Beauty of a Feast

Food has long been regarded as a source of nutrition, growth, and life. However, food has become more than a necessity, and has evolved into a gateway to express culture and talent. It has evolved into an art that requires experience, discipline, and most of all talent. Art can be described as the act of creating a work of beauty or something more than ordinary. Today, food can be classified as art, and is not only judged on it taste but its appearance as well. While observing my photos, I realized that the beauty of food has become a highly esteemed quality in the dining community. Chefs put so much detail into creating food, but why? What does the quality of beauty mean to chefs and consumers? How do chefs use this beauty to express themselves and their culture? How has the preparation and making of food become a performing art all in its own? And how has the visible presentation of food evolved in our culture and society. With camera in hand, I ventured through Chapel Hill and used photographs to answer these questions.

Chapel Hill is considered a gourmet town, and highly values the quality of food created here. The appearance of food is a factor in determining that quality. A plethora of restaurants and shops line Franklin St., and many of them hold the beauty their creations in high esteem. Sugarland is a prime example of how beauty is incorporated into the establishment’s food. Cakes and cupcakes line the shelves of this gourmet sweet shop, all created to taste delectable, and all crafted to look magnificent. When asked, Sugarland Employees said. “We pride ourselves on the beauty and uniqueness of our creations, it helps us stick out from other shops. It makes us special.” The pastry chefs put extra work and effort into making their goods visibly appealing. My observations determine that through this process of making delectable food beautiful, chefs become true artists. The cakes here give consumers a personal and intimate bond with the chefs, and helps make a connection between consumers and producers. It is a chefs way of saying, “This is me, this what I create, and this is who I am.” My visit to Sugarland also showed me that food has become a way to express culture background, and interest. Many cakes that Sugarland chefs produce are crafted around a general theme or subject. Some cakes are embellished to represent sports teams such as the Chicago Cubs or the UNC Tar Heels, while others portray classic movies such as The Wizard of Oz. This allows chefs to express their own interests and favorites through the food that they create. Also, the wedding cakes that Sugarland prepares gives insight into our own culture and society. Many elegant, embellished, and extravagant wedding cakes line the shelves of Sugarland, and they supply many wedding cakes throughout the year. This shows how our culture uses food as a form of celebration and decoration. The nicer the wedding cake, the nicer a wedding will look and be. We as a society place great importance on the appearance of our food, especially in such an event as a wedding.

While other restaurants do not flaunt the artistic quality of their food as much as Sugarland, they hold the appearance and intricacy of their food in high regards. Two restaurants that exemplified this quality were Cypress on the Hill and Talulla’s. At Talulla’s I found that the food served was very intricate and that each part of the dish was placed in a certain way. Servers boast about the visible appeal of their food and the uniqueness of their culinary style. “Other Mediterranean restaurants cannot give you this type and quality of food. The recipes and our unique touch give the food a unique taste, and as you can see appearance,” explained a waiter. There, chefs pride themselves on their special recipes and the personal twist they put on their creations. They take pride in making their dishes a work of art. Consumers share this love and appreciation for the beauty of the meals. One customer stated, “I love coming here because the food is pretty and the appearance is amazing .I can enjoy a meal much more when it looks and tastes good.” Consumers value the appearance of their food and the more beautiful the food the greater the enjoyment. People tend to draw more pleasure from something if more than one of the senses are involved and pleased. Food is no exception.

Cypress on the Hill also exemplifies this quality. Their dishes, no matter how small or large, are designed to be visibly appealing. Certain sauces are added to embellish a dish, some ingredients add color and shape, and some main course meals are set up in a way that one may consider artistic. One customer claimed that, “It makes us feel somewhat special when we eat at restaurants like this. It’s like we are getting special treatment.” This is true for many customers who attend gourmet establishments. They get a sense of exclusivity and individuality when something as simple as their dinner is created and viewed as a work of art. Customers enjoy being treated extravagantly and love feeling privileged. The feeling that consumers get from gourmet food is exactly what draws them to these restaurants.

Customers, however, are not the only people who benefit from such culinary art. Chefs across the town, state, and country take pride and honor in their creations and expertise. One individual type of chefs exemplify these traits exceedingly well, and those are hibachi chefs. Not only do they prepare delicious food but they also do it in a magnificent fashion. I visited Kanki, a primo Japanese Hibachi Steakhouse, and found that one does not only get to enjoy a meal, but also have the honor of enjoying a spectacular performance. Chefs prepare ingredients, serve sauces, cook the food, and serve the meal itself all with flair and in an extravagant fashion. Everything from fireballs to skillful utensil tricks, Kanki chefs turn cooking into a performing art. These performing chefs take great value in what they can do. “It is a way to have fun and play, while doing something I love and I’m good at,” said one chef while doing a few tricks with his utensils. Another chef said, “I love it because it shows what my culture is like, the way my family has cooked food for many years. I feel like I am carrying a tradition.” This performance is more than just a spectacle, but a way for chefs to express themselves, their culture, and have a little fun too. Customers also enjoy the performance given by the chefs. A woman at my table said, “There is just something ‘bout watching them that makes me keep coming back. I love seeing how my food is cooked.” Many customers feel the same way. There is a more personal connection to the food and the consumer, because there is no wall between the preparation and the serving of the food. Hibachi chefs connect with their consumers through this amazing type of culinary performing art.

Food is a universal interest, universal necessity and everyone across the world can relate to how food affects us. It can satisfy our hunger, please our taste buds, and ,as I have found, can bring pleasure to our eyes. It is no doubt that food has become an art, and it is one that can be appreciated by both consumers and chefs. Chefs find expression, happiness, individuality, and uniqueness through their culinary masterpieces. We as consumers feel like we are getting special treatment, and have the chance to foster a stronger bond between the food we eat and the chefs who make it. Through these delicious works of art, we can all come together, food makers and food consumers alike, and become one group of food lovers. That is the true beauty of a feast.

What to Look for in a Store

As you walk into a store a multitude of details bombard your senses; Colors, lights, smells, and signs all fight for your attention and draw you towards what they have to sell. As an average shopper you may not even realize the techniques a store uses to keep you coming back. These details go practically unnoticed, picked up only by your subconscious making you think “I like this store.” From the types of foods, to the layout and design of the shelving, everything has been carefully planned for the shopper. Although every store uses different technique to project their “ideal image,” the overall layout and design aspects of a store tend to be similar.

Stores are built with these overarching similarities because they want what attracts customers to the store. The smaller touches and adjustment are what make each store unique while still keeping the best layout. Almost all grocery stores tend to have the same food store feeling while still having and offering a variety of different products.

Harris Teeter is an example of your typical family friendly neighborhood grocery store. As a large chain store all Harris Teeters tend to look alike, no matter where you find them, inside and out. This has advantages of its own because no matter what Harris Teeter you go in to, you are likely to find your favorite items right where they usually are, even if it was over 1000 miles away. This is because they all have the same time tested and customer proven layout.

Some researchers propose that grocery store shoppers actually like having certain foods in certain places in a store. While the layout of a store may not seem as important as the products in them, it can have a major effect of what is bought and why. For instance, have you ever noticed yourself walking past row after row of items and you find just what you need sitting on the nice little shelves at the edges of the aisle? Probably not. These items are usually not what you go into the store looking for, but you notice them anyway as you stroll through the store. From cookies and treats to items on sale, these aisle end caps are there to entice you to buy something you didn’t go in for. These tricky little shelves are just one way a typical grocery store pulls your focus from what you came in for to what you want but shouldn’t buy.

Walking past the aisles is almost inevitable when shopping in a typical grocery store. The stores layout tells the story why. Some of the top items that consumers buy most often and more regularly from a food store include milk, bread, fruit, and possibly a meat. These items are typically used quickly but also expire quickly which means more trips to the grocery store. A grocery store takes full advantage of this fact and lays out their store for “your convenience.”

Entering a store you will find yourself ushered over to the produce section. In a store like Harris Teeter this section is brightly lit with fluorescent lights and bordered with large pastoral signs. Fake or real plants may be scattered around and the fruit and vegetables are displayed similarly to that of a country stand. Natural greens and browns are used to decorate the signs and stands. All of these aspects persuade customers to think their produce is fresh, clean, and natural. Stores like Harris Teeter tend to have large produce sections boasting a variety of in and out of season foods from far and wide. This allows people who want a variety of their favorite produce no matter the time of year to get what they want.

Next comes the bakery section. Conveniently located next to the produce it is the second stop that also proclaims fresh and natural options. In Harris Teeter wooden shelves are used to conger up a small, local bakery feel. Some breads are placed in bags and plastic containers to show off their freshly baked qualities. The smell of fresh bread also entices customers to pick up one of their French baguettes even if it is not what they came for. This section has less signs which show off the “higher quality” of the food being sold. Regular brand name bread is sold around the corner but this bread section is made to show off Harris Teeters quality side.

The meat, poultry, and fish section is typically the next. In a store like Harris Teeter there are actually two sections for meat in the store: a deli section and an uncooked meats section. In the deli section selections of freshly sliced and prepackaged meats are displayed in chilled cases. High quality brands are displayed alongside the freshly packaged products. Large pieces of wrapped meats are displayed in a case over the sliced varieties as would be typical of a deli. This is once again to portray the freshness of individual specialty stores in a grocery store setting.

You then finally arrive in the milk and Dairy section. This section is placed near the back so that shoppers have to walk through most of the store to reach this important product. As is typical of a grocery store they have a large variety of milk and dairy products kept cold in refrigerated displays and cases in the back of the store. In Harris Teeter large milk jugs sit on top of the milk display linking the products to fresh milk from a farm. Small signs advertising special deals and great prices poke out in multiple places along the shelves. This aisle combines Harris Teeters fresh and wholesome food with their reasonable prices. Milk is a staple in the household and Harris Teeter uses it to show off how they cater to the typical customer’s needs.

As you go on this trip around the edge of the store you find you are passing by aisle after aisle of dry goods. This is by far the largest section in most food stores. In a store like Harris Teeter the variety and brands offered can be vast and daunting. This is one reason many stores place these aisles in the center of the store. There is no need to walk through every aisle. Making the aisles accessible from each side allows shoppers to stroll down only the aisles they need. This is the main place where convenience really shines through. The store layout does not force a customer down all or any of the aisles but simply leaves them open.

This is the general layout that most stores abide by: Entrance on the right with the produce section first, followed by the bakery section, meats and poultry, eggs and dairy with freezer sections and dry goods aisle in the center of the store. It is a proven and tested layout that encourages shoppers to go through the entire store before heading for the checkout.

Even in a small local grocery store like the Weaver Street Market, located in Chapel Hill, abides by many of these tell tale design aspects and techniques; they still use end caps and have a similar produce to milk and freezer layout that encourage shoppers to traverse the entire store. The market advertises themselves as a unique, local, heath food store which means some of the conventional design aspects of each section are changed to better reflect their image and cater to their local clientele. More than anything, the way they present their items the items they choice to stock are what makes Weaver Street Market more than your typical shopping trip.

As you enter Weaver Street Market you find yourself, as usual, in the produce section. This section, though, only generally resembles that of the more typical section of its competitor Harris Teeter. This is because, unlike Harris Teeter, it does not offer every type of produce at any time of the year. Workers unpack crates full of fresh local produce from the area. Most of the produce is organic and all the unpackaged produce is from the local community. Their selections are ever-changing with season and availability which gives the customer a real taste of the area.

The fruits and vegetables are displayed in wooden stalls in a disarrayed fashion are more equitable to a market stall than that of Harris Teeters orderly selection. The size and shape of the produce differ from one another hinting at their more natural upbringing. The space replaces the large signs and bright fluorescent light with natural, low lighting and smaller signs with pictures of the local farms and farmers where their food actually comes from. This is far different than the generic pastoral scene presented at Harris Teeter. The less distracting, calming setting helps portray the natural, local attitude that Weaver Street Market boasts.

Continue through the store you are instead directed towards the meat, poultry, and fish section. Once again the displays are more raw and natural and there is a lack of large signs and discount price tags. Freshly packed meat is prominently displayed without labels and information covering the packaging. Weaver Street Market is not trying to hide behind name brands and gimmicks but puts the quality of the food front and center. Although some brands are carried they do not tend to be the typical mainstreams of Harris Teeter. They are lesser known companies who advertising the special qualities of their product; whether fat free, free roaming, or organic these are not your typical products. Once again, a lesser selection points out their local and fresh intensions. A larger selection with more products usually means more preservatives. This is one thing that Weaver Street is trying to get away from. By having a smaller selection they can assure that their food is fresh and more natural than their competitors.

Next stop on your tour of the Weaver Street Market is likely to be the milk and dairy section. Most uniquely found in this store is their glass milk bottles said to keep the milk fresh longer. These milk bottles are completely bare of any labels and are reminiscent of the time when milk came in unmarked glass bottles to your doorstep. Regular brands surround these unique bottles showing that the store is still willing to offer other typical brands of dairy while emphasizing the glass bottles by putting them front and center.

Dry good are displayed similarly to that of any grocery store. The brands are different, mainly offering organic or gluten free options, and there are typically less discount signs but generally speaking, this section does not differ drastically from the typical design. Where there is a large difference is the freezer section. It is very small. Only a few cabinets long. Instead, a much larger section of freshly packaged and prepared meals fill an entire refrigerated aisle. Instead of offering typically commercially made, frozen, and unhealthy options they have replaced it with a large variety of freshly prepared products showing their desire to give healthy options to the community.

Unlike in Harris Teeter, the Weaver Street Market’s bakery is located near the front of the store before the checkout lines making the store end on a fresh note like it begun by emphasizing their baked fresh daily bread and deserts. Placed in a large glass cabinet with paper bags and baskets to put the food in, the large rustic round breads and baguettes are clearly connected to the experience of being in a bakery. By putting it near the end of their store it makes it easy to grab and hard to avoid as you head to the checkout. This is the key to the layout of a store, placing what you want to be sold in front of the customer.

Overall it is not the change in layout that makes one store better than another, but the quality of the food and design techniques. Each store has its own links to specialty store which show how they strive to reproduce the fresh, natural, wholesome ideals these places represent. The signs, lighting, selection, and presentation are all small yet utterly influencing design aspects that are the difference between the success or failure of a store. These two similar yet uniquely different stores compete for every customer’s attention which is why, in the end, we must remember it is all about the customer. A store can use the all these techniques to persuade and influence, but it is the customer’s preference that prevails. The customer is the center of it all. The local clientele of the Weaver Street Market are searching for organic and natural which exemplifies the areas thirst for alternative eating. Harris Teeter, on the other hand, caters to everyone. The customers are what really make Weaver Street Market and Harris Teeter so different and what makes them strive to change and arrange the way they do.


http://s1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc440/chapelhilleats/What%20to%20Look%20for%20in%20a%20Store/?albumview=slideshow

Dining in Chapel Hill after Midnight

It’s Friday night and I’ve had three exams in the last week. I’m excited for tonight so that I can finally relax. Five of my friends and I head out to a night club and dance the stress of school away. We leave around 2am and decide we want to eat. We go to Cosmic Cantina because it’s on the way back to our dorm. We walk in and it’s filled with, what feels like, hundreds of people. People are eating while sitting on others’ laps and some are eating while standing. We order our food and get it almost instantly. We eat and socialize while the girls sit on the guys’ laps and then leave to go to our rooms and rest for the next day. In Chapel Hill, we all have different reasons for dining after midnight; however, Time Out, B Skis, Cosmic Cantina, and R & R Grill seem to be the most popular for reasons unexplained.

From day to night restaurants change to attract the people who are out looking for food during those times. During the day, restaurants are very calm and not very crowded; however, when day turns to night, the complete opposite happens. Restaurants become excited, their lights are bright and they are filled with people. I asked the B Skis night manager, BaBa Williams, what is done differently during the late night hours to attract people versus what they do during the day? Williams responded by telling me, “Nothing other than the lights outside change. At night, kids are looking for a quick meal and that’s what we provide.” As I went through the other restaurants and interviewed their night managers, that same answer continued to arise. Later, Jillian Dukes, a late night customer at B Skis explained how B Skis had a good location in relation to the bus stop. She also continued to say how the food was good and fast. I concluded that what attracts people to these restaurants has nothing to do with the actual restaurants, but more to do with the restaurants’ ability to get a customer in and out quickly so they can get home when they want.

Food is valued differently depending on the hour in which the customer is eating. During the day, it seems that comfort and selection is very important, but during the late night hours this does not seem to matter as much. A late night eater’s biggest concerns seem to be quickness, efficacy, and cost. The late night restaurants that I have researched do not have enough seating to accommodate the amount of people that come in to eat at later times; however, this does not stop people from coming. Most people come in large groups, grab a dirty table, and sit on each other’s laps until they are finished eating. There are also groups of people who stand and eat because there are no places to sit. I asked a couple eating on a Friday afternoon in R & R Grill at 1:30pm if the food was good enough to eat while standing because there were too many people. They responded by telling me no; they continued to say that if it was that crowded they would just leave and go to another restaurant where they could sit down. At 1:30am on a Saturday morning, I went back to R & R Grill where I saw many people standing up, while eating. When I asked them why they didn’t just go somewhere else, John Kyle responded with, “I like the atmosphere here. It’s very laid back and worth the standing.” What I concluded from that answer was that during the day light hours, food is important, but not as important as comfort; however, during the late night hours, food is much more important than comfort.

As I went around to these different restaurants, I realized one very important thing about the differences of daytime hours and late night hours. As the late night comes, prices and menus change. For example, at B Skis water is free until midnight, when the price goes up to $1.50. This is a clear showing of how these restaurants taking advantage of late night customers. This is even more evident in intoxicated customers. As I watched intoxicated customers place their orders, I realized they ended up being talked into buying higher priced items than those who were sober.

During most of the interviews, I continuously ran into a huge problem, intoxication. Due to the fact that many of the people who I initially interviewed were highly intoxicated, it was very difficult to question and understand them. Also, many of them were underage. The question that came to my mind was why does it seem that during the late night hours, being intoxicated in public is socially acceptable and why are there so many underage people publically intoxicated?

Public intoxication during the late night hours in these restaurants is socially accepted, not only by the intoxicated people and their friends, but also by the restaurant employees and managers. R & R Grill and Cosmic Cantina actually sell alcohol, so there were not as many underage intoxicated people there, but B Skis and Time Out were filled with them. I asked some of the sober people in B Skis how they felt about all the intoxicated people around. Bonnie Weaver said she laughs at them because when she sees them the next day, they have no clue how stupid they looked the night before. Alisha Gardner offers a different view though. She told me, “They make the entire university look bad. They fall all over the place and then think it’s cute. It’s not and they know if their parents were to see them like this, they would realize how bad they really look.” These two girls pretty much share the two common views on underage drinking and public intoxication. Most people feel the same as they do; it is funny, but it also reflects poorly on our university.

Intoxication alters a person’s mind and choices. I interviewed people during the day to see exactly how much being intoxicated affected their choices in food. Erica Holt was asked about her normal eating habits compared to her eating habits while intoxicated and she responded by telling me that when she is intoxicated, she eats whatever is close to her. “When I’m drunk, I just like food. It doesn’t matter where it comes from, I just want it and I want it fast.” Erica then explained a situation where when she was sober, she wanted fast food, but did not want to eat it because it was not healthy; however, when she was intoxicated later that night, she ate exactly what she decided against earlier that day.

Eating is something we all have to do, but late night eating is more circumstantial. Eating after midnight at restaurants like Time Out, B Skis, Cosmic Cantina, and R & R Grill gives the impression of being quicker, more efficient, and costing less. These are the reasons more people go to these places after midnight and it seems that intoxication levels cause people to eat at these restaurants too. Even though it appears to be cheaper, in situations like B Skis and the cost of water going from being free to costing $1.50, these restaurants clearly take advantage of a customer’s want of food and state of mind when they order. Late night is a time where appearing intoxicated becomes a fashion statement and restaurants and people just turn the other cheek to underage drinking. On Friday and Saturday night these restaurants see hundreds of people and obviously make lots of money from staying open late, but there restaurants are not capable of seating all the customers. This shows the biggest differences between dining during the daytime hours and dining late night: restaurants get away with raising prices, poor food quality, and not giving a high level of comfort all because they are open late, customers are intoxicated, and they appear to be cheaper.

The Traditional Family Dinner

The Traditional Family Dinner

John Spivey

The school bus pulls into my driveway; I am the last person off the bus and the long, meandering ride has left me very hungry. I quickly run down my driveway and up the steps to my house. As I burst through the front door, I sling my belongings all over the floor. The delightfully overwhelming scent of chicken alfredo fills my nostrils and my mouth begins to water. I see the dinner table adorned with forks, plates, and the four chairs that are always filled with my mom, dad, brother, and the occasional friend.

Looking back on this spectacle, I remember how I began to view this setting as the traditional family dinner. For as many years as I can remember, this was how I ate dinner every day with my family. We sat down at a table, ate and most importantly spent time with each other; however, as I am now a college student I have struggled to formulate and maintain the family dinner model. I wondered whether the traditional family model is still existent in a college setting? I tried to gain insight from my fellow students on how important the family meal was to them and if they still tried to reflect it in their own daily lives here on campus.

For my purposes the “traditional family dinner,” refers to a gathering of family to eat, converse, and in general spend time together over dinner. Although some people do sit down at an actual dinner table and eat, this happening is seen much less in today’s society. In other words, some people have grown up with the traditional family dinner as a main point within their family, but there are also those families who interact in a more nontraditional manner. For example, some families gather around the television as they eat. Others eat individually while doing other activities such as work.

“I was brought up in a home like you, John, we sat around the dinner table every night and spent time together” said Jules Hill, a student here at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Jules Hill grew up in a large family in which family meals were seen as a vital time for bonding because each family member had different hectic schedules. Hill felt that the traditional family dinner was something that meant a lot to him, and he wanted to do his best to maintain it while in college. Hills also went on to talk about how he hoped to one day have his own family so that he too could instill in them what his parents had in him.

“My family never really ate around the table, but we still bonded in other ways like sitting in the living room together and sharing dessert, so in a sense we did practice the traditional family dinner” said Varun Gulati who is also a student from UNC Chapel Hill. Gulati, an only child who grew up originally in India, went on to describe his family’s eating habits as different when compared to those of Jules Hill’s family. In Gulati’s opinion, the traditional family dinner lacked importance because his family had never really put this model into action; however, he did mention that food was used as a way of bonding as seen in his statement about eating dessert together. This suggests that the traditional family dinner did exist in Gulati’s family, but it wasn’t as evident. Statistics suggest that Gulati’s family is not alone because 82% of families rarely sit down to an actual traditional family dinner together, but instead often spend time together as food is being made or just over a casual snack.

Their statements suggest that although the traditional family model may differ slightly between families and cultures, there is definitely still some sort of family dinner that takes place, which mirrors the aspects of the one I have described. After interviews with these two students I observed their eating and social habits as they entered the dining halls. College dining halls consist of many tables which beckon and almost require social interaction between students. At home, many people are able to sit in solitude be it on the couch, bed, or even desk; however, college dining halls somewhat dismay students from this opportunity and as I watched Hills and Gulati I noticed that on all occasions both students looked for friends to sit with at the large tables. They were indeed looking for people to interact with over dinner just as they had with the families as they grew up.

As I observed the college atmosphere, I noticed that college in general is a great obstacle when it comes to maintaining things such as the traditional family model and all the other learned habits that go with it. For instance, our class schedules often do not correlate well with the schedules of our peers. These schedules can be all over the place at various times of the day making it very difficult for friends to meet up. I often find myself texting many of my friends to invite them to lunch or dinner, and often times most of them are in class. When I first came to UNC Chapel Hill, I knew no one and when I ate, it was usually by myself or with random people. After growing up in a household where I had grown to associate food with family and friends, I longed to eat and interact with others. I observed others and saw how they took great delight in eating together and spending time together. As I began to make friends I saw how students were willing to work around their schedules and their friend’s schedules in order to be able to eat together.

Eddie Hackim, a freshman here at UNC, said that he did the same thing when it was time to eat and he too was often left alone or with a fewer amount of people because everyone else was in class. “I’ve finally decided to try and memorize the class schedules of my closest friends, so I know the times that we can eat together” said Hackim. With this said I noticed how in college we learn to eat not necessarily when we are hungry but when we are able to eat with our friends, just as families mostly eat when everyone is home.

Also, the large scale food production of the dining halls makes people lose a sort of relation to the food. The buffet style food selection though enticing at first, lacks a sense of relationship between the food and students. As a result students feel even less at home. “I don’t know who cooks the food, so I just eat as quickly as possible and go on with my day” said Kate Simpson on the topic of large scale dining halls. Kate, who grew up just minutes from the UNC campus, told of how the traditional family dinner was a main point within her family and that her moms cooking was the best, but dining hall food did nothing for her. I noticed how Kate would gladly give up the large selection presented in the dining halls, just to have a single selection cooked by her mother because she knew who cooked it and as a result cared more about it.

Even things such as religious practices related to food are not seen as much. While at home, we have all been subject to our strict family beliefs be it prayer before a meal, not eating pork, etc. I have a couple Jewish friends here at UNC Chapel Hill who while at home were not never allowed to eat pork, but when served in the dining halls the students now eat in regularly because their friends do. “I’m growing up, and even though my views are changing it doesn’t mean that I do not respect what my parents have taught me over the years. I’m trying to fit in and do what’s hot now while still respecting my past learnings. Yeah I eat pork, and yes I’m still Jewish” said William Patin. Patin went on to allude to the fact that he just wanted to fit in with his new friends, so he changed a minor detail of his growing up although he still proudly exclaimed that he was Jewish. Patin is a perfect example of how college allows us to make our own choices.

Just to be clear, not every person grows up in a household that interacts in a family dinner setting. For example, some people grow up cooking their own food. I actually went to a dorm kitchen and talked to Victoria Marley, a freshman from a small town in North Carolina, about her college experiences with eating and the family model.

“Believe me, I grew up in a great, tight knit family, but the traditional family dinner is just something we never did. We all just kind of did our own thing when it came to eating and we all liked it that way; here I do the same, although I go out to eat with friends occasionally, but I mostly just cook here and prepare my own food because that’s how I was raised.” Instances such as this illuminate the fact that most college students work to carry out the lessons and habits which they learned from their own families. Some students like Jules Hill and Varun Gulati grew up with the traditional family dinner at least somewhat present within their household while Marley did not. As a result, Hills and Gulati work to maintain the traditional family dinner while Marley does not because that is how they were raised.

So does all this mean that the traditional family model does exist? Do people at least try to maintain habits of which remind them of home and their family? I would say yes, for those who grow up in household that uses the traditional family dinner, they still use it in college. It is no longer a question of whether or not people maintain the traditional family dinner but whether they maintain the eating habits and customs of which they have become so accustomed to as they grew up. To answer this, as a student, I do believe that we maintain our habits for the most part, and the few changes that we make are based off of things that we learn from our new friends, who are in all reality, our new family.