STRESSED STUDENTS
Langston Hughes highlights new stresses faced by black workers under capitalism, including hunger and homelessness. When first-year students are thrust into a new environment and race to acclimate as quickly as possibly, they are burdened with new stresses as well. A New York Times article from reported that the mental health of college freshmen in 2011, according to a national survey done over the past 25 years, reached record lows. Numerous studies show that stress induces eating. More often than not, this stress-induced eating directs college students to Oreos and fries rather than brocoli and celery sticks. With the stresses students already face, they are less inclined to devote whatever energy they have left to making good eating choices (especially when poor choices conveniently surround them). Campus dining coordinators should be understanding of this and work to encourage healthy eating such that horrible eating choices and stress don't generate a destructive cycle.