aggie market

Food Hunting at Davis

Where to find free and affordable food options on campus

  • by Kathlyn Nicole and Neeraja Patel

Food Hunt at Davis: 

I wanted to see how much free food I can get just by going around the UC Davis campus. Right as I get off the bus at the Memorial Union, I walked towards my first food stop, ASUCD Pantry, open Monday through Friday from 10:30am-4pm, I swiped my ID and got my first free meal and some groceries, a turkey sandwich donated by the COHO to the Pantry and carrots and potatoes from the Pantry. By 12:30pm, I wanted to see what I could have for lunch. As I got out of the Pantry, I saw the Aggie Eats food truck close to the MU Quad’s hammocks. Aggie Eats is a “pay what you can” meal service going around different locations around campus serving both vegetarian and vegan meals. They are (were) serving cheese ravioli with marinara sauce today so I grabbed that. It is now 3:50pm and I am ready to go home. I was hoping to see if I could grab my dinner around campus, so I went back to the MU and into the food court. Ciao, a pizza by the slice service in the MU will do “buy 1 take 1” for cheese and pepperoni pizza by the end of the day. I got 2 pizza slices for the price of $4! Now I know it may not be the healthiest, but remember the carrots and potatoes I got from the Pantry earlier? I’m gonna make roasted potatoes and carrots for dinner! 

Finding food can be difficult especially with classes and other extracurricular activities. But there are few places on campus that us students can rely on for free and or cheap food. Here is some additional information from Aggie compass about ways we can find food. https://aggiecompass.ucdavis.edu/food-security#food 

Since asparagus is in season right now and is locally grown in California, here is a recipe from allrecipes for a delicious cream of asparagus soup that you can try with your friends.

Recipe:

Cream of Asparagus Soup (Serves 4 people)

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

  • 1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth, divided

  • ½ cup chopped onion

  • 2 tablespoons butter

  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

  • 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

  • 1 pinch ground black pepper

  • 1 cup milk

  • ½ cup sour cream

  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Directions:

  1. Combine asparagus, 1/2 cup chicken broth, and onion in a large saucepan; cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until asparagus is tender, about 12 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a blender; puree until smooth and set aside.

  2. In the same saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper; cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes.

  3. Increase heat to medium; add remaining chicken broth, stirring constantly, until the mixture boils. Stir in pureed asparagus and milk.

  4. Place sour cream in a small bowl and stir in a ladleful of hot soup until blended; pour into the soup and stir in lemon juice. Warm soup through to serving temperature, without boiling. Serve immediately.

Reference: Marbalet. (2025, Feb 26). Cream of Asparagus Soup. Allrecipes. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/13114/cream-of-fresh-asparagus-soup-ii/