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Although the nature of African cuisine is so wonderfully varied, from the use of certain spices to the ways food is eaten, even in the significance of certain meals at specific gatherings… there is one food that has consistently “shown face” around the continent:

This food, pictured above, is integral to many Zimbabwean dishes. It is a mixture of upfu (mealie meal) and water. That’s all. But it does wonders for not only a meal, but the soul. The trick to making good sadza is the technique. You need to achieve the perfect ratio of mealie meal to water – too little water, you’ve made mbodza. This is a very lumpy, unpleasantly textured mistake. But too much water, and you’ve made the stickiest, gooiest glob ever. So, it’s all about ratios. You need to be able to knead the mixture well, especially when it begins boiling. Reader beware, when it starts bubbling, don’t run. Because then it becomes this wild mass of extremely hot liquid that WILL burn you. Either way really, you get burned. No matter how experienced the cook may be.

In other countires, sadza is viewed similarly – it is central to many dishes, but on its own it is very bland. In reality, sadza has no distinct taste. It merely exists as accompaniment to relish. But once it is combined with the likes of beef, matemba (kapenta), spinach, or tsunga (mustard greens) … it’s the best thing you can ever imagine. So, around the continent it appears as the same food in different names; ugali (Kenya), pap (South Africa, parts of Botswana and Nigeria), nshima (Zambia)… it’s all one in the same. Some people I have met do say there are slight variations in recipes. At times one may add butter, or a certain spice.

As a college student, fast food meal options seem to be the best idea for the weekend every now and then. Having such a mindset convinced me to order myself a pizza from Domino’s. I got myself a large Pepperoni pizza for me and my roommate to enjoy. Sadly, the pizza took a whole two hours to arrive. Having to wait such a significant amount of time, I wondered two things. First, why am I always so unlucky. Second, how many calories are even in my pizza. Since I wrote an article last week about nutrition, I thought about the nutrition facts Domino’s provides for their consumers.

The Domino’s industry, located in Wooster, OH, provides a variety of dietary meal plans options. To begin, on the Domino’s website, you would be able to find the “Domino’s Nutrition Guide,” which informs you of all the nutrition facts of all their pre-build food options and the nutrition facts to build your own pizza. This sort of guide allows college students to stay aware of what they are consuming if they decide to step away from their college meal plan.

Overall, Domino’s provides a variety of meal plans for its consumers. They are beginning their meal plan from their large regular pizzas having around 280 calories per slice to their veggie pizza with 190 calories per slice. Having Dominos near the College of Wooster campus definitely adds to the variety of meal plans for students. It is pleasant knowing students have satisfactory nutrition information regarding available meal options, not only in Lawry dining hall.

Last week I briefly touched upon the lack of food at any time on the College of Wooster campus. Let me take you on a journey back 4 years ago when I first started at the college. There were a plethora of food options during my first year. We had Lowry (which has never been good), we had Moms, a sort of fast food type space, we had Kowlton and Old Main cafes on campus and the C Store. With all of these options, there were many times that people could get food, up until 1-2am on most days. Even the food outside of campus stayed open later. Now, you’re probably thinking “Alison, we get it. There were a lot of food options at different times. What about it?”

This past year has been a battle for food at any time. One of the greatest parts about Moms, no longer operating under the Lowry renovation, was that when you were out late and needed a necessary bite to eat, you had a place to go. The community surrounding Moms specifically, was fantastic. Everyone who dined there knew the importance of this place on campus, not only for a place to go when the parties stopped on the weekend, but as a place to study or grab a snack during exams. This sense of community that Moms created was lost, however, as soon as the Lowry renovations began. Why? Because the school has tried to supplement the absence of this integral part of the COW by reintroducing Kittredge, a dining hall that was pretty much un-utilized until this year. Kittredge, with its lofty ceilings and its chandeliers, produces an ambiance that seems rather oppressive. Its ugly beige walls and the haphazardly placed dividers cutting off the C Store, make this area so distasteful that it hurts just to be in there. When Moms was around, the space was intimate, worn and felt homey. Now, students just have to sit in a “grand hall” of sorts, making the already troublesome dining experience on this campus continue to decline.

This week, I want to focus on how people’s eating habits change during a vacation or trip. I have noticed a big change in my diet whenever I visit a new place. Pretty much nothing my family eats on a trip is what I’m used to eating every day. Usually, there are more fried foods, fewer vegetables, and just an overwhelming amount of difference in where we eat. Growing up, it never really bothered me that everything I was used to eating was thrown out the window but ever since going to college, I’ve noticed a big change. I am big on routines and even though I hate to eat the exact same things every day for every meal, I still like consistency in my diet.

I grew up in a middle-class family so we were lucky enough to go on a few vacations but they were always heavily budgeted. We always planned to have breakfasts prepared before the trip and frozen (essentially making several homemade egg sandwiches) to bring with us and to eat out for one other big meal; food was usually our biggest expenditure and most of our daily plans were based on where and when we would be eating. My family is big on variety when visiting someplace new so we would try to eat at as many new locations as possible, thus expanding the range of foods we ate even more. Even as a kid, I would always leave a vacation craving the normalcy of home-cooked meals and familiar recipes despite how much I enjoyed the food I ate.

Although my experiences on vacation are bound to be different from some, I think there is a general consensus that eating habits while on a vacation are a disruption from the normal. This makes sense: when visiting someplace new, why just eat the same things you always do? When at a restaurant, why get something that you could easily make at home, even if you know you’ll enjoy it? These mindsets have a lot to do with how place impacts the ways in which people eat.