Stores lack cheap single-serving options

I despise grocery shopping while I’m at Bona’s, simply because it’s not an easy thing to do for just one person, assuming that person wants to try to eat healthy.

During my trips to Walmart, it has become apparent that food producers and distributors, in what I can only assume is a blind drive to maximize profits, either take advantage of or disregard their single-mouth-to-feed customers who are just trying to eat.

Like many college students, my food budget is limited, and this dictates much of my spending. Most fresh foods are out of the question, as they tend to spoil before can get through them. And if I’m going to purchase a food item, it needs to last long enough for me to get my money’s worth.

So that brings us past the produce and into the frozen and boxed food sections. Now there are plenty of single-serving frozen entrees available, with varieties inspired by ethnic cuisines from around the world, but these come at certain cost.

Namely, a cost of way too much money for a budgeted student to spend on a single meal. There are quite a few frozen entrees in Walmart’s selection that I would love to try, but I just can’t bring myself to purchase these $8 entrees at risk of running out of money.

And as far as nutritional value goes, forget it. One look at the sodium content of some of the selections offered in the freezer aisle is enough to send someone back to the college standby of ramen noodles. At least with those you’re only paying a buck for salt, instead of almost $10.

Boxed dinners, like Hamburger Helper or macaroni and cheese aren’t much better. While they appear cheaper, basic Helper at $1.50 a box, those meals require you to add other basic ingredients, for which the prices can really start to add up. Additionally, these sorts of meals don’t typically come in single-serving portions, as they are generally intended for couples or families. So when the student has finished cooking, they have a skillet with much more food than they really should eat in one go.

So will our stressed and overworked student, hungry for both food and comfort, look at this big pan of what’s probably some sort of pasta dish and think, “Yeah, I really should measure this out into proper portions so I don’t overeat, and then I’ll have leftovers for later?”

Of course not. Students will look at the pan of what is the closest thing to comfort food as they’ll get and go to town on it. In doing so, they’ll ingest more than half of their recommended daily value of carbs, fat and sodium in a single sitting; as well as again almost $10 worth of food. Afterwards, our stressed and overworked student will be nauseously overfull and with perfect hindsight decide what should have been left as leftovers, doomed to repeat the binge the next time they have a tough day.

While certain food costs are grimly understandable, such as those for fresh meats, others seem absolutely ludicrous – especially to a student on a budget. Frankly, the more I think about it, the more sense it makes to just order takeout every night. Sure, it’ll still be overpriced, unhealthy and have enough salt to clear Walmart’s parking lot in January, but at least I won’t have to worry about cooking it, and it’ll still be fresher than what I’d get otherwise.

Of course, I’m not going to start ordering out so frequently, but food producers really need to stop overlooking the “in-debt college student” demographic. The assumption that we can survive on ramen and coffee alone is a dangerous one to live by. All I ask for are some affordable, single-serving options when I purchase food that won’t pickle my insides with salt.

Considering we live in a country that offers a made-to-order meal for the same price in 15 minutes or less, I don’t think that’s too much to ask.