Standards Wisconsin | Extension Service | Food Standards
August 2025 Update on Extension Budget Reduction
University food service increasingly treats international variety as both an educational and marketing virtue. There is nothing inherently wrong with variety in fair measure. Yet an outsized emphasis on cuisines outside American and Anglosphere traditions can cause universities to neglect the foodways of the very nation and institutions that have attracted generations of international students.
Food is part of the inheritance of an educational settlement. Regional American cooking, the English ploughman’s lunch, Canadian breads and preserves, Australian meat pies and the ordinary dishes of Scotland, Wales and Ireland carry histories of agriculture, climate, season and family life. They deserve a place beside newer arrivals.
Universities need not choose between hospitality and inheritance. A generous table can accommodate both. Indeed, international students may reasonably expect to encounter the distinctive food traditions of their host country. Cosmopolitanism is most interesting when cultures remain recognizable. University kitchens can welcome the world without forgetting the food already at home.
