News

Editorial: Smithsonian's exhibit gives something to every person

By Scott Wagar

12/11/2012

On Saturday, the Smithsonian exhibit, Key Ingredients: America by Food, opened to the public at the Bottineau Tech Center.

When I first heard about the Smithsonian exhibit I had a keen interest in the exhibit for two reasons. One, I love history. Two, food in American history holds an important part in who we are as Americans and it has shape the culture of our country in a tremendous manner.

Of course, for most of us, when we think of food, I am pretty certain history isn’t the first thing to enter into our minds. Of course cultures enter into our minds (if we recognize it our minds or not) because in reality we think about the many different food ethnicities in our nation as we decide on what we want to eat. However, seldom do we think about how our county’s food comes to us, how it’s farmed, prepared for us, distributed, and how we care for it in our homes.

This is where the Smithsonian’s Key Ingredients: America by Food comes into play, and with the Smithsonian involved in this project they have created a very interesting exhibit to take in to fill your mind with an extraordinary history. This exhibit has interesting educational points for everybody in the community no matter what your taste is, and, I mean that literally. This exhibit has the origins of food and recipes; the histories of refrigeration, restaurants, canneries and table settings; to how food brought economic resources, jobs and education to its country’s citizens and so much more.

Key Ingredients: America by Food will certain enlighten one’s mind and allow it to see food in a different mind set. The Smithsonian places one’s wits on finding two and three dimensional objects through photographs, actual items that play an important part in the country’s food backgrounds, and grants short, but informative writings on numerous display items.

Individuals to the exhibits will see how different foods came to be in our country; that ice houses in the upper eastern states supplied ice off their lakes to the warmer states in the south for refrigeration and preservation purposes; and even a photo of the first self-serve grocery store in the United States, which before that time, customers would go into a store, hand over their grocery lists to a clerk who would collect their food items for them.

Foods in our country, which can be seen through the Key Ingredients: America by Food exhibit has shaped and changed our country in so many ways. From how and what we eat, to climate and technology changes, to employment and the loss of businesses because of what we chose in eating, food has played a more major role in the U.S. than we think about.

I would encourage everyone in our community and area to take the time and see the Smithsonian’s Key Ingredients: America by Food. It will be worth your time and it will change your mind in how you look at food for the rest of your lives.

Editorial Note: For more information on the Smithsonian’s Key Ingredients: America by Food, turn to the front page of this edition and read, “Key Ingredients: America by Food opens.”