Memories and stories inspire Food For Thought in West Lafayette

The Food For Thought exhibit will visit the West Lafayette Public Library on Aug. 29 – Sept. 8 and many exciting events are planned around the visit. One of the goals is to inspire local community members to tell their favorite food memory or story. The library is anticipating that some of the stories can also be used for its West Lafayette Memories project. It shouldn’t be too hard for the community to generate some great stories based on West Lafayette’s vast food heritage and robust ethnic restaurant representation.

The Food For Thought visit will also be in town during West Lafayette’s annual Global Fest, which is a celebration of the area’s ethnic restaurants, businesses and culture. The event takes place on Sept. 3 at 10 a.m. While attending the festival attendees will be able to spin the thought provoking Chew on This Wheel which features food related questions. After spinning the wheel and answering a question you can win a food inspired prize!

West Lafayette Public Library is also creating a food inspired questionnaire that visitors of the exhibit can complete to stimulate thoughts about food and the role it plays in our lives. For inspiration library goers can see what some of the West Lafayette celebrities, community leaders and former residents have said are their favorite memories about food.

The library will also play host to a poster series from the book Hungry Planet. The posters depict different families from across the world with food that they typically cook and eat. The posters show how different parts of the world eat, and encourage kids and adults to think about their own eating habits and rituals.

The exhibit will be on display from Aug. 29 – Sept. 8 and will be open during normal library hours (208 W. Columbia, West Lafayette).

Check out this video for highlights from Food For Thought:

Food For Thought in West Lafayette

Here are some food stories from two former West Lafayette residents:

“My signature dish of corn caviar has a Purdue look to it.  It  won 1st prize at the Indiana State Fair during the Year of Corn, and with the yellow sweet corn, black-eyed peas and black olives as key ingredients, it does indeed illustrate Boilermaker colors.  It does have a little red (tomatoes) and green (green chiles) but the Purdue colors are what made this dish a winner.” Submitted by Kenda Resler-Friend, Dow AgroSciences, Purdue Graduate

“The Food For Thought exhibit being in West Lafayette reminds me about the limited menu I consumed while a poor freshman at Purdue in 1976.  It consisted mainly of peanut butter and jelley on white, off brand mac and cheese (27 cents a box), generic frozen pot pies (13 cents apiece), Dominos Pizza ($3.99 for a large pepperoni) and beer (Schlitz or PBR).  Sounds tasty, eh? Did you know you can make a box of mac and cheese without milk or butter?  Water and a touch of oil work just fine.  It’s more granular and clumps up quickly, but it’s perfectly edible if you have no culinary standards.” Submitted by Andy Dietrick, Indiana Farm Bureau, Purdue Graduate