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WBEZ's Monica Eng to Help North Park Explore 'What Is Food?'

Food reporter Monica Eng, whose parents and oldest brother are North Park alumni, has been writing on food since the late 1980s. She currently hosts the Chewing the Fat podcast on WBEZ, after spending time at the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune.

Additional lectures and events will continue Campus Theme discussion throughout the year

CHICAGO (October 28, 2014) — Each year, the ÂÜÀòÉç community comes together for a series of events, lectures, and discussions around a central question of the human experience. A tradition for more than a decade, this question is known as the . This year’s question, “What Is Food?” marks a different approach from year’s past.

“Traditionally, the Campus Theme has been about a value or idea, for example, ‘What Is Community?’ ‘What Is Justice?’ ‘What Is Peace?’" said , associate professor of and the director of the Campus Theme program. “This year we wanted to address something more tangible. Eating is a daily human experience that all of us share. It is the most provocative of questions because first, it is so fundamental to human life, and second, because it bears directly on other values that we care about here at North Park—justice, compassion, community, theology, and cultural diversity.”

Food is intimately linked with politics, health, ethics, economics, and the environment. It is present during many faith practices, including communion in the Christian tradition. Many questions students engage in at North Park—including those of identity, race, and gender—can all be approached through the lens of food. “Add to these the contemporary questions of genetically modified foods, environmental sustainability, and animal rights, among others, and you have all the makings for a great conversation,” added Clifton-Soderstrom.

One of the first Campus Theme events for the year will take place this Friday at 10:30 am in Anderson Chapel. Monica Eng, a reporter and producer at , and former food reporter at the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times, will share her insight into some of the thorniest food issues, and discuss what she's learned through reporting on food since the late 1980s.

“My family was always a food family,” said Eng, whose stepfather was a chef and grandfather and great grandfather owned restaurants in Chicago. She began her career writing about the more enjoyable elements of food, including restaurants, recipes, and trends. She continues to address that side of food, but also investigates the ignored elements, including the role of food in public health.

“Obviously it’s much more enjoyable to write and read about food as delicious,” Eng added. “It gives you something fun to do at lunch or after work. But food as dangerous, or food as exploitative of people around the world, is also important. It’s something you need to balance.”

What's more, Eng’s visit to North Park is in some ways a homecoming. She grew up in the North Park neighborhood, was born at nearby Swedish Covenant Hospital, and both of her parents and her brother are alumni. She attended local Peterson Elementary (with Dr. Clifton-Soderstrom) and participated in a number of activities at North Park Covenant Church as a child.

“It’s an honor to speak at North Park,” said Eng. “It will always be the university down on Foster Avenue where all the big kids went to school and where my friends’ parents taught. It will be strange speaking there as a grown-up.”

Many voices

The next major event on the Campus Theme schedule will be a lecture on Thursday, November 6, from , author of the award-winning Short Girls and Stealing Buddha’s Dinner. Nguyen will discuss the topic of cultural identity and cuisine in America.

Other highlights include an event in February featuring Kim Stein, a scientist at the , and a March address from Dr. Norman Wirzba, professor at Duke University and author of .

“The Campus Theme program was begun years ago to offer a set of shared experiences and campus wide classrooms where we might learn from local, national, and global experts on such questions,” Clifton-Soderstrom said. “The diverse set of voices not only benefits the University, but also invites the surrounding community to think with us.”

Campus Theme events are free and open to the public. For more information, please visit .

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