Mess on my plate: India’s students are fixing their college diets

You line up for lunch with a plate in your hand, one among many in a lethargic queue. When it’s your turn, the staff behind the counter serves you in a familiar, mechanised motion, barely raising their impassive face in greeting. You walk away with two chapatis and a single piece of paneer swimming in an orange-ish gravy, and settle into a noisy, crowded, messy table.

We spend our early years being fed with love—being served with a smile, being cajoled into eating until satiated, sitting comfortably, and of course, being granted that extra piece of paneer. We develop our taste of what ‘ghar ka khaana’ feels like. Most university messes, in contrast, are run in a way that transforms the act of eating into something impersonal, restrictive, and dull.

Is it any wonder that no one likes mess food?  But lamenting about the meals available on campus is not merely about students yearning for 'ghar ka khaana’–there is a real nutritional lapse in the menus of most Indian university messes. 

It is estimated that up to 75% of all Indian university students live away from home–and a significant percentage of these students rely on their campuses for their meals. A 2020 study published in the International Journal of Medicine and Public Health confirms that out of the 3,046 Indian students surveyed, two-thirds had inadequate dietary diversity. Dietary diversity–a measure of the number of foods or food groups consumed over a period of time–is one of the key metrics used to measure an individual's nutritional status. A 2014 study comparing the nutritional status of hostelite and localite students in a medical undergraduate university showed that the hostel students consume significantly less fibre in their diets, and showed higher amounts of junk food consumption. The nutritional gap widens with each report of stale and rotten food being served to students in universities across the country. 

The reasons for poor nutrition among undergraduates are varied, and trickle down the system. There are lapses at the institutional level, but also enough evidence that college-going students have a weak knowledge of nutrition in food and display unhealthy eating habits.

A college often becomes one of the first places that students start eating outside parental supervision, and academic stress contributes to habits like skipping breakfast, and excessive snacking, ultimately leading to poor nutrition.

Also read: Whey to go: A complete guide to protein

Regulatory nudges

At a time when Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) are being termed  an 'epidemic', government bodies are beginning to take notice. Conditions like heart disease, cancer and diabetes are at the top of this chart–1 in 4 Indians faces the risk of dying from an NCD prematurely. Eating habits and the pervasive nature of ultra-processed foods have thus become all the more crucial to this conversation, especially among children and young adults.

The UGC in July 2024 issued a directive to all universities to prohibit the sale of unhealthy foods in educational institutions and promote healthy food options in canteens. The UGC had issued similar advisories in November 2016, and August 2018, but its newest directive has been reiterated at the request of the Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest (NAPi), a national think tank on nutrition.

Datta Patel, Head of Department of Nutrition & Dietetics at the DY Patil School of Medicine Navi Mumbai, confirms that though these advisories come with a strong expectation of being enforced, there is no legal enforceability to these notifications. Nonetheless, she thinks the advisories are a step in the right direction. She adds: "But just banning junk food isn’t enough. Students also need access to tasty and affordable healthy options. There is a need for awareness programs or workshops to understand why healthy eating matters, engaging with nutritionists to design better menus and running workshops. So, the rule works best when combined with education and better choices, not just restrictions."

The notification specifically intends to reduce consumption of ultra-processed as well as HFSS foods, i.e., foods high in fat, salt, and sugar. This is often tricky, not only because these substances promote a habit-forming tendency, but also because they make for quickly-accessible and affordable food.

The National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Bengaluru, has tried to thwart this with its ‘Breakfast on the Go’ initiative. Susan Thomas, during her time as Campus Director of the institute, introduced stalls selling bananas and eggs at Rs. 5 to ensure students start their day with some protein rather than hurrying into class on an empty stomach. The initiative focused on affordable and quick food options—something the students can finish by the time they climb the stairs of their academic block.

In 2019, the FSSAI launched Eat Right Campus, under their Eat Right India initiative. Here, the definition of a campus includes universities, colleges, workplaces, hospitals, tea estates etc. Under this initiative, colleges conduct a self-evaluation based on the provided checklist, incorporate the changes needed, and then undergo an evaluation by an FSSAI-empanelled third-party agency.  If they secure more than three out of five stars (~65%), they obtain an Eat Right Campus certification for two years. In 2019, IIT-Gandhinagar became the first educational institute in the country to receive the award, securing a five-star rating which was subsequently renewed in 2022. Over the course of seven years, the number of certified campuses has now risen to 2677 as of May 2025, including IIM Indore, V. M. Salgaocar Institute of International Hospitality Education, and more recently, Central University of Kerala–all three of which have bagged a five-star rating.

Also read: Meal prep: How Indian kitchens can optimise time, taste

The power of student governance

One of the central conflicts in any college mess system lies between the student community which prioritises good food, and the administration, which focuses on the financial and logistical fallouts of these demands. An obvious solution arises: involving students in the process of securing food for themselves.

IIT-Gandhinagar is often considered to be one of the cleanest campuses, with a focus on safe, healthy food for students. Two clear themes emerge from a conversation with Gaurav Mahendra, Welfare Secretary at IIT-GN: a robust student body, and vigilant supervision. Deriving from its larger student culture, the university entrusts the handling of the mess, among other responsibilities, to student-run bodies. These student bodies are largely autonomous, with faculty acting as advisors rather than decision makers.

However, simply having a student body can be insufficient. Although it helps regularise processes like floor checks, it is pointless to collect feedback and prepare suggestions if they cannot be implemented.

Quality is assured by imposing such a vigilant system of checks that the staff seldom risks a misstep. Students of the Mess Council proactively visit the cooking areas approximately four times a week, and the milk delivery is supervised as frequently as once in two days. These inspections are independent of the monthly inspection conducted by the administration.

The use of a well-framed contract further cements this focus on quality. Mahendra shares, “While entering the agreement with vendors, we give them a list of approved brands for different ingredients. That ensures the quality; it completely eliminates any doubtful ingredients."

Atharva Keny, an IIT-Goa student who briefly stayed at the campus premises last summer for his internship, testifies to the quality and variety of IIT-Gandhinagar’s three messes. Atharva pointed out how giving contracts for each of the three messes to different suppliers helped each one gain a reputation for certain kinds of food, and collectively helped bring nutritional and regional diversity to the food provided.

It could be argued that robust, persistent student presence is one of the key factors in transforming kitchens in college campuses.

Proof of this belief lies in a more recent revolution: In February 2025, the students of Azim Premji University (APU), Bengaluru, submitted to the Registrar a survey report and food charter expressing dissatisfaction with the nutritional quality, portion sizes, and cost of mess food and demanded changes to the same. Collated from the responses of over 800 students, both postgraduate and undergraduate, one o­f their major demands has been student involvement in decision-making. The APU administration responded to this charter with several improvements in processes, audits, vendor relationships–as well as made sure that students will play a more important role in menu planning and food quality assessment. 

Patel echoes this sentiment, "When they help plan menus, give feedback, or run food awareness campaigns, they’re more likely to eat better and inspire others too. Ultimately, food is more than just fuel — it’s linked to how students learn, feel, and perform."

However, simply having a student body can be insufficient. Although it helps regularise processes like floor checks, it is pointless to collect feedback and prepare suggestions if they cannot be implemented. For instance: according to a Mess Committee member from one of the colleges this writer spoke to, none of their suggestions for healthier food alternatives, or even increased portion sizes have materialised due to budgetary restrictions. While some compromises between recommendations and budgetary constraints are inevitable, the Committee member claims that the college’s food budget has remained stagnant since 2021. In the same period of time, the average monthly retail food inflation has increased from 3.1% in 2021 to 8.4% in 2024. Evidently, this is restrictive towards any changes that students require. This is where it becomes important to discuss an institution’s role in campus nutrition.

Also read: Mindful eating: A wellness tool, or trendy byte?

Institutional change

When Mariam Begg was invited by NLSIU Bengaluru to be their campus' nutrition and health coach, she was delighted, for she was among the first of her kind in India. Begg is part of a larger system of food administration—including the food management firm Quess Food Services, a Mess Committee, and the college administration. However, hers is a unique role: someone who brought balance to the mess’s meal plans, and provided one-to-one consultation to any student who sought it.

In her three years with the institution so far, Begg's main strategy has been to incorporate healthier ingredients into familiar dishes—sneaking in millets into bisibele baath and herbs and seeds into rajma; making the tadka less oily; incorporating the local variety of red (rajamudi) rice. She also prides her inclusion of salad and seed bowls, a nutritious addition that is not an imposition on either the budget, or the workload of the kitchen staff.

The issue with health on student campuses is not just that nutritious food is not available, but also that even when it is, the mess is not able to win the students’ confidence.

Her role as a consultant helped her get a better pulse on student issues and feedback. These consultations also become a forum for developing knowledge on the basics of nutrition, and suggesting easy-to-implement changes to student dietary habits. “For example,” she shares, “not many people know that rajma and rice together have the 9 amino acids in them, it is not just in chicken and eggs, you know? And rajma and rice are very easily available in India."

This approach worked. Begg was able to redirect students to the mess by promoting the new measures that had been undertaken for their health. 

Begg’s role goes beyond securing nutrition–and this may explain something crucial about how to approach students’ health holistically. She aims to improve exercise, sleep and stress management. This macroscopic perspective helps her address any underlying emotional obstructions to healthy eating habits.

The issue with health on student campuses is not just that nutritious food is not available, but also that even when it is, the mess is not able to win the students’ confidence. 

Common measures taken by colleges, such as including dishes from all parts of India, are a step in the right direction. However, involving students and nutritionists in the process is going to be key. This approach brings students on the same team as the administration, and helps create novel, more realistic solutions. Over and above these interventions, the presence of a nutritionist is important to recognise the gaps in the students’ existing eating patterns, and to reframe the general understanding around how to be well fed. 

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(Illustration by: Vasini Varadan)