Students swiped their meal cards and sat to eat foods that North and South Carolina farmers grew in Fountain and Clark Dining Halls Thursday night. The All Carolinas Meal is an annual event hosted by University Dining. “Our first [All Carolinas Meal] was in April of 2004. Since then, we’ve started doing them in September,” Steve Edwards, University Dining director of board operations, said.

The menu included traditional foods from the Carolinas such as smoked pork barbecue, fried catfish, hush puppies and various dishes made from sweet potatoes.

“The sweet potatoes come from Lee Farms, a sweet potato farm not too far from here,” Edwards said. “Their display every year is a huge, huge hit.”

The sweet potato exhibit at the entrance of Fountain had samples of sweet potato products, including ice cream.

“The potato ice cream — that was really interesting. It was a really unique idea,” Siddhi Gupta, a sophomore in biological sciences, said. “I didn’t even know you could make ice cream out of potatoes.”

Anthony Santago, a senior in mechanical engineering, said the sweet potatoes were his favorite part of the meal.

“I like the meal because it’s different. I’m a big fan of sweet potatoes,” he said.

For some students, the appeal of the meal was the semblance of home cooking, they said. “It’s nice to come to school and be able to eat what you would have at home,” Kayla Pavcik, a sophomore in communication, said.

Robert Pruitt, a freshman in agriculture, compared the meal with what his family eats at home.

“I liked the barbecue chicken. It wasn’t like mama makes it, but it was good,” he said. “The catfish ain’t from the Cape Fear.”

The All Carolinas Meal was inspired by a group of students who wanted a change in food served in University dining halls.

“Originally a group of students on campus called ‘Local’ came to us wanting us to feature more locally grown products and possibly organic products,” Edwards said. “One of the things that evolved from that was that we created this dinner called the All Carolinas Meal to showcase and feature products grown and produced in one of the Carolinas.”

Edwards said University Dining discovered food products from North and South Carolina were already common in the dining halls.

“We realized that we were already buying a lot of products from the Carolinas. What we weren’t doing was telling people we were using them,” he said.

Edwards said local food products are on the menu all year long. He said he anticipated that this meal would cause a significant increase in meals served in both dining halls because of its popularity in the past.

“We will be up maybe 400 [people] in Fountain,” he said. “Clark should be up about 200 [people] from normal.”

Travis Cate, a year-two student in the Ag Institute and attendee of the All Carolinas Meal, said he understands the importance of agriculture in North Carolina.

“In North Carolina, the farming rate is going down a lot. I’m in farming,” Cate said. “In some areas of the state, people think that vegetables come from a can.”

Cates said he thinks students should be taught about agriculture in the classroom.

Chase Thomas, a sophomore in biochemistry, said he looks forward to the All Carolinas Meal each year.

“This is the best event the N.C. State dining facilities hold all year,” Thomas said. “The plethora of food is tantalizing.”