I am a college student who has read up on what a person should eat to stay healthy.  But what about the people who are for the of better words broke and can't afford the healthy stuff.  Does anyone have any advice on how to eat healthy on a very small budget?

You don't say what facilities are available to you as a student, so I'll just throw out ideas knowing they won't all be doable for you.

 Do you have access to a kitchen? Do you know how to cook? Preparing your own foods from scratch can save a lot of money. You can prepare your own granola, or roast a chicken, or fix salads, make your own pizza, too. Might get with a group and prepare recipes together and divvy up what you cook. 

 Look into low cost sources of protein: beans, lentils, etc. and purchase in bulk.  Then find some good recipes incorporating these items. Legume dishes can be prepared in large quantities and divvied into single serve portions.   

 There are many sources for recipes too- on-line, library, etc.  

 Even better: do you have access to a freezer? Can you prepare a recipe with many portions, divide into single portions and freeze?

 At the grocery store: purchase only produce that is in season. Watch for sales too. Where I live, there's a natural foods store that has really good prices on produce, not so good prices on the other groceries. So I only purchase produce there.  It pays to spend a little time getting to know where the good buys are.

 Also, is there a farmer's market in your area? Sometimes they mark down things when it's near to closing time. 

 Might try this site to locate all sorts of local produce/farmer's market resources:

www.localharvest.org/

 There are some produce places that sell in large quantities. Can you get a group together and split the cost of a crate of apples, for example?  Or procure a crate of tomatoes and spend the day preparing them into dishes (spaghetti sauce, no-meat chili sauce, etc). Maybe even learn how to can or freeze produce?  

 Some communities will offer small plots of land to gardeners to grow their own food.  Perhaps make this a group project?

 Are you only able to dine at a school cafeteria? Do they not serve much in the way of fresh veggies and fruit? Can you lobby the folks who run the cafeteria to make it a point to include these? If enough students make their wishes known, perhaps this can get the menu changed to a more healthful fare? Worth a shot.

Irene.

Here's a bit more off the top of me head:

RE: freezer Be sure to store items well protected from freezer burn. Don’t want to find what you’ve stored away didn’t keep well. I like to triple bag items. I use ziplock freezer bags for this. Be sure to remove any excess air from bags.

Might also invest in some good Tupperware- as budget allows.

Is freezer frost-free or manual defrost? If frost-free, be sure to keep items away from sides of unit as these heat up periodically to keep frost from building up. Over time, this warming process will harm your freezer goods. This is somewhat dependant upon the age of your freezer so maybe this won’t apply to your freezer.

I’ve found that Cooking Light magazine offers a wide variety of recipes designed to be healthful, and fast. Might visit local library (or go on-line) and peek at their offerings.

I like to use lots of spices in my cooking. Have found that Penzey’s offers a good price and superior quality. Not sure if this is within your budget; but a little goes a long way. Their website: www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/shophome...

Irene.

Few additional suggestions:

Do you eat bread? Are you finding that the loaf goes bad way before you have the chance to finish it?  Suggest storing the loaf in freezer (note: never the refrigerator as this only causes bread to go stale).  Just remove desired slices from freezer and place on countertop to thaw for approx 30 minutes of so. Or, pop straight into toaster-if you desire toast.  It may take more than one toasting cycle to fully toast bread so might want to watch closely.

In some places there are baked goods outlet stores.  Can often find bread at reduced prices at such stores.  Items purchased can be stored in freezer.

Homemade pancakes, waffles and the like can be made in quantity and frozen.  No need to purchase these things from store. And, these items thaw quickly (or can be toasted or microwaved) for breakfast.

Also, if you purchase whole chicken and cut it into pieces yourself, this can be much cheaper than purchasing parts. I use the wings, backs, necks to make my own broth (which I then use for soup). Find this far tastier than purchased broth, which can be very salty. Now, not sure if making my own broth is more economical than purchased.  

A similar practice can be done with other meats- purchasing large pieces (when they are on sale of course!), divide into small portions and then frozen. Just be sure to wrap well to protect from freezer burn.

Also, growing your own herbs can be very economical. 

Irene.

Original poster asked "Does anyone have any advice on how to eat healthy on a very small budget?"  I don't see any inquiry regarding exercise.

Irene.