Hey everyone! I’m Podette, a snail who attends Amherst College. Over the summer, I am living on campus and working as an admissions intern. Today, I got dinner at Valentine Dining Hall (“Val”) with my best friend Shelloise and our roommate Finley.
Shelloise and I both have dietary restrictions (we are both vegan and prefer raw produce), and I was worried about finding food I could eat at a human-centered dining hall. Luckily, Val always has a fantastic salad/sandwich bar with lots of fresh veggies, proteins, dressings, and toppings. Today, Shelloise and I shared a veggie platter with lettuce, arugula, tomato, red onion, and baby carrot.
Above: Shelloise (left) and Podette (right) share a fresh vegan dinner in Valentine Dining Hall.
Above: Our human roommate’s dinner with lemony shrimp, tofu with pomodoro sauce, rice, arugula, roast potatoes, and crispy onions.
Another thing I love about Val is its commitment to sustainability. As an EcoRep, I’m very passionate about the environment and I am very impressed with Amherst’s effort to reduce our food waste and carbon footprint. More than half of our produce comes from the local area, which greatly reduces our carbon footprint and supports the wonderful farmers in the Pioneer Valley. Pesticide-free produce is the best for me and Shelloise—snails are friends, not pests!
We found some of our friends sitting at a table in the back room of Val. Because Val is our only dining hall on campus, I always run into friends to sit with. Today, we had a discussion about a question our friend posed: would you give up your ability to taste food in exchange for living a painless life until the age of 110?
Surprisingly, most of us chose to keep our ability to taste, but for different reasons. For one person, food was the primary way they bonded with their grandparents because they spoke different languages. Interestingly, Finley thought the worst part of the deal was not being able to feel pain. She worried that not being able to feel pain would disconnect her from her community as she got older. Experiencing pain also helps her appreciate when her body feels healthy.
I would not take the deal for the same reason as many of my other friends at the table. I don’t know if I would like to live a long life if I don’t have Shelloise by my side. I would much rather grow old and experience the pains of aging alongside her.
I am not a small talk kind of snail, so I like how Amherst students like to have silly and intellectual debates with each other. I’ve found that everyone is willing to get to each other and find common interests or quirky things to talk about. Being at Amherst has really helped me come out of my shell, so to speak.
Thanks for reading our first blog post! Shelloise is currently working on our next blog post so stay tuned for more updates from your favorite Amherst snails.
Podette and Shelloise is a new blog series run by Finley Liu ‘27, the human roommate. Podette and Shelloise are two crochet snails that Finley got from a very talented artist from the class of 2024. You can send any and all snail mail to fliu27@amherst.edu!