1. Pizza
If you've ever had a late night with your roommates, an awkward first date, a meeting for a club or basically any excuse to avoid going to the dining hall, you've enjoyed a large, hot, cheesy slice of pure happiness. It is the essential college food for everything you might want or need. There are so many ways to enjoy pizza that it never gets boring. There is also a slice for every friend so everyone can have the best meal of the week. Cheese pizza for the classic friend. Pepperoni for the exciting ones. Broccoli for the friend pretending she is healthy. Thin crust, cheese-stuffed crust, thick crust — there are so many options! Seriously, it is the holy grail of college food.
2. Ice Cream
For every bad day, good day and everything in between, there is our good friend Ben & Jerry's to support us. Available at your closest convenience store on campus, there are a plethora of flavors so you never get bored. There are also cartons of frozen yogurt to make yourself feel better for eating ice cream after getting home from the gym. Kale is green, so is mint chocolate chip ice cream, but only one of those is going to make you feel better after a long day.
3. Bananas and Peanut Butter
Most of what we eat is admittedly pretty unhealthy. Therefore, we have to make up for that by eating fruit and protein. A banana is the perfect way to get both of those in a quick and easy snack. Apples are also an appropriate match for peanut butter. Other fruits, while welcome, don't pair with the best source of protein probably on campus. Let's be honest, red meat and college dining halls don't feel like a good match. Besides, you can eat peanut butter with a spoon like ice cream. You can't do that with steak.
4. Microwave-Friendly Foods
Until you are a junior or senior, you don't have a convenient kitchen available to cook real food. Therefore, ramen noodles, Easy Mac, popcorn and other microwave-friendly foods become your best friends. When you just don't have time to make it to the dining hall two or three times a day, a quick two-minute meal is a sure way to ensure you have something in your stomach before class. Maybe it isn't the most healthy, and your parents/siblings/friends/doctor cringe when you tell them what you ate but at least you aren't hungry and unfocused in class. That's the best part of these quick meals or snacks.
5. Coffee
Yes, coffee is not an actual food group. No, college students really don't care. Hot coffee, iced coffee, lattes, decaf, regular — there is an option for everyone. Except decaf because why drink coffee if it isn't to help you stay awake after a late night of studying or Netflix? The average human being is 70 percent water. The average college student is 70 percent coffee. It is our lifeline. Therefore, it counts as a food group.
