Macaroni and cheese, Hamburger Helper, and instant ramen noodles may be staple foods for the starving student, but let's be frank – none are healthy meals on their own.

Despite this reality, using the iconic Kraft Dinner brand to promote healthy alternatives to quick and cheap convenience foods is not a good idea. Dan Clapson, a food writer, learned this the hard way.

Since February, Clapson has been teaching a free cooking class in Calgary, urging university students to avoid packaged and processed foods and teaching them how to prepare simple, nutritious, affordable meals at home. While the course – called "Kick the KD" – is noble, his approach has drawn the ire of food maker Kraft.

The company has asked Clapson to stop using their brand in his course name and promotional materials. In a surprising move, Kraft also went on to defend the nutrition value of their food:

"Kraft Dinner macaroni and cheese is a nutritious food that can be part of a balanced diet," Kraft wrote in a letter to Clapson. "In addition to being delicious, it is also a source of calcium and iron and a good source of protein."

Not wanting to argue the nutritive merits of junk food or, more importantly, tackle a corporate giant with more lawyers than students in his class, Clapson is looking to his blog readers for an alternative course name. The name "Kick the Crap Dinner" has been bantered around. It couldn't be more perfect.

But let's get real here: students do not eat macaroni and cheese for calcium, iron or protein. They eat it because it's fast, cheap, and comforting.
It's been some time since I completed university. Long gone are my days of gobbling down Mr. Noodles and a multi-vitamin and calling it dinner, three times a week.

Maybe once a year I cave to a junk food craving and indulge in the classic, fluorescent-orange, salty, cheesy meal-in-a-box. More often but still rarely, I commit the sin of grabbing a 100 per cent pure beef burger at McD's.

The bottom line is that people will continue to eat junk food, regardless of its nutritional value. It has a place in our lives that I'm comfortable with, for now (I may eat my words when I outgrow my pants). But pairing macaroni and cheese with a glass of milk and a handful of grapes does not constitute a seriously nutritious meal.

Something tells me that Clapson would agree.