Let’s face it, being a college student doesn’t mean that you are loaded with big bucks. Actually, it’s quite the opposite. We are what my parents call me, a “poor college student.” Don’t lie, I bet there were times when you ran out of food to eat, so you decide to “borrow” your roommates’ food or that one time where you starved yourself simply because you had to wait another week in order to get your paycheck (my monthly paychecks are what you call….allowances). Yes, I am still a dependent child of my parents. I don’t like to call home every two or three weeks asking for money just to buy groceries, because I feel like a burden (I know what you’re wondering, “Why not get a job?” Trust me. I tried and so far no one has responded back to me).
Now let me get back to my point. I found a way to stop “borrowing” food from my roommates through the discovery of FREE FOOD! YES, that’s right. FREE FOOD. You’ll be surprised to find that our little lovely town has plenty of free food to go around.
AND since I’m such a nice person I’ll share a few of my secret stashes with you.
1) The Pantry located in the basement of UCD’s Freeborn Hall, Room 21. It is open Monday-Friday from 9:00am-11:00am and Monday -Thursday 5:00pm-6:00pm. Best part of it is you can go everyday! [Note: You must bring your UCD ID CARD]
2) Food Not Bombs is located at Central Park on 4th and C, near the oak trees with the benches. Every Sunday from 1:00pm-1:30pm they serve free delicious vegetarian meals. Their mission is to reduce hunger and the waste of food by recovering food that was discarded by bakeries and grocery stores, and making them into delicious meals for the community. (Don’t worry, they are still safe to eat)
3) Free Coffee at Trader Joe’s and Grocery Outlet
4) The Starbucks at Safeway. They always give away free samples during the afternoons.
5) Apple trees near South Davis Bike Path and Pomegranate trees on the Covell Greenbelt, all for the picking.
6) Nugget Market has free cookie samples, if you don’t see any, just ask.
7) Participate in research studies that involve food! There are always flyers posted around campus, so just look around and you’ll find one that suits you.
If all else fails, it’s always good to have friends in high and low places, especially those that work at fast food joints because they can always hook you up.
P.S. If you know of any other locations in Davis where students can get free food, please comment below.
Sources:
http://daviswiki.org/Free_Food#head-4d226cad1a0e25b8e96a6b04b87521f5f797…
http://www.foodnotbombs.net/
http://www.winedanddined.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/free-food.jpg
http://www.fittothefinish.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/free-sign.jpg