Best Snacks for Zoom Class

It’s your first class of the semester, and the professor begins to run through the course expectations: camera on, stay muted unless speaking, participate in breakout rooms. You may be thinking that maybe this whole online class thing won’t be so bad: there are plenty of positives, such as watching pre-recorded labs without having to dump your mostly-full iced coffee at the door. That is, until your professor casually adds, “and no eating in class.” Well, Flyby is here to save you from your 9 a.m. – 2:45 p.m. Mondays with some snack ideas that we think you can pull off eating in class.

Bite-sized >> Fork and Knife

If you’re looking for a full meal, we recommend staying away from foods that require a utensil or take multiple bites to finish. Think more along the lines of poppable treats like wontons, bagel bites, or chicken nuggies. Skip the sauce to minimize any risk of spillage, and make sure to use a napkin between bites to avoid getting oil stains on your laptop. If the Trader Joe’s freezer aisle isn’t really your thing, you can also opt for small classic snacks like trail mix, grapes, crackers spread with peanut butter, berries, or dried cereal. Load these bad boys into your hand off-screen, then disguise the action of popping them straight into your mouth as a face scratch or cough cover.

Anything in a Cup

Bringing a cup to class is universally accepted and thus the perfect loophole to the “no eating” rule. Whip up a hearty banana-peanut butter or kale-apple smoothie and sip the day away. If you’re really scared of your professor, you can even put those bite-sized foods in a cup and tip your head back for a long swig each time you get hungry. We’ve never truly appreciated the shielding power of this dishware until now, so be creative about what you put in that cup — although our official stance is to abide by the Code of Conduct even during a Thursday evening class.

Full Send

If you’re in a hundred person lecture and are willing to play the odds that your face isn’t in the first grid, we recommend a full send. We’re talking a full meal of all the things you’ve never been able to eat around other people. Crunch away on pita chips and baby carrots. Chew on ice if that’s your thing! Unwrap noisy tinfoil leftovers without your classmate’s judgey side-eye. We’ve all been momentarily stunned when someone nearby opened up their tuna fish and boiled egg combo from FlyBy — now you can try it for yourself without the fear of public shame. And hey, if garlic really is the cure for all diseases like your grandma has been telling you since you were little, it’s not like worrying you’ll run into your d-hall crush is going to get in your way anymore. With a little bit of finesse and a few well-timed ducks to pick up your pencil, you can squeeze in a whole meal without disturbing any of your classmates.

Staying focused during Zoom school is going to be tough, but snacking is a mostly harmless way to keep your mind sharp. Just be on the lookout for any general reminders from your TF that eating in class is strongly discouraged — that’s graduate school speak for “*cough cough* you there eating, stop eating.”