College student spent hours at the dining hall daily finishing one meal — the reason behind his habit broke his friend’s heart
Someone's habits may look weird until you know their actual story. An Instagram user shared a story about his friend, recalling how he would eat so much food in one sitting. At first, he thought he was just a big foodie until he started noticing a pattern and finally asked why. The creator, who goes by @canneddude, shared a video on July 6, 2026, revealing the heartbreaking reason his friend spent hours in the college dining hall. The friend's explanation prompted him to extend a heartwarming gesture.
The storyteller said he noticed something unusual about his friend during freshman year. Every day, he'd see him eating lunch in the dining hall, and hours later, when he returned for dinner, his friend would still be sitting there. At first, he joked, "You must really love food." But after noticing the pattern for weeks, he finally asked why his friend didn't just come back for another meal. His friend explained that he was on a 100-meal plan and had calculated it wouldn't last the quarter, so he stretched one meal across several hours and only ate once a day. Surprised by his answer, the user immediately offered to bring him an extra plate every day from his own unlimited meal plan so they could eat together instead of dining alone.
From that day on, the pair made it a daily routine throughout their freshman year of college. The creator would collect two to-go meals from the dining hall, one for himself and one for his friend, and the two would eat together while watching anime. The arrangement also meant his friend no longer had to worry about running out of meals before the end of the quarter. Eventually, he had so many meals left on his plan that he was able to use them for visiting friends and family instead of worrying about saving every last one. The influencer's small act of kindness didn't just help someone through a difficult situation. It also gave him a friend he could share a meal with every single day.
The friend's experience also highlights how food insecurity is a persistent issue for college students. A study published in the journal Nutrients found that students with more limited meal plans were more likely to report food insecurity than those with unlimited plans. The study also found that students who used their meal plans more often were less likely to experience food insecurity.
People in the comments also empathized with the friend and praised the creator for offering such kind help. @accountusrrname123 wrote, "Yeah, I should check up on the people around me. I never know in which ways I could end up helping someone else, or somebody could help me." @avital.irl remarked, "That was so loving of you. Food insecurity can be so hard." Meanwhile, @accinegenocide mentioned, "I thought he was intermittent fasting and was just eating in his time frame."
For more of his content, follow @canneddude on Instagram.