Feeds: ranging from grinders to salads and pastas made from New York Times recipes. While the food is the main event, the community spirit is just as important. “I think it’s a huge part of Deerfield’s culture. It brings students and teachers together, and is a unifying tie throughout campus,” commented a Junior girl.
For example, take the girls on John Louis 2 North; every Tuesday night, they anxiously await the end of study hall. At 9:45, or often a few minutes before, the hallway erupts into action as choruses of “feeeeeeeed” ring throughout the rooms. As the group gathers in Chinese Teacher Xiaofeng Feng’s apartment to enjoy dumplings, fried rice, sushi, or something simple like apples and cheese, the eleven girls are just happy to be together.
“As much as I love the food, the best part about feeds is getting all of us together. Our hall has so much fun,” noted Caitlin Cleary ’12. “Sometimes Alice [Lu ’12] plays the piano and the rest of us sing along,” continued Cleary. The community aspect of feeds is a definite perk, for a group of girls that overwhelmingly answered, “Yes!” when asked if hall time was a big part of why feeds are so popular.
In fact, Elyse Curtis ’12 feels that the bonding extends beyond just hall mates. “I think it’s a huge part of faculty-student bonding,” she said. “It’s kind of like story time… Mrs. Bonanno always sits with us during our feeds and it’s our time to catch up with her. It’s really relaxed.”
But not everyone shares the community spirit; an anonymous Junior boy commented “Feeds force everyone into the same room, primarily because we’re all trying to get food but eventually we end up talking…”
While the food is the main event, the timing is additionally important. As Will Fox ’12 noted, “I’m a big guy. I like to have something to eat at night after having hit the books for a while.”
Chris Hamlin ’12 agreed, “It’s really good to have food at night because I get really hungry after study hall and so it’s great to get fed.”