Student Reflections on Social Soup #1

What is Social Soup at the University of Utah?

The Social Soup Lecture series are events held a few times throughout each semester, engaging students in social, economic, and environmental issues that surround food. I had never attended an event before, so I was not quite sure what to expect when entering.  This month’s topic focused mainly on healthy eating for the school year, and being that it is only the third week of school, I found this to be the perfect start to the Social Soup events for this semester. – Travis

On Tuesday, September 3^rd, 2012, I attended my first Social Soup event ever.  I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I wasn’t disappointed.  I walked into a very nice room in the Marriott Library on the U of U campus, and was immediately met with the pleasant smell of organic foods.  We were served a cold soup called Gazpacho.  It was made from ingredients grown in gardens located on the U campus.  There was a table set up giving away some fresh greens to grow on your own as well for those interested. – Paul

The general topic of Tuesday’s Social Soup was healthy and simple eating for students with limited resources. The overall consensus was that students are limited on time and money and therefore they might find it difficult to consume a healthy array of foods. The speaker mentioned that students should be eating a “rainbow of foods, including fruits and vegetables. Color in meals is essential to a healthy diet.  – Ashley

This Social Soup event opened with a series of videos featuring chef Jamie Oliver. In these videos he offered suggestions for keeping a healthy diet exciting and new; such as using colorful vegetables and trying exotic new recipes. This suggestion in particular resonated since we were eating gazbacho, a cold vegetable soup prepared from ingredients grown in the schools garden. Following the introductory videos, nutrition professor Jean Zancanella began her discussion on eating healthily on a budget.  Dr. Zancanella fielded the audience for suggestions as well as including her own insights. This approach served well to keep the group engaged and open to ideas as the many suggestions and comments could attest. The final piece of the event was a chef from the university who provided a demonstration on baking a delicious peach cobbler, illustrating a way to use a fruit that is currently in season. – Tomas

Jamie Oliver delivered a couple of poignant yet entertaining messages via video clips. The first was Food is Like Music wherein he confessed that the best meals come from having fun with cooking. At the same time, he warned us to keep it simple. The second clip expanded our understanding of the diversity and variety of vegetables available at the markets then matter-of-factly reminded us that “boring is not cool.” Jamie showed us that there are many varieties of different kinds of vegetables such as purple potatoes, yellow beets, red carrots, and white eggplant. Why stick with the same old choices every time? – Martin

What Students Learn at Social Soup

The event really made me realize that eating healthy doesn’t really mean you need to spend a lot of money in order to be healthy. I liked the message of the videos themselves; keep it simple, and try something new. Later on in the discussion sardines were brought up to replace salmon; they are a cheaper way to achieve the same type of nutrients. Although sardines aren’t a favorite within our culture, we all need to branch out and try something new; especially when it can save us money yet still give us the nutrients that we need! – Kassi

Throughout the event, we were also given multiple resources that we can take advantage of as students. One example is the campus gardens where we can volunteer and work to grow our own food. There are also the gardens by ORP where you can manage your garden and eat your own freshly grown produce. Another example is the farmers' markets that we have on campus and the opportunity we have to purchase freshly grown produce. These are just a few of the inexpensive ways mentioned that helped to advocate for food justice. – Mariah

The event in general was a new experience for me.  Not typically do I sit in an auditorium to discuss eating habits.  Though it seems like such a simple aspect in our daily lives, it truly is important to speak to friends and reflect ideas off of each other about our diets and habits, which can have positive or adverse effects on our society.  The program was in a relaxed setting, and the students in the other communications class were reporting on the event.  The speakers and chefs were responsive to questions from the audience, which invited us to ask questions that might have seemed “silly”, but probably answered uncertainties many of us have had in the past.  – Aaron

Healthy Steps: Beyond the Soup

My roommates and I all share food which does make eating home-cooked meals much easier, but sometimes it is difficult when we are not all eating together. Making rice and cutting up vegetables for the whole week is easy because you can make just a small portion for yourself or more for other people. But the coolest part is that is has much more nutritional value than cereal! – Shea

Throughout my life nutrition and fitness have been very important to me.  There have been times when I have one has been more important to me than the other.  Having a balanced diet was essential while I participated in sports in high school and middle school.  Being younger, I was able to have the blessing of not worrying as much about my food intake. As I have grown older I can see that my daily nutrition is a lot more important to me and my body than it was ten years ago.  As I attended the Social Soup Lecture Series at the University of Utah, I was able to add to my knowledge regarding nutrition and was able to see how eating healthy can be fun and different.  – Jared

Coming from a family where my father was a health professor, good food has always been important.  As I have moved away from home and had to make meals on my own I have realized that it can be really difficult to eat healthier when only preparing food for one of two people and on a budget. The speaker of the Social Soup gave us all great ideas of how to eat healthy, even as students. Between the soup, the speaker, the chef, and the cobbler it was an excellent example of how we should all be eating.  – Shea

There was a lot of talk about community gardens and farmers markets. Both of these resources help sustain a lot people; they are organized to help those less fortunate. Making healthy food choices was a main focus because this allows people to understand how important nutrition is to our health. If you are smart with your food and budget, you can go far. The food stamp challenge will be interesting in seeing how we can implement those topics talking about at this Social Soup.  - Shalee

I thought this event was a great advocate for food justice in more ways than one.  There were informed speakers and professionals that shared their knowledge with-in their vocations signifying the importance of food in our society and in particular how to eat healthy on a small budget.  – Maren

[A]s I was exiting the auditorium I was given a free little container with fresh radish sprouts to eat. All in all I would say that it was a great first Social Soup experience, sure we were provided with some pretty common sense ideas but sometimes I think that students forget that it’s not so difficult to eat a little bit healthier. Now I’ll be telling my friends on campus to try and attend the “Real Food for Food Day” lecture on October 23^rd. – Victor