College students are known for their poor eating habits, such as pizza.
A recent study found that 13 percent of Americans consume pizza on any given day. Right now college students are at the top of that list.
Senior Treasure Shaw, said pizza is a norm for her and her friends.
“It’s just really quick and convenient,” Shaw said.
Students at the University have several food options on campus. Each dining hall offers a variety of food choices that normally appeal to a younger person’s appetite. Even with so many choices it seems that pizza is the number one choice among college students.
“We live on campus and sometimes that’s the only thing that sounds good,” Shaw said.
According to Benjamin Houbert, an employee at Marco’s Pizza on campus, pizza sells very well on the University’s campus. The Marco’s in the Union is open late and seems to contribute to its popularity.
“We are the only place on campus open after 10 p.m.,” he said. “Our busiest time is at night where we sell a minimum of 200 orders.”
According to Houbert, events and late night snacking is the source of the heavy consumption of pizza on campus. The campus station serves the most pizza from Thursday to Sunday. They serve pizza for groups like H20 and the Greek organizations with meetings on Sunday nights. Although the weekends and nights are busy, they still serve a high quantity of pizza during the day as well.
“We serve between 25 and 35 pizzas during the day,” Houbert said. “By slices we average about 200 to almost 300 slices per day.”
On-campus pizza isn’t the only place that profits from college students craving for pizza. Places like Campus Polleye’s, a staple in the community receives lots of orders for pizza. Manager Dean Smith said they tend to sell more pizza during the week, which is a contrast to the on-campus pizza business.
“Pizza is an affordable meal that a group of people can eat,” Smith said.
According to the study, pizza is the perfect late night snack. It also explores the different things that students prefer about a pizza such as: crust, toppings, cheese and sauces.
“Every person is different,” Smith said. “Not everyone is going to like the same pizza, but pepperoni or sausage is our most popular pizza.”
