<a href=“The Onion | America's Finest News Source.”>The Onion | America's Finest News Source.;
<p>At least I’m not this anal!!</p>
<p>True, but that kid’s diet is probably more healthful than your son’s. Or my son’s.</p>
<p>At least none of our sons is at risk of seriously burning himself in the kitchen. ;)</p>
<p>As far as I can tell, male college students live entirely on grain products that are either infused or coated with grease. My son’s idea of the food pyramid is a huge layer of muffins on the bottom, topped by a layer of cookies, then a layer of chips, and then a bagel balanced on the top. </p>
<p>I don’t think this changes until they acquire serious girlfriends who have at least a passing acquaintance with dairy products and vegetables.</p>
<p>All the major food groups: salt, grease and refined white flour.</p>
<p>The Onion does it again!</p>
<p>I don’t know whether to file this story under college eating habits, helicopter parenting or distance-cooking for parents of grown children. :)</p>
<p>I do remember a food survey conducted by Harvard many many years ago in which students were asked to rate the cafeteria food, using mom’s cooking as a yardstick. Fully 1/3 said it was better than mom’s. One student said his mom’s only culinary talent was heating up pizzas. I wish I had kept the copy of the Crimson.</p>
<p>Excellent Onion. 
Guilty as charged. I sent my S#1 to school with a rice cooker, crockpot, pots/pans, knives, and a copy of the cookbook I’d written with versions of my family favorites adapted for quick and easy shopping/cooking by college students. (No dining plan, and no food service in his building.)</p>
<p>I know that he did regularly make the crockpot chicken cacciatore, and the banana nut bread (which became a local hit). But apparently he found a Costco-type large-size source of frozen “steaks” that he could afford and he tended to cook one with some pasta or rice or potato, and beans or asparagus for dinner. When he <em>had</em> dinner. His problem was more an unpredictable eating schedule, I think. Anyway, he does use the rice cooker and the crockpot and the knives, and has started looking at the cookbook. He is staying at home this summer and working locally, and insists he wants to learn-by-doing in the kitchen: the theory sounds good, but we’ll see how this works in practice.</p>
<p>Or maybe he’ll just learn to survive on potato chip sandwiches.</p>
<p>I may be naive about our son’s eating habits, but I don’t think he would touch any of that stuff. When we are traveling, the only fast food he eats is Subway and prefers to plan ahead with a packed meal–hates grease on anything. His father is a big salad and yogurt with fruit for dessert kind of guy and I think it has rubbed off on S1. S2 likes junk food, but won’t find it in the house or in the lunch he packs for school. My husband considers one liter of decaf diet coke per week for S2 and myself to share to be an example of our poor eating habits. </p>
<p>It will be interesting to see if S2 goes wild when he leaves home–he is a rising sophomore now–but I would be truly shocked if S1 changes his “my body is my temple” attitude. Both boys are excellent cooks because we have had them cook for the family as a way to earn money, but I think eating is less about cooking than family habits. What H eats is mostly uncooked–raw vegetables–or pretty simple to prepare–tofu, etc. S1 is worried about the food at the house for beach week (18 kids) because he does recognize that his friends have different tastes.</p>
<p>That is a fabulously accurate article hahaha</p>
<p>I think my older son could live on pizza, bagels, and crackers. He said he does buy those bags of mini-carrots for a vegetable, and he loves bananas. Other than that… I hate to think. He is on his way to Japan now, where he plans to buy a rice cooker and lots of Repoviton (sp?), an energy drink they have over there. I tried to send some vitamins with him, but he refused. He has learned to make some great Japanese dishes, which do contain some veggies.</p>
<p>Younger son is a little healthier in his eating habits. He doesn’t really care for sweets, but does love meat and sandwiches. His main veggies are lettuce and tomatoes on the sandwiches…sigh…but his range of foods is wider than big brother’s. He wants me to teach him so make some simple meals this summer, so he can impress the ladies when he returns to college. :)</p>
<p>Mine will be totally on his own this summer. He bought a fridge! A friend’s parents brought cookery. He’ll have a shared kitchen. I must say I was not a good mom as far as showing him much. He can make a wild pb&j, a coffee frappe, and pancakes. I sent him the onion link.</p>
<p>Mine cooks pasta almost every day. Then he garnishes with whatever’s handy: canned peas, green beans or tomatoes, cheese, tuna, tuna and peas, frozen chicken nuggets (I assume he defrosts first), etc. He does eat fruit. </p>
<p>He says it just has to be fast and pasta fits the bill.</p>
<p>At least the kid in the article used the tomato sauce!
My D still has the first bottle of vitamins I sent her with to freshman year of college.The bottle has moved 6 times.</p>
<p>I love the Onion!</p>
<p>but this article is my nightmare… (S doesn’t use the food plan, or have a kitchen) Thank god for the gf; I think she shames him into eating green stuff once in a while.</p>
<p>S had the “all you can eat” meal plan for freshman year and it was worth every penny becaue he ate…a lot!<br>
He will be in an apartment for sophomore year and has already requested we purchase a smaller campus dining plan for him so he can be sure to get a least one decent meal a day. The extent of his cooking is mac and cheese, scrambled eggs and rama noodles. His roommate is good at grilling so I guess they’ll have some “protein” once in awhile!</p>
<p>Older son lived on subs and pasta dishes when he was in apartment (beer and pizza too). My youngest is actually the most healthy eater in family. He lives on campus and eats mainly salads for lunch, eggs and fruit for breakfast and lean meats and veggies for dinner. He won’t touch fried foods and rarely sugar. I don’t know where he came from ;).</p>
<p>Even at boarding school my son and his roommate would grill steaks on his housemaster’s grill. They would go out for sushi whenever they could get someone to drive them.
In Philadelphia, he is ODing on cheesesteaks and hoagies but has already located a good sushi source. He has also discovered water ice.<br>
In the room at boarding school they ate cereal, Ramen and pop tarts.</p>
<p>i give my son a shovel and he eats what he digs up…usually some earthworms. then he puts spaghetti sauce on them so it tastes better.</p>
<p>maybe i should mention that he is 3</p>