You may have seen posts about Spoon University coming to Loyola flooding your newsfeed recently and wondered, “What exactly is Spoon?” According to their website, their mission statement is as follows:
“Spoon University is the everyday food resource for our generation, and our goal is to help you eat intelligently. We cover everything from hot local restaurants and dining hall hacks to two-ingredient treats and tips on avoiding hangovers. Spoon is powered by student contributors across the country, who now make up a network of over 1800 contributors at more than 50 campuses nationwide.”
Started by two young women while attending Northwestern University, Spoon is a food website aimed at college kids and their needs. We want quick, easy recipes while also avoiding the freshman 15. We want to know the best restaurants to visit while also saving enough money for PowerPlant later in the night. Spoon’s goal is to help us find the answers we’re looking for when it comes to our dining options.
A group of students recently campaigned on Facebook to bring a chapter of Spoon to Loyola. They succeeded in garnering over 300 signatures and are now busy working toward launching Loyola’s chapter online. I had the opportunity to sit down with two students who were influential in establishing our Spoon chapter—Abby Mills, class of 2017 and editor-in-chief of Spoon University Loyola Maryland, and Kara Walsh, class of 2017 and marketing director of our chapter.
Why did you want to bring Spoon to Loyola?
Kara: I wanted to bring Spoon to Loyola because I noticed it on different social media outlets; I follow Spoon on Instagram. A lot of my friends are involved at different schools and Spoon is really prevalent on their campuses and it got me excited. I come from New York City where there’s so many food options and always places to go out, and although we’re not in as big of a city, I think showing those options to students is important. I feel as though during my freshman year and this [sophomore] year, there have been so many people saying they don’t like the food here and they’re always hungry and want more options. I think by having Spoon, we can help people learn more about what those options are.
Abby: I found Spoon University on Twitter over the summer, and I started following them and I really liked what they were posting. I thought it would be cool at Loyola, but I never really looked into it. Then, Kara reached out to me this semester and asked if I had heard about SpoonU. I just love food so much, and I’m also a communications major, so I thought it would be cool to write for Spoon. Spoon just seemed like a good fit for me and for campus.
What drew you personally to Spoon?
Kara: My first job was with Shake Shack, and my dad is really good friends with Danny Meyer, the founder of Shake Shack. Working in the food industry and seeing how much work goes into building a restaurant and building a brand is really cool. I am used to food options in New York City, I go out to eat almost all the time with friends and I miss that here. Coming to a new city, you’re not as comfortable with the options, so I think what drew me to Spoon is the fact that it’s an outlet for that.
Can you tell us a little bit about your position at Spoon?
Kara: I’m marketing director. I helped found Spoon here, so you’re given the options of the leadership positions. And because I helped found it, I wanted to keep going with it because it’s basically me and Abby’s child. I’m not a writer, so I feel as though I can offer more in the business field. I also find it interesting to learn through experience. Even though it’s unpaid and a lot of work, I’m learning so much from the leaders at the national branch. In a sense, the chapter is like a mini business. You’re promoting something that’s completely free, so your reward is page views. I’m getting paid by experience and I think that’s so helpful.
Abby: I’m editor-in-chief, so right now I’m preparing for our launch on the 30th. I collect and edit articles, and I also work with the managing editor at the national branch of SpoonU. I try to get really good content ready to be published so when we launch the website, everything is perfect and we generate a lot of interest from students.
What will Spoon offer the Loyola community?
Kara: Once it launches, it is going to be the first SpoonU chapter in Baltimore. There’s currently nothing in the area that suits Loyola students or the students at all the other schools around us. Not only will our Baltimore-specific articles be for Loyola students, but they will also be useful to college students in the entire area. Even high school kids or anyone in the area will be able to read our articles. As I said before, it’s important for people to know the options. If SpoonU did exist here when we were first years, I think we would know so much more about the area. By having our Spoon chapter as a resource, knowing where to go to eat, knowing where the best or the cheapest meal is, it will be helpful to get out of our bubble. Although we’re in Baltimore, we’re in the suburbs, so we’ll help break down the barrier we have to the city that makes students feel trapped by Boulder or Iggy’s.
Abby: Spoon is all about how food brings college kids together, and I think that would definitely happen at Loyola. There’s a place for everyone in Spoon, not only on the team, but also as a reader. There’s so many different articles and topics, so I think everyone will find something they enjoy and can relate to. Everyone loves food; even if you’re picky, you love food, so I think that having a community built on loving food will be great at Loyola.
What can we expect from Spoon in the future?
Kara: Our launch is the 30th. For the launch, we’ll have many different articles spanning from general articles that could be useful to anyone to seasonal-specific articles to Baltimore-specific articles that will help you learn the neighborhood, like what restaurants to try and what deals are happening in the area. We’ll also have a launch event sometime after the website launches, so look out for that as well. We’re going to hold events where chefs from local restaurants come to introduce these restaurants and their dishes to students. Our events will get students excited about food. I always get excited about food, most people get excited about food, and knowing that the resources are here is important. Although we’re an online publication, we’re a lot more than that because we’re all Loyola students. Spoon gives us a voice.
Abby: You can expect Spoon to continuously put out really good content for students. We’re currently planning the launch party that will be in the immediate future, and we’ll be having other events to get students who aren’t only on the team involved. I think we can expect Spoon to bring another sense of community here based on an appreciation for food.
Even after SpoonU’s launch on March 30, applications are always open. The leaders at our chapter of Spoon expressed that they really want to hear from students, and that your input is always helpful. As Spoon grows, they hope to build relationships with not only the dining staff, but also with local restaurants in the area. SpoonU is a group that cares about students and food. Get excited for Spoon at Loyola!
