What college kids are eating: Meatloaf with frizzle-fried onions

If you are worried that your child eats nothing but junk at college, you may be able to relax.

If they eat what the college serves, they are more often than not picking foods such as apricot-glazed turkey, meatloaf with frizzle-fried onions, Vietnamese Pho and other dishes, according to the Sodexo food provider, which services 600 schools across the country.

College students like comfort foods with some zest, the company said, and they like foods that come from around the world. Here’s the 2010 trend list:

1. Apricot-glazed Turkey
2. Meatloaf with Frizzle-Fried Onions
3. Vietnamese Pho (Rice Noodle Soup)
4. Vegetarian Lentil Shepherd’s Pie
5. Chicken Adobo (Stew with Chilies)
6. Stuffed Pork Chops
7. Vegetarian Jambalaya
8. Lemon Herbed Baked Tilapia
9. Rotisserie Chicken
10. Home Style Pot Roast

The company also reports that students going to college out of their home state usually opt for foods from the region in which they are living. Here are the college campus favorites by region:

*South Central Region: Red Beans and Rice
*Midwest: Home Style Roast Beef
*Northwest: Classic Carved Turkey
*Mid Atlantic: Chicken Pot Pie
*Northeast: New England Clam Chowder
*Southeast: Traditional Meatloaf
*Southwest: Fish Tacos

(I was surprised at how many sources were used by Sodexo to put together the list: Sodexo’s own Customer Insight team with research from the company’s Student Board of Directors, student Food Choice Awards events, Nielsen’s Annual Restaurant Audit, Teenage Research Unlimited, Technomics Menu Monitor, NPD Group, Sodexo’s culinary team of chefs and vendor partners.)

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