In celebration of National World Food Day, SBU Eats hosted a Food Expo in the Student Activities Center (SAC) on October 16 to engage the campus community by showing them the origins of the food we serve on campus and the care and quality that goes into every dish. National Food Day encourages people to make an impact and think about the environment, diversify their diet (traditional, local and seasonal), eat sustainably sourced fish and keep food fresh and waste less.
As guests enjoyed the complimentary food tastings from concepts recently launched this semester and an array of products from vendors including Lucky Lou’s, Chocology, Brooklyn Roasting Company, J. Kings, they also had the opportunity to view an interactive Teaching Kitchen demo, led by Laura Martorano, Campus Dietitian and Rob Loria, Executive Chef of the SAC Food Court.
Martorano instructed student participants in the demo on how to turn their decorative pumpkins into a healthy meal. Students made a wild rice, dried fruit and pumpkin seed salad inside their roasted pumpkin. “Pumpkins and pumpkin seeds provide an abundance of nutrients and protein,” Martorano said. “We used the pumpkin as the bowl which shows how we can decrease waste in the kitchen and in addition to having a nutritious meal. Students really enjoyed learning the steps to carve the pumpkin and use all of the components for the added nutritional benefits.”
“The event was well received by a lot of students. I personally enjoyed the samples from the local companies,” said Adrian Ortega ‘20, Computer Engineering. Students lined up for everything from empanadas, sustainable snacks, salads, pumpkin ice cream, and even funnel cake as they got a chance to indulge their inner foodie. The expo also included educational segments with tables providing information about the on campus Freight Farm, Veterans Student Organization Food Drive, and Student Voice on Campus Dining, representing student opinions and concerns on dining.
“We brought the SBU Eats Food Expo to Stony Brook as a fun interactive experience for the campus community to showcase some of our great local vendors, bring in some potential new vendors, and engage students in activities and tastings from Urban Eats and Healthy by Nature,” said William Sheehan, CulinArt Marketing Manager. Guests voted for their favorite food products of which the top three included empanadas, rice pudding and bao buns.
Add comment