There seems to be a widely-held belief on campus that for an athlete, eating in a co-op equals starvation. Admittedly, the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association provides a very particular diet for members, consisting mostly of legumes, tofu, veggies, and starches. This may dissuade those with sport-specific dietary needs from joining. Nonetheless, OSCA is a sustainable option for many students trying to gain and maintain muscle, and the idea that co-op food is inherently insufficient is a blatant misconception. I want to tackle that misconception and also touch on the benefits of eating in OSCA that may outweigh potential drawbacks for gymgoers.
I’ve been eating in OSCA for six semesters, and during that time, I started going to the gym to lift weights. Eating OSCA food, I not only gained weight, but made considerable progress toward my gym goals. The amount of weight I can bench press, deadlift, and squat have all roughly doubled since I started lifting. I learned how to do a pull-up and went from zero to 10 push-ups — accomplishments that might be small for some but were monumental for me.
My progress didn’t happen without changes to my diet. Anyone who’s done research into strength training will have found the common sentiment in the community that food is crucial to making gains. Concerns around the OSCA diet usually center around two things: a) that by only serving two meals a day, OSCA fails to provide active students with the quantity they need, and b) that OSCA’s plant-based food could never meet high protein demands. Both of these claims are false to some degree.
Last year, Harkness Co-op started serving breakfast, which is open to all students in OSCA. Breakfast is especially convenient for members who live in Harkness House and/or have to wake up earlier for morning classes. If I want to sleep in, I can help myself to granola and milk. Furthermore, although OSCA only serves food two to three times a day, this certainly doesn’t prevent members from eating more meals than that. The “save plate” system allows members to request that a plate of food be set aside for them. This provides a convenient option for students who need an extra plate of food as a fourth or fifth meal.
Each co-op also elects a variety of “makers” tasked with making bread, granola, baked goods, or even hummus. These snacks are great for extra calories, but provide limited protein. Personally, I’m happy purchasing outside snacks and supplements like protein powder because of the money all students save on the OSCA meal plan (about $1,500 per semester). I’m sure plenty of gymgoing students on a College meal plan already buy things like protein powder with their own funds. You can definitely still save money in OSCA while keeping a private snack stash.
It’s also false that OSCA is entirely plant-based and that you can’t make gains on a plant-based diet. The only co-op that is currently exclusively vegetarian in OSCA is Harkness. Tank, Keep, and Third-World Co-ops all serve meat on a regular basis (although less frequently than some meat-eaters may be used to.) It’s important to note that the type of food a co-op serves is determined by its membership. The co-ops vote on whether to be vegetarian each year, and Tank and Keep could certainly cook meat more frequently if members were interested.
If you’re already vegetarian or vegan, you might find OSCA food even more adequate than the College meal plans, according to some OSCA vegetarians I talked to. Conversely, I’ll admit that if meat is a core part of your diet, you may find co-op life difficult to adjust to. Different sources of protein have different macronutrient makeups. According to the USDA FoodData Central database, 100 grams of fried tofu contains about 19 grams of protein and 9 grams of carbs, while 100 grams of cooked chicken breast contains about 26 grams of protein and zero grams of carbs. The difference is even more pronounced between meats and legumes. However, vegan lifters like Ryan Stills and Clarence Kennedy prove that it’s possible for some to get ridiculously strong on a plant-based diet. An underrated powerhouse in this department is nutritional yeast, a common seasoning in OSCA that provides a whopping 8 grams of protein per 16 gram.
For those still concerned about the nitty-gritty of OSCA nutrition, I want to add that nutritional science is a very messy thing. There are papers and even whole books discussing the challenges to designing effective studies on nutrition. Nutritional research is often simplified or misinterpreted. Because of these complexities, I would encourage lifters (especially new lifters) not to worry too much about “ideal” nutrition. What works well for others may not work for you, and your overall happiness and wellbeing matters. The most “optimal” diet may not be the most sustainable for you in the long run. In light of this, gymgoers who are hesitant about OSCA food should consider trying it out, especially if the alternative is stressing themselves out striving for perfection in an area we still don’t know a lot about. Additionally, those tempted to criticize OSCA for the types of food we serve should check their assumptions and make sure they aren’t projecting thoughts about their own nutrition onto other people with different bodies.
At this point, you might still think it seems more difficult to eat in OSCA as a gym rat. Despite their many flaws, the College meal plans are certainly convenient. For me though, eating in OSCA is undeniably worth it, and I’m not the first person to think so (“Community of Athletes in OSCA Continues to Grow,” The Oberlin Review, Sept. 27, 2019). The community aspect and the skills I learn from cooking and cleaning alongside my peers are invaluable. I also find that the consistent meal schedule keeps me from skipping meals. Since the OSCA diet is mostly plants, I’m eating a ton of whole, fiber-rich foods, which are primarily sourced from local farms. I might make different choices about my food after college, but for now, I know I’m exactly where I need to be. I feel confident that I’m eating a high-quality, balanced diet. How many college students can say that?
