SimCity's Food Expo 2004

Food Expo 2004
August 1: Opening Ceremony
Catered by Dorian Wallace & Staff
Opening Address: Starr Grey, Spokesperson
Ribbon Cutting of Food Expo Site
Greymount’s Odd Food Traditions; Matt Grayson

Food in the Garden
Aesthetic Gardens; Veronika Kent

Food in the Kitchen
Saving Simoleans on Food, Leigh Sweeny

Food on the Table
The Dinner Table: A Psychological Look at Families and Eating; Dorian Wallace

Closing Ceremony
Catered by Dorian Wallace & Staff
Closing Address: Starr Grey, Spokesperson
Results and Future of Food Expo: Matt Grayson
Best Contributor 2004 Presentation
Neighborhood Dinner

Co-Hosts
Greymount
Simmerton
Lake Park
New Crystalford
Valdosta
Simmerville
Sim Parade

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Greymount’s Odd Food Traditions
Matt Grayson

When we discovered that Greymount would be hosting the Food Expo 2004, the local Food Club decided to research Greymount’s traditions involving food. We discovered some fairly odd traditions that have led to the current customs surrounding our meals.

The original settlement frequently ate whatever was dead and when they discovered it they exclaimed, “dez scangs ez bafs vebest” leading to the unexplained exclamation of well fed guests make over a delicious meal. Also, before the current national restriction of eight members per lot, local communities traditionally had only six members per lot and only cooked meals for those six, thus the tradition of cooking for six has continued with recipes either serving one or six, never eight. Finally, it was discovered why all meals resemble each other with some form of brown meat and vegetables. The first crops that were grown in Greymount were only green beans and the most abundant meat was rabbit, in order to retrace our paths to our ancestors, Greymount residents cook meals that resemble rabbit and green beans, thus the similarity between dishes.

There are other traditions that remain unexplained, but hopefully with a little more research, the secrets behind those mysteries will be unlocked.

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The Dinner Table: A Psychological Look at Families and Eating
Dorian Wallace

The dinner table is quickly becoming a thing of the past with families boasting of busier and busier schedules that rarely allow time for a sandwich; much less a decent meal around the table, but the dinner table is a vital and necessary part of every family.

At the dinner table, everyone has a chance to talk with everyone else and this vital communication builds relations with all family members which is easier by far than holding private conversations with individual family members. The dinner table also helps shy individuals speak up more since more people are talking and the focus isn’t on them.
Holding a brief telephone survey, it was found that families that eat at least one meal together have better relations than those who don’t eat meals together. So why not participate in one activity that is guaranteed to bring results?

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Saving Money on Food
Leigh Sweeny

At the end of the month do you look at the bills and your savings account and wonder where all the money has gone? Look closer into your kitchen and you could see the lost simoleans entering the mouths of your family members. Food can cost colossal amounts of money and last for a few moments. Here are a few ways to save money when eating.

First, cook only when everyone is hungry, most simoleans are lost due to waste from uneaten food and by eliminating this waste by cooking only when everyone is hungry and sure to minimize waste. Also, avoid cooking single meals, these often cost around $10 to prepare and only serve one member, as opposed to cooking for six, which costs about $20, a much better value for your simoleans. Another option includes eating homegrown food, but this value depends on several factors including growing a vine vegetable, such as beans or tomatoes, low pests, hard labor and good weather. Finally, avoid allowing children and family members to snack on the expensive bags of chips that cost $15 a bag! Instead put out bowls of apples, cookies or appetizers from Internet stores such as Around the Sims and Simmerville’s Stuff. These snacks are available such that everyone can snack on one or two of the goodies and are able to last several days before spoiling. This extended time before spoilage is worth the extra simoleans it costs to order the goodies.

By following these hints, your food bill should be considerable lower.

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Aesthetic Gardens
Veronika Kent

Being an architect, I often have to deal with a few unusual requests, but one request that isn’t as uncommon as I thought is the desire for a vegetable garden that looks good.

First, try something different than the rows and rows of vegetables, instead place the plots in diagonals. Plant them in designs of squares and rectangles bordered with flowers and water or placing the plots underneath trees. One option is to build a greenhouse for the vegetables.
Building a greenhouse is simple, just place the plots of vegetables in the desired position, due to national regulations the plots can not be moved after the green house is built, nor can additional plots be inserted, so make sure the plots are as you desire them. Then build the greenhouse around them, add floor to ceiling windows to let in plenty of healthy light and a door so that you can enter to tend to the plants.

Just think outside the box and you’ll be able to create a truly unique garden!