Food Culture And The Meaning Of Eating Exhibit Unveiled At UNH

Contact: Sharon Keeler
603-862-1566
UNH Media Relations

Oct. 19, 2004



DURHAM, NH -- A new exhibit at the University of New Hampshire’s Memorial Union Building (MUB) will be unveiled this month. The 17’x30’ Food Culture and the Meaning of Eating exhibit will be on display on the third floor of the MUB.

The purpose of the exhibit is to raise awareness about our food system and inform viewers of actions they can take to help create a more sustainable food and agriculture system. The UNH Office of Sustainability Programs (OSP) created the exhibit.

“We believe this is a critical topic for the entire campus and community,” said Tom Kelly, OSP director. “Since everyone must eat in order to survive, food is a subject that affects everyone while providing an interdisciplinary lens through which to examine issues ranging from nutrition and agri-culture to ecological health and public policies.”

The exhibit was organized around four primary questions: Where does our food come from? What are the real costs of cheap food? What positive aspects of our current food system do we want to sustain? How should we improve the way our culture approaches food?

Through the use of photographs, text, interactive computer displays and books the exhibit reveals the complex interactions and implications the act of eating food has on our lives. Themes such as farming, harvesting and transporting and preparation, eating and culture provide frameworks for better understanding the linkages from seed to table.

According to Evan Czyzowski, a graduate student in the Department of English who has worked on the exhibit for the past year, “The exhibit is meant to invoke thought and discussion among students, staff, faculty and the larger community around food issues that are often ignored or invisible. As a result, we hope to generate greater awareness and informed action.”

The exhibit is a program of the Office of Sustainability Programs’ Food and Society Initiative, which seeks to create a sustainable food system at UNH and integrates the principles and practices of civic agriculture into our teaching, research, operations and engagement missions.

For more information, please visit www.sustainableunh.unh.edu or contact 603-862-4088.