This fall, Saint Mary's junior Kiersten Lieurance founded a chapter of Spoon University — a national online food resource platform to teach college-aged students how to cook — on campus, exciting students who wish to share their culinary tips and tricks with other College students.
“I’ve been kind of wanting to start something on our campus for a while — I just didn’t really know what I wanted that to be,” Lieurance said. “We need another club on our campus that provides another opportunity for us to bond as sisters, and what better way to do that than through food?”
Spoon University was created in 2013 by two Northwestern University students who moved off campus and realized they did not know how to cook. They started an online food publication for their school, and now over 170 chapters exist on college campuses across the nation.
“There’s generally a misunderstanding of it, so that’s what we’re kind of trying to project,” junior and editorial director for Saint Mary's SpoonU Stefanie Dyga said. “It’s not just food and drink — it’s a lifestyle, and it’s about how you can strive to have a healthier diet and have fun with it, as well.”
According to junior photography director Megan Brownley, the chapter doesn’t just focus on food on campus.
“We’re going to do lots of features and food events with different places and restaurants around South Bend,” she said.
The chapter consists of four different teams: writers, photographers, marketers and videographers, Brownley said. These teams work together to produce content and share their results by filming short videos and writing recipes so students can replicate these ideas in their apartments and dining halls.
“It’s kind of like the ‘Tasty videos’ [on Buzzfeed] of college — that’s what it reminds me of,” Brownley said.
Spoon University also offers many options for vegans, vegetarians and those with gluten allergies, as well as other dietary needs.
“It’s really nice because so many college kids have dietary restrictions and we want to be a broad club and have stuff for everyone” Brownley said.
According to Lieurance, organizations can share the content students produce, and it will be published in magazines and on other forms of media.
“My friend had a video of a pizza-layered cake,” Lieurance said. “It was on the Snapchat for Food Network ... because they liked it so much.”
“Spoon is different from every other platform because it’s by college kids, for college kids,” Dyga said. “The website is super accessible, and it’s fresh and colorful. I just think it’s really exciting and I think that [Saint Mary’s] can take it and can run with it.”
