Free munchies

As I wept over my painfully low number of food points, I decided there was only one way to make it the rest of the semester: mooch off of campus free food as often as possible. Duke offers a surprising amount of opportunities for delicious free food if you know where to look.

I start my days by checking Duke’s free-food bible. The Duke Events Calendar allows you to refine your search by “Free Food and Beverages.” Most of the events are symposiums, seminars or speakers, so if I usually would have stayed to listen to at least part of a talk.

There are other places to find free food on campus—you just have to look.  Sometimes tables on the Bryan Center Plaza offer food. Knowing it exists and keeping a hungry eye out is all it takes to find the deliciousness around you.

On most Wednesdays the Mary Lou Williams Center hosts “Jazz at the Mary Lou”—a classy venue to satisfy your munchies. From 9:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., you can go to the center and listen to live jazz performances… while devouring free food.

This Wednesday they had wings, the classics—fruit and vegetable platters, cheese and crackers—among other edibles and sweet tea.

The Mary Lou also holds great foodie events as part of the Plated series.

According to the Duke Events Calendar website, the Plated series “intends to provide space for conversation, interaction, and inquiry around food as it connects to politics, identity, culture, development, religion, sociology, art, communication, and other areas.” Their next event is Nov. 7.

Club hopping is also a great option. I’m not talking about drunkenly wandering from Shooters to Devines to Mt. Fuji all in one night—I’m talking about adventuring to numerous student clubs and organizations in search of free food. Look for poster boards around campus that scream, “I will feed you.”