Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Flourless Fast Food for Students on the Go

Georgetown’s nonstop environment quickly fills students’ schedules with little free time to eat or sleep. Whether it’s a hectic class schedule, bouncing between group meetings or commuting to an internship, food needs to be convenient for the always on-the-go student. Finding gluten-free food that is both tasty and transportable proves to be quite a struggle. However, after many tests of countless granola bars and brands, trips to many grab-and-go eateries in the district and countless walks to and from Safeway and Whole Foods, I have it narrowed down to the best foods for the on-the-go, gluten-free Georgetown student.

Granola bars are essential to any college student’s diet.  They’re cheap, relatively tasty and easily transportable. Even better, there are a lot of gluten-free options. Kind bars can be found all over campus, courtesy of Students of Georgetown Inc., and they come in a range of flavors including dark chocolate and sea salt. Almost all of them are naturally gluten-free, but be sure to double check the label. Nature Valley also sells gluten-free peanut-based granola bars. They’re crunchy like most of their granola bars and you can bulk buy them on Amazon — double win. Lastly, my all-time favorite breakfast bar: EnviroKidz Peanut Butter Panda Puff cereal bar. It’s basically a healthier version of Peanut Butter Captain Crunch with pandas instead of Captain Crunch on the box. We’re all kids at heart, anyway.

Sadly, students cannot live on granola bars alone, so when it comes to more substantial meals, be thankful that D.C. is a health-conscious city that gives options for gluten-free eaters. If you’ve never heard of Sweetgreen, then you must be living under a rock. Sweetgreen makes the most delicious salads with the option to create your own or pick one of its menu salads. Either way, you can’t go wrong. Sweetgreen also offers warm grains instead of lettuce as a base for your salad. Bonus, it’s composed of quinoa and farro: gluten-free friendly. If salads aren’t your thing, then I highly recommend ShopHouse for an Asian-inspired rice bowl or the classic Chipotle. At both places, start rice as your base and add in all of the extras that your heart desires. All three of these places have locations on M Street, so you can shop without stopping with these on-the-go options.

If you don’t have time to walk to M Street, there are some good options for warm food that you can make in the microwave and take on the go. Progresso recently released a new line of gluten-free soups that use the same recipes as its regular products, but are still safe from cross-contamination. Soup doesn’t sound like the most portable of foods, but it can be microwaved for a mere two minutes and transferred into a thermos for an old-school, mother-approved meal. For another microwavable and slightly more portable option, Annie’s makes a delicious gluten-free mac and cheese. It’s pre-packaged in a microwavable cup so all you need to do is add some water and pop it in the microwave for a few minutes. Just make sure to have some disposable forks on hand so you can just throw everything away after you are done.

Rushing around can be stressful, and not being able to have something tasty to much on the way just makes it that much worse.With all of these great gluten-free and on-the-go options, you can definitely eat your meal and get to your destination on time.

Christina Wing is a sophomore in the MSB. GLUTEN FREEDOM appears every other Friday in the guide.

View Comments (1)
Donate to The Hoya

Your donation will support the student journalists of Georgetown University. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.

More to Discover
Donate to The Hoya

Comments (1)

All The Hoya Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Leave a Reply to Caroline Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • C

    CarolineOct 20, 2014 at 6:04 pm

    Farro has gluten in it. It’s a relative of wheat.

    Reply