A student is working to establish a Marquette chapter of Spoon University, an online food resource that will welcome student contribution.
The two-year-old company operates on the idea that, contrary to opposing stereotypes, college students can eat food that’s healthy for them.
Lena Stefani, a senior in the College of Business Administration, started the chapter to bring together students who share a common interest. She was writing her own food blog and reading the Spoon University site when she noticed Marquette didn’t have a chapter.
“Starting my own blog made me realize how much people love reading about food,” she said. “It will be cool for students to have some place to connect with each other and talk about food and events going on in the area.”
Students will be able to contribute to the site by writing and editing stories and blogs, producing video, taking photos and taking part in marketing. Marquette will be one of 100 colleges in Spoon University’s global community of 3,000 student correspondents.
“The ultimate vision is to build this larger community of people who care about food or care about what they are putting in their bodies, and provide them the ultimate food resource on their campus,” said Britney Chu, Spoon University’s community growth manager.
After a student like Stefani reaches out to Spoon University, Chu guides them through a chapter set-up process. The student first creates an event on Facebook and includes links to past Spoon articles.
“This way students are more familiar with what Spoon is before it comes to campus,” Chu said.
Stefani is in the middle of collecting student support. She needs 300 students to like Spoon’s Facebook page and sign a virtual petition before the Spoon team appoints student leaders to choose the chapter’s members. The petition was started Aug 18.
Stefani said students are interested in joining Spoon, but the set-up process has not been a piece of cake. She had more than 300 likes on Facebook but only 200 petition signatures last Wednesday, two days before her set-up deadline.
“It hasn’t been what I expected,” she said. “The petition stage caught me off guard, but I’m hoping that finding people who are as excited about food as I am will make it really fun.”
Stories trending on the Spoon site include “Make it Into A Cookie: Chicken & Waffles,” “7 Ways To Throw the Best Tailgate There Ever Was” and “Never Order Pizza Again With These Crazy Quick Pizza Pockets.”
“I really enjoy trying out the food scene in cities, and having a one-stop destination to share my experiences and learn from others would be awesome, especially in a town like Milwaukee,” Brett Hornung, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences, said in an email.
Hornung said he hopes to become a chapter member and writer for Spoon.
“You are the voice of your generation,” Chu said. “Having a Spoon chapter is a great way to get students excited and inform them about what is going on in the food world.”
