Disclaimer: This isn’t everything on the menu

Welcome to UNH Magazine’s Food Issue, where we’re delving into the silly and the serious sides of perhaps the one thing we all truly have in common: we’ve got to eat. Here, we’ve curated a few tasty morsels of how UNH and the commonality of food intersect; stories from different perspectives to whet your appetite, you might say.

Oh, and I should have mentioned this upfront — spoiler alert: gratuitous food puns will be used throughout this column … you’ve been warned.

As many of those featured in this issue have said, food is love, it’s culture, it’s family, it’s centuries old and fresh and new at the same time — it connects us all. It can be both a basic need and an extravagant adventure. It can tell a story, spark an entrepreneurial idea and take us on a nostalgic trip back in time.

But there’s a disclaimer for this issue: much like when you eat too much around your holiday table, or your eyes are bigger than your stomach, as the old saying goes, we couldn’t fit more in. We’re committed to keeping each issue around 80 pages, and although we loosened our belt a bit to add four more pages of content here, we embarked on this issue knowing that we wouldn’t be able to talk to everyone we wanted to.

So consider this your amuse-bouche for all the ways that food is interconnected in the research happening at UNH, in the achievements of UNH alumni, and in the day-to-day of current students. The stories collected here are just a sampling — a tasting menu — of how food is a common denominator across our work in sustainability, research, experiential learning, agriculture, statewide connection, student success and well-being, and much more.

We’ve picked some fun details to talk about — did you know that the flavor of Cap’n Crunch cereal was created by a UNH alum? — but I have to say I was perhaps most struck learning about the new frontier of farmer support that UNH Cooperative Extension is embarking on: supporting farmers’ mental health. And much appreciation to the students who shared their experiences with food insecurity in honest conversations with us.

And of course, what would a food issue be without a look at one of UNH’s most beloved cuisines, Karl’s, and the colorfully named food items he sold for decades, memories of which bring many of us right back to our undergrad years.

Knowing we couldn’t possibly cover it all, we invite you to share your “UNH and food” related story with us by tagging us in your social media next time you post. If you own a food-related business and you’re an alum, be sure to add your info to the alumni-owned business directory: unh.me/3Of7zSh.

In the meantime, I hope you dig into this feast of stories and that you’re inspired to learn even more about the myriad ways the University of New Hampshire is connected to your meals, your memories and maybe more when it comes to food.

MICHELLE MORRISSEY ’97
Editor-in-Chief, UNH Magazine
Alumni.editor@unh.edu