Welcome to a food wonk! You may be wondering, what is a “food wonk?” A “wonk” is defined as “a person who takes an excessive interest in minor details of political policy.” Here at college in Washington, DC, I am surrounded by smart, passionate, and motivated wonks who are deeply interested and knowledgable about policy and more. For me, I take excessive interest in, and have become a “wonk” for, health and nutrition. Through my studies as a Public Health major, my own research and my experiences, I have come to appreciate the important role nutrition plays in our overall health.
When I was a freshman, I quickly realized that maintaining good health and nutrition in college was challenging. Like many other college freshman I picked up bad habits, which compounded over time, made me really unhealthy. Dealing with a less-than-stellar dining hall, late-night snacking, and going out to eat are all new experiences that college students need to deal with– on top of academic, social, and professional demands. I gained weight, felt constantly tired, lacked energy, and had strayed far from the health I had achieved in high school.
For sophomore year, I knew I had to make some major changes to my diet and lifestyle. I thought about all the bad habits I needed to eliminate and how I could be healthier at school. The best plan I came up with to take charge of my health was to start cooking. Living in a suite without a kitchen makes this plan more challenging, but through trial and error I have come up with a way of cooking in college that works. Cooking gives me more control over what I’m eating and allows me to take more responsibility for my health– which I believe is the key to better health.
From talking with friends and peers, I know that many other college students struggle with the same challenges. It’s easy to let your health slip when you have three essays to write, a club meeting to go to, and an internship. In college, dealing with being unhealthy becomes the norm. As a broke college student, cooking may seem like a time-consuming, expensive, and challenging chore. With this blog, I hope to show that cooking can be rewarding, cost-effective, and easy. I’m not a nutritionist, a doctor, or a chef, but I do know how to cook healthy food. I have come to realize that this is not a skill to take for granted. I am grateful that I have learned how to cook from my parents, that I have access to healthy food and a kitchen to use, and that I have a job that allows me to pay for my food and affords me the time to cook it. My “cooking literacy” (the skills, knowledge, and confidence required to cook) makes a huge impact on my life every day. I want to help other college students increase their own cooking literacy by putting out the information about food and cooking that I think everyone deserves and needs to know. Nutrition is so important to our health, yet not everyone is taught how to cook. I hope that my blog gives any college student the confidence to get in the kitchen, equipped with a little more knowledge about how to cook and eat well.
If you want to contact me, please email me at afoodwonkblog@gmail.com