Undergraduate Student Government granted Spoon University, a food blog created by college students, provisional status by Undergraduate Student Government at its March 3 meeting.

The organization offers recipes and tips for college students and has 50 chapters nationwide on college campuses.

Freshman Harper Garfinkle said though Spoon University is a national website, the Tulane page focuses on food aspects in New Orleans and on campus. Spoon’s articles will cover a wide variety of food-focused subjects.

“[Spoon University is] about everything that relates to Tulane, to New Orleans or food in general,” Garfinkle said. “We did an eating disorder article for eating disorder awareness week, wrote about the dining halls and are also doing an eating abroad section.”

Junior Stephanie Forsey said the organization consists of both marketing and writing for the website. She said the difference between Spoon University and other existing writing organizations is its intention to host events and become involved with the community in addition to its publications.

“It’s really cool because [Spoon University] is writing-focused, but it’s also marketing focused,” Forsey said. “We have a marketing team and a writing team.”

Forsey said that she and Junior Casey Lynch tried to bring Spoon University to Tulane’s campus last year. It did not gain enough traction, however.

“We were both abroad last semester and it kind of died down,” Forsey said. “A member of nationals reached out to me and he said, ‘do you want to bring it up again,’ and that got the ball rolling.”

Garfinkle became involved in Spoon University because of her love of food. She said New Orleans is an ideal place for the food blog and believes it will promote discussion about food in the city.

“I am really interested in food, and I had heard about Spoon at other universities and how successful it was,” Garfinkle said. “I thought coming to New Orleans, with such a great food base, would be a great place. I thought it’d be a great way to get involved on campus and in the city and talk about food.”

Getting involved in the organization can help students hone in on their writing and marketing skills. It can help students explore all the food options New Orleans has to offer.

“I think it’s great if you wanted to be on the team,” Forsey said. “It’s a great way to build your marketing, writing and communication skills in general and for the Tulane public.”

There are many obstacles on-campus students face with meal plans. Forsey said students who live off campus can also have a difficult time learning to cook and facing the food realities of living on one’s own for the first time.

“New Orleans has such a great food culture so it really offers a way to navigate through it, especially since there’s a lot of challenges with eating on campus as a freshman or sophomore,” Forsey said. “Cooking in a dorm or eating off campus as a junior and senior [can be challenging]. There is a nutrition factor to it so that you can learn how to eat healthy on your own and that’s a big piece for college students.”

Lynch said she encourages everyone who is interested to come to Spoon University’s launch party 5-7 p.m. March 19 at the Bea Field Alumni House.

Tickets to the event are $3 and will include all-you-can-eat food from local businesses and a raffle ticket. Winners can win gift cards from local restaurants, such as Stein’s Deli and Charcoal’s Gourmet Burger Bar, according to the Facebook page.