Like Cubans, College Students Make Do

"The choices are about values'...Which is true, at least for us, at least for the moment. And when the choices are about values, we generally pick the easiest and cheapest way, the one that requires thinking the least. Inertia is our value above all others. Inertia was the one option the Cubans didn't have; they needed that meal a day back, and given that Castro was unwilling to let loose the reins, they had a limited number of choices about how to get it..." -Bill McKibben


I read this quote from Bill McKibben's "The Cuba diet: What will you be eating when the revolution comes?" as I chowed down an overcooked, over-processed leftover chicken sausage that I had scavenged from the kitchen fridge for dinner. The chalky after taste washed down with tall glass of raspberry crystal light no longer phased me. In fact, the 3-day old pizza I discovered yesterday seemed heavenly in comparison to the slightly moldy apple I had eaten for lunch earlier. Really, my meals consist of whatever I can find, and have time to shove in my mouth while I am studying. I have lowered my standard from mom's home-cooked chicken fried steak with fluffy, hand-whipped mashed potatoes to the archetypal college food ideology; the grab bag diet.

As I processed my thoughts with the processed sausage, it hit me: I am a post-revolution Cuban. College is my Castro. As Cubans saw their daily caloric intake decrease with the collapse of the Soviet Union and their imported source of calories, they substituted, struggled, and self-subsisted. My first few months of college, my body literally went into shock with the new dietary changes. I passed out, my iron-levels dropped, I became a sickly, weight-gaining, very perplexed girl. Eventually, I adjusted and learned. Now, my community farm consists of a refrigerator full of housemates' food, shared by many, scavenged by all.

But, the Cubans took away a more valuable lesson than that of the modern-day college student: nutritional value still matters. While their meat intake levels still dangle below the pre-revolutionary statistics, their general 2300 calorie/day intake represents a well-rounded diet consistent with proper nutrition. Perhaps because we assume our college days are limited, we do not generally see the value in staying nutritious. Even as a student of nutritional anthropology, I am constantly amazed at my personal dietary choices. I have even found myself justify excess saturated fats and calories with additional minutes on the elliptical. But, I am making do, one chicken sausage at a time.