How College Food Affects Me

Unpopular opinion: I really enjoy school food. I have ever since I was in elementary school. From the square pizzas to the healthier options provided by Michelle Obama, I have eaten it all with open arms. College food has been no exception. I love all the choices, and the availability, and it ALL tastes good. I have, however, had a rough relationship with food. I LOVE food, don't get me wrong, but a lot of foods don't like me back. I am lactose intolerant, which means that any food with lactose in it makes me feel very nauseous. This is a huge problem for me, being that my favorite foods are almost exclusively cheese or cream based. I have had to be careful of what I eat for a while now, and making that same type of transition to college food hasn't been as difficult as for me as some of my peers. Personally, the biggest problem I forsee is NOT eating enough. In the past, when I was too busy to eat or didnt plan a time out, I would just go without eating. I didn't think anything of that until someone I work with commented on how fast I was losing weight. This shocked me. I see myself everyday and I couldn't see the change in my body. I feel I have done a good job at combating this bad habit, but I know I still have to actually plan to eat for it to get done. As well as being lactose intolerant, I have had a life-long discomfort with eating meat. Don't get me wrong, I eat meat everyday. I have just always wished that I was not as reliant on it as I am. I know how the animals are raised before they are slaughtered, because I worked on a farm since I was 9. Similar to Barbara Kingsolver in her piece "You Can’t Run Away on Harvest Day", I have a problem with not knowing where my eat is coming from or how its life was lived. I wish that all animals were treated like a small farm owner can treat them, but that is simply not the case. I also felt connected to her daughter Camille's piece "Taking Local on the Road" in that I see the impact of food on the people around me, and wish it could be more meaningful for them. I am not worried about the freshman fifteen, because I know myself and the limits I can take. While gaining that fifteen would not really be a big deal, I know I can do better in my choices to prevent it.