Julia Payton, Springfield, OH

Coming home from school as a kid, there were always two ways to tell that Grandma and Grandpa had been there. The main one was that the Food Network was on when we turned on the television. The second was that Grandma had cleaned the entire house. Food has always been a huge part of my life. This project will help me learn more about food in Indiana, which I hope will help me learn more about the people and traditions, as well.

I’m really excited about the Indiana Foodways project, mainly because I’m not from Indiana. I’ve spent three years in this state, and I still don’t know a whole lot about it. Ironically, the few things I do know about Indiana are food related. My mother and I have been taking our own food tourism trip on the many roads between Muncie and my hometown of Springfield, Ohio. We have traveled to many little mom-and-pop shops around East Central Indiana, mainly because those places are a lot more interesting (and serve better food) than national chain restaurants.

As for the Food Network, that’s another big tradition in my family. I can recall studying in London last semester and talking to my mother about programs that appeared on the Food Network. Some of the best places I’ve been to were found by watching specials on the Food Network. In fact, one of my many and varied life goals is to marry Bobby Flay and work for Duff Goldman at Charm City Cakes, if the journalism thing doesn’t work out.

As for what I can bring to this project, I have an empty stomach and a desire to take great photos for this. I love and adore this kind of photography; the environmental portraits and the commercial photography that this project requires. I’m ready to put my knowledge of food and the sociology behind food culture to good use, and this is the perfect opportunity to do so.