Food Habits of a Terp
From the dining hall and Stamp to Whole Foods and Lidl, this university’s community offers Terps a wide variety of culinary options. Because students tend to buy meals and groceries close to where they live, proximity may influence their eating habits.
Many upperclassman Terps live off-campus, typically in nearby houses and apartment buildings. Living independently is liberating, but it comes with responsibility—you’re on your own to buy and prepare meals. Sounds scary, right?
Not so much, according to Brendan Tennant, a senior finance major. This is his first year without a university dining plan and, as convenient as the meal plans are, Tennant said that he enjoys the freedom of grocery shopping and cooking for himself in his off-campus apartment.
“I would just get sick of the dining hall food,” Tennant said. “Now that I’m cooking my own meals, I can always switch it up when I want to. It’s a lot easier to do that when you have your own kitchen.”
Tennant explained that he usually shops for groceries at Lidl on Baltimore Avenue because the food there is the most affordable.
Freshman public policy major Jessica Blake, on the other hand, is on a university dining plan. Blake lives in Centreville on North Campus, and she is a fan of the dining halls.
“I’m actually surprised by how much variety there is,” Blake said. “The produce is usually pretty fresh and there are always healthy options, like the salad bar and stir fry station.”
On a typical school day, Blake eats scrambled eggs for breakfast and chicken and broccoli for dinner at The Diner. Her packed schedule makes it difficult for her to make it to the dining hall for lunch, so she regularly foots the bill for coffee and power bars to keep her energy up throughout the day.
Blake also mentioned that she has her go-to guilty pleasures – pizza and ice cream sundaes – at The Diner.
The university’s dining services department tries to appeal to on-campus students like Blake and others, such as commuters, by offering a versatile menu. The dining halls, for example, have vegan and vegetarian stations, as well as options for people with dietary restrictions.
While some commuter students purchase dining plans, senior psychology major Audrey Strachan does not. Strachan, who is from Silver Spring, occasionally packs lunch from home, but she mostly buys food at Stamp or on Route 1 if she is on campus during lunchtime.
“The healthy options [at Stamp and on Route 1] are pretty expensive—usually $10 or more,” Strachan said. “Luckily I still get money from my parents for food while I’m at school, but if I didn’t, I would have to choose options based less on health benefits and more on affordability.”
Carly Zdankowski, a senior criminology major, is also willing to spend the extra cash for healthy alternatives in College Park. Her go-to grocery store is Whole Foods, and her favorite Route 1 spot is Sweetgreen, where a salad can cost up to $12.
“I think I spend somewhere between $40 and $50 on eating out every week...which is really not good,” Zdankowski said. “But it’s worth it.”
While eating out isn’t always cheap, there are plenty of culinary options available for Terps with all different kinds of food habits.
Students order food and drinks from the Green Tidings mobile food truck at Tawes Plaza. The food truck is available to students on campus Monday through Friday starting at 11:30 a.m. Image credit: Annie Archer for The Campus Trainer
