Editor’s note: People of UW is a human interest series produced by Badger Herald staff members. The series aims to highlight a student or student group at the University of Wisconsin making an impact on the campus community. These Q&As are lightly edited for clarity and style.
Tell me about yourselves. What are you studying at UW, and what draws you to those fields?
Stigler: I’m Graham Stigler, and I’m a senior at UW studying economics and biology. They’re pretty different, but I think having the two fields has helped balance my college experience.
Kim: My name is Celeste Kim, I’m a senior majoring in dietetics and nutritional science. I also have certificates in science communication and leadership. My major has really shaped my interests with food — that’s why I got involved with Slow Food, just to learn more about the local food systems and sustainability surrounding food and just how to cook food overall.
What is Slow Food, for people who don’t know?
Stigler: Slow Food is a student-run meal and information service that aims to provide good, clean, fair, fun food for all members of the Madison community. We try to make sure our food is sourced sustainably from people that use sustainable farming practices. We want to make sure that we’re going with local farmers, so we can give an accurate representation of what’s being made in the community. We want the food to be healthy and culturally appropriate and respectful, so we try to show a lot of people different foods from different cultures while also staying true to how they would be served there. And then we want to make them accessible, cheap enough and available for anyone that they can get a meal with no questions asked.
Kim: The ways that we do this is through our partnerships with local farmers, and really emphasizing sustainability in all our practices, and trying to create a really inclusive and fun environment for all of our interns and any volunteers or guests who visit our space, which is located in the basement of the The Crossing Campus Ministry. We use the food we provide as a way to promote connection between people. We also do a lot of collaborations with other organizations on campus.
What is the importance of what Slow Food does for the UW and greater Madison communities?
Kim: With our meal services, we aim to provide a healthful and nutritionally balanced meal made from really fresh and local ingredients to just provide a really accessible meal for everyone. We try to keep our meal cost very cheap so that students who are on a budget can come in and enjoy a full plate of food to help nourish them. We try to lay out our tables to make it so that you can meet new people, and to foster new connections and really connect over the food. It’s not just exclusive to students — we have regulars within the community who are like older and just always come to the meals. It’s always so amazing to see them want to learn more about what the students are doing. We also have partnerships with Badger Rock Middle School and Lincoln Elementary School, where we do weekly nutrition education sections with the kids and give the kids snacks . It’s about teaching them about good, clean food in their area — it’s a really fun time. It’s really awesome seeing the impact — people continuously bringing new people into our space, seeing them always come back.
How can students get involved with Slow Food?
Stigler: Attending the meal services — they’re open for everyone always. We host Family Dinner Night Mondays at 6:30 p.m., and a Cafe Lunch Wednesdays at 12 p.m. We also have some other events which we post about on Instagram. Volunteering, where you can help cook a meal, is also a good way to get involved — you just sign up once or however many times you want and come to help with the next week’s meal service. We also have internships that accept applications on a rolling basis, but mainly at the end of each semester. We allow for half year and full year commitments, and have directors of our different departments ranging from elementary education to running Instagram posts to running the finances.
What is your favorite part about working with Slow Food?
Stigler: Originally, I started doing the finances for Slow Food and was learning a lot, but then I started learning more about marketing and management and things like that. I’ve learned a lot about working in kitchens, reading emails — it’s really fun to learn and have people teach you. I also really enjoy the community aspect, everyone is so dedicated, it’s insane. It’s super inspiring and really makes you feel like you’re doing something because other people are putting so much effort into it.
Kim: Learning from everyone’s experiences and having a sense of community. Being able to walk into the kitchen and see all my friends and everyone has a common interest — the love for Slow Food, cooking and sustainability. Everyone helps each other out and it’s a really wholesome environment. I also love how you can see a physical representation of all the hard work and dedication our interns put in through the impact in our community.
What is your favorite meal Slow Food has served?
Stigler: The first meal I had at Slow Food — it was a chickpea and kale salad. I was having it with my now-roommate.
Kim: We had beauty heart radishes. We cut into heart shapes, pickled them, and served them with a Japanese curry to create an inviting dish for Valentine’s Day. It was just so amazing and everyone loved the food.
