Food or drink are probably on your mind right now. Maybe you’re really excited about a new recipe to try for dinner, or a new restaurant that just opened up around the corner. Maybe you could really use a glass of wine right about now. Or maybe you’re just starting to feel a little hungry for lunch.

Our obsession with this topic makes perfect sense. Food is critical to our survival. It’s an essential component to social settings and relationships. It’s tasty. It’s beautiful. It’s fun.

But food is more than just a thing to eat. Did you ever wonder what it takes to launch a successful business in the food industry? Have you considered the resources required to grow your food and take it from the field to the factory to the table? Have you wondered how your favorite ingredient played a role in shaping culture and history as it made its way from the past to your plate?

Here at Cal Poly, those are the kinds of questions that students and faculty explore in a setting that’s built on collaboration and interdisciplinary thinking.

The bottom line is that at Cal Poly, food is more than just food. We’re curious about it. We study it in all its forms. We know it and we love it. Please enjoy thinking about it with us in the following pages.