Since moving into my new home in the TAs a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been surprised at how much the focus of my life has shifted to center around food. The Deece has become a thing of the past (thank god) and for the first time in my Vassar career, I’ve been able to enjoy the freedom of cooking for myself. While this can be a very fun and rewarding task, it can also be a bit daunting. Meal…
Well, happy birthday, Matty Vass. Thanks for another year of good times and Kisok lines. You’d be about as old as a dinosaur now—Founder’s Day co-chairs: NOICE. It’s clear that our founder liked a stein every now and again, but I wonder if M.V. was a fan of cake. Did he have birthday cakes shaped like Main Building? Maybe he only ate Vassar Devil’s made by some sad girl who was assigned Campus Dining for work-study. While birthday traditions held…
Happy belated St. Patrick’s Day! As I huddled beneath a chocolate-stained blanket to binge-watch Veronica Mars, I only dreamt of the grand, drunken Metro-North trip some of you experienced. Looking back at the holiday throughout the years, I am reminded of school dress-up days and food-dyed cupcakes that looked like toadstools. The green sock and tights combo is a relic of my yesteryears, so, today, as a mature and capable twenty-year-old I prepare for this somewhat irrelevant holiday by enjoying…
When thinking about what to write for this blog, my friend suggested that I write a “battle plan” for how to eat a good meal at the Deece. I thought that her idea was actually really interesting, so I started keeping track of what I did when I went to the Deece every day. Having lived at Vassar here for almost a full academic year, I noticed that I now follow a Deece routine. For example, while eating, the people at our table got up to get more…
For my Intro to Sociology class, I read The American Way of Eating by Tracie McMillan over spring break. I was expecting another book that detailed the complicated food industry by spewing out random facts and numbers. Instead, I was surprised to see how McMillan managed to describe the process in an overall linear and clear manner, due to her immersion as a worker in the world of food production. McMillan takes her reader through the whole process of how food ends up on our dinner…
A few days before spring break, Vandana Shiva gave an inspiring and enlightening lecture on the modern-day food industry, focusing on Monsanto and the corporation’s detrimental effects on famers. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised at the huge turnout for her lecture; people ended up having to go into an overflow room next door and view the lecture via Skype. Shiva is known as an environmental activist, and is one of the people after whom the term “tree hugger” was…
Our Sociology 151 class focuses on the topic of food, specifically how the food industry both is affected by and affects society. What we choose to eat everyday affects much more of our world than I would have expected; people’s livelihoods, global economies, industrial powers, and the environment are all elements that are influenced by what we put into our grocery baskets and heap onto our plates at the Deece. One of the first facts Professor Batur sprung on us was that…
Let’s face it—even though the snow seemed novel when it first fell, I only want to avoid it now by huddling in my dorm room with a blanket and a comforting snack. During my hibernation in Main, I’ve been enjoying a variety of munchies while doing homework or catching up on Modern Family, and have come up with a list of my favorite easy winter treats to share among friends. Popcorn Everyone loves microwave popcorn, but for an added level of decadence, I like to throw a handful of dark chocolate…
When I arrived back at Vassar after a long winter break, I remembered how much I didn’t miss Deece food during my time away from campus. Our first night proved to be a Deece-appointment, so the next night my friends and I decided to brave the bitter cold and journey to an Arlington restaurant. We decided on Kismat, Raymond Avenue’s Indian eatery. Indian food typically consists of curries, relishes, rice, and bread, all infused with a variety of spices that impart a unique and distinctive…