More students are cooking from scratch than getting takeaways.
A new YouGov Reports publication has suggested that the traditional image of students being unable to fend for themselves when living away from home may be out of date, with increasing numbers ditching the fast-food lifestyle for food cooked by themselves.
Almost two in every five (39%) students often cook food from scratch, while only 14% sometimes/often eat takeaway food during the week, the new research from YouGov reveals.
The ‘University Catering 2014’ report shows that students are more likely to eat cooked meals from scratch than to eat convenience food. What’s more around a fifth (21%) of students can be considered ‘Foodies’; students who ‘like experimenting with food/recipes’ and ‘enjoy preparing food/cooking with friends/housemates’. Of all the respondents, women (23%) are more likely to fall into this group than men (19%).
Despite this though, not every student is a master-chef. Around a fifth (19%) of students claim to not have time to spend cooking or preparing food from scratch and the likelihood of students getting takeaways to eat at home increases at the weekends (17% do so often/sometimes during term time).
When asked about their attitudes towards University food however, most students not only prefer cooking for themselves over using a convenience outlet, but are also more likely to cook than praise the options of food at their University/College outlets. Only one in ten (11%) rated their college/university canteen/café/restaurants highly for food quality and only a fifth (20%) rated them highly for value for money.
Tom Rees, Research Manager at YouGov Reports, commented: “How students feel towards the many food options available to them hints towards a changing attitude, one that completely goes against the ‘beans on toast and takeaways’ stereotype so often associated with the student lifestyle. Local businesses and supermarkets need to start looking at how they can attract the attention of this new ‘foodie’ generation, making cooking for themselves more accessible and enjoyable– especially focusing on those who might currently lack the experience or aptitude to get cooking.”
