When it comes to current student food the first images that pop into my head are of mouldy layers of out-of-date bread, pasted together with thick lashings of any spreadable substance. Bowls of forgotten food, left in a stale corner, growing their own lifeforms. chips on cereal with vinegar and ham, 2 week old pizza crust dipped in musty flan. I've been asked the question on countless occasions by family and friends 'do students actually eat like this?'; the answer I usually give is "well, I try not too". For students, food has become something that is fast, easy and devoid of much care for taste or presentation. As a flat rep. living in on-campus accommodation, the various concoctions and mixtures of food I come in contact with on a daily basis from my 25 first year flat mates is astonishing. The heavy smells of over-cooked fish and fried bread colliding in a claustrophobic storm of pungent stench hangs dully in the air throughout my residence. University student's food has become a hot-bed for experimental tasting as each person attempts to mix the cheapest and fastest foods together in order to find that "perfect"combination. The countless numbers of student food websites, cookbooks and local university newspaper articles that are all dedicated to helping the hapless first years in their first food experience away from the comfort of their parent's well prepared meals, are testaments to the difficulty that students have with food. Through the release of so much material we must realise that there is a surge of interest in the health of students and a concern about what we actually eat. In this blog I'll be looking at the resources aimed at university students and will try to cook some of their suggestions. But I'm not convinced that any of it will beat a well made portion of beans on toast!