WoodenSpoon
Stephanie Porzio
Some of my best memories are of family meals around the dinner table. I grew up in a family that always made time to prepare and share meals together. The kitchen was the place where we talked, laughed, argued, and loved. I learned from my parents at a young age that food is more than just nourishment for the body — food is meaning, tradition, memory, and identity. This simple truth is easy to forget in the modern world where more communication happens on a computer screen than at the dinner table. The goal of my thesis project, WoodenSpoon, is to document the beauty of homemade food and in doing so, celebrate and preserve the simple truths of tradition, family, and genuine interaction — truths I think our world desperately needs to be reminded of. WoodenSpoon is a collection of six short videos based on recipes passed down in my family. The videos are poetic, nostalgic, and are intended as a biographical documentation of food’s role in fostering human connections.