Guest Cooks

Wheaton dining has started hosting more "special events" this year than any other year I have attended Wheaton.  From lobster night to French three course dinners the events have breathed new life into students' experiences around food in Chase and Emerson, however, one of the more popular events was the guest chef from Providence who came to Chase and served food from their restaurant.  This event featured a calamari station, a cheese bar, goat cheese pizza, and the chef himself preparing pasta dishes.

The students who I spoke to about this event told me that it was one of the better meals they have had at Chase and were particularly excited by the cheese station.  It was a very welcome event and speaks to a recurring theme in the more recent dining innovations by Wheaton to make the students feel less like they are eating in a cafeteria setting.  Other posts on this blog have also discussed events where they have felt like the food they were eating was home cooked and gave a more personal feeling to the food, making the experience more enjoyable.  Usually the food being offered in Chase is rarely a point of interest and does not foster conversation or pride, but when guest chefs are brought in or an Indian themed dinner is hosted the food becomes key in enabling interactions.  I greatly appreciate the variety and quality of the food events, as well as the crowds that the food events draw.  The dining events draw students from all over campus together and allow us all to interact and come together around the food.

The Landfill

(I took this lovely photo #artmajor)

The world “landfill” is often loaded with connotations and imagery of piles upon piles of garbage. It provides a visual landscape of rotting, often toxic, waste forever polluting miles of our precious soil and bodies of water.

I was therefore very excited to see that after Emerson’s new renovation that the sign above the trash bin near the dish and recycling bins, boldly and largely it says “Landfill” right above a much smaller “trash”. Personally, it made me rethink the direction of the object I placed in it. No longer could my waste hide behind the ambiguous word “trash”, but the objects final resting place was there before my eyes. It was no longer simply objects in a black bag, that was picked up by a blue truck, and then taken away, only for the same process to be continued the following week. I therefore found myself attempting to minimize my “landfill” contributions by either taking less food that I did not believe I would eat, or making sure to use the silverware provided by the dining hall instead of the plastic utensils.

I was very curious if any of my peers had a similar kind of reaction to this small, but important shift. Upon interviewing three different individuals, I am saddened to report that their experience with this change did not affect the way they viewed their disposal process. One interviewee did have an excellent idea that there should be more information present on sorting trash, recycling, and possibly even composting. She believed that if people were told specifically the most effective way to get rid of waste, we could therefore minimize objects that were thrown away that could have otherwise been recycled.

Although this topic is not directly linked to food studies, the issue of cheap disposable commodity is one closely linked. Often we treat our products wastefully, and very few people see any problem with throwing things away when they are no longer deemed useful. The way we handle food is not different, we have all been responsible for throwing away our fair share of useful, usable goods simply because we were done with them. That is why I believe this small change in the language could help alter our perception and allow us to take more responsibility when using and disposing. It starts with awareness. 

Ps. Thanks Emerson!   

Treating myself when dinning

Image from wheatoncollege.edu

Living on lower campus, Chase is generally my go-to for meals. It's closest, on the meal plan, and usually has enough of a variety. But between classes and work, I'm often in the science center, and so maybe once or twice a week I'll treat myself to lunch at Davis Spencer Cafe.

There's a number of reasons why Davis Spencer is a treat in my mind. Firstly is that it is far less crowed than any other dinning location on campus. This makes for a much quieter and calmer eating environment. Also, because it's in the science center, it's safe to expect that most of the people there are in sciences, which for me means that I can usually count on finding a classmate to sit and eat with. These factors also mean that Davis Spencer is an ideal location to sit and do some homework as I eat, a nice change from working at home.

Davis Spencer is also a treat because of the food. There is a meal swipe option that gets you half of a sandwich/flatbread and a small soup. For me, this is the perfect sized lunch to munch on as I work. Alternatively you can use Lyons Bucks to pay for larger portions, salads, drinks, chips, and cookies.

Since I've started my weekly trips to Davis Spencer last year, it's become something that I look forward to each week. A nice meal, a quiet environment, and a chance to get some work done and maybe see some friends. Just a tip though: if possible, avoid going during the 10 minute period between classes. It's a bit of a rush hour.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving break is here and many students have left home, but some have stayed on campus. My experience is with those who have stayed on campus, since home is too far away for me.

Staying on campus with some of my close friends for this break has become a tradition for me. It has become such a custom that I began to call it Friendsgiving, instead of Thanksgiving. I enjoy this break for several reasons, such as the abundance of food and the company from close friends.

During the day of Thanksgiving, President Hanno invites all students on campus to his house for a delicious dinner. He sends out an email to all students inviting them over to his house and we celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving in his house.

The Thanksgiving dinner is very meaningful to many people in the United States, but during this Thanksgiving dinner at the President's house. I notice that most students there are international students, thus they don't have a concept of Thanksgiving. During the dinner, they ask many questions about the traditions of the holiday and are very eager to learn more about it.

This dinner doesn't just bring US citizens together, but international students as well. Providing them with a venue to be thankful for the aspects of their lives. The holiday of Thanksgiving provides a spatial concept of togetherness for those who aren't home. In conclusion, this dinner means a lot to many, especially international students who have never really celebrated this holiday.

Finals Week Privileges?

We are close to Finals Week and many of us are already stressed and see themselves staying at the library for 24 hours wallowing  and regretting their choices.

Well before that start, would it not be great to have food near you?? As we all know, when its finals weeks we all stay up late doing the work we need to and the library staff bring snacks here and there for us during the late hours.  Yet, I always wanted to know why Mansfield Crossing or the closer stores around us push their hours to close later?

Finals week is the time college students stress eat and (sadly) don't really think about money as much as they are thinking about their final exam or paper. So, businesses like Dominos, Chipotle, TGIF, Sake, BWW, CVS, Walgreen would get great business from Wheaton College students at 2 am or even later. 

If we can work this out with some of these businesses and ask if they can, only finals week, stay open later many students that I know of that complain about food would be pleased. Just imagine a week of wheaton college perks for chipotle or CVS??

 I know the realistic view maybe that they may not have people who would want to work those hours, or they cant pay electric bills, but if we can establish this maybe for next semester it would be great!( well at least in my pov)

what do yall think??