Fanny Lasne, member of the 180°C Student Association Steering Committee, believes in the importance of a healthy diet and choosing organic foods.
It emphasizes that nutritious meals must fit students’ tight budgets. Lasne, whose family is from Vietnam, grew up in France, which meant she was familiar with the culinary traditions of both countries.
“French cuisine is one of the most diverse in the world, but I think Vietnamese cuisine is also varied and has many wonderful flavors” said. “It is less well known than Chinese and Japanese cuisine“. “I’m very glad my mother passed it on to me.“.
When it comes to cooking, Lasna particularly enjoys making French pastries. She started this work during the pandemic, living alone in a small student apartment. “I needed to keep myself busy and since I have a huge sweet tooth, I started trying out different recipes for cakes, tarts, puff pastries and other desserts.“, It says.
It is possible to eat healthy
However, the main goal of 180°C is to encourage students to cook and eat healthy, tasty, quick and easy. “I feel like a lot of students, especially freshmen, mostly eat pasta with pesto or tomato sauceLasne said.
“Pasta tastes good and is cheap, but there are many other options. It is important to take good care of yourself while at university where there is a lot of stress and hectic student life. And taking care of yourself means getting enough sleep and eating well. I believe that a nutritious and varied diet can provide important benefits for your physical and mental health. This will also help you learn better!“
Living far away from home
The lifestyle of young people today is very different from what it was many years ago. Nowadays, many young people no longer live with their parents in addition to studying and working, which leads to a change in their desired diet towards fast food.
There can be big differences between the diets of students who live with their parents while studying and those who live alone. The diet of young university students living alone is very poor, their diet is based on junk food or processed foods and they consume fewer vegetables, fruits and even meat and fish.
180°C goals: Eat healthy
To spread its message, 180°C organizes various events on campus. For example, at EPFL events there are stalls where members prepare non-traditional dishes and sell them at reasonable prices. The club has also published two cookbooks from Fringalwhich contains electronic results calculated by another student club, the Zero Emission Group, and has created a recommended list of restaurants for Lausanne.
All of these resources are available on the 180°C website. Last spring the club organized the “cooking competition”Spice League“. “Our prominent selection committee evaluated the finalists’ dishesLasne said. “This is the first time that I am meeting EPFL President Martin Vetterli in person.
Ultimately, I’m proud of how popular the competition was and the great feedback we received, especially because we invested a lot of time into organizing it“. Participants plan to repeat the competition in March.
Sustainable food
In addition to healthy nutrition, sustainability is a common theme in all 180°C companies. The club promotes environmentally friendly practices such as using local and seasonal produce, reducing waste and eating less meat. This initiative enjoys the full support of Bruno Rossignol, EPFL’s Catering Director.
“The club’s values align perfectly with the 20-30 strategy we have adopted for our campus restaurants“, he claimed. “I communicate regularly with your committee members and admire their energy and determination.“.
Lasne certainly has these qualities. He estimates he spends about eight hours a week on club activities. Not that I would rely on it: time flies when you’re having fun!
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