Home Is Never Too Far Away When You Have a “Taste of Home”

Anna Loughlin, LSU Women’s Tennis student-athlete, recalls a “Taste of Home: England” where some of her favorite home dishes were featured.

She reminisced on the joyous emotion she felt as she enjoyed sharing the experience with her teammates who were from England as they had been feeling homesick.

“Me and my roommate, we’re both from England, and we hadn’t been home for nearly a year, so it made us really emotional but in a good way,” she said. “It reminded us of family. It was nice to feel connected to home from so far away.”

Loughlin recalled giving Chef Michael Johnson her mom’s email, so he could retrieve some of the traditional English recipes.

“He did a really good job at trying to integrate all of the recipes and trying to make it as English as he could,” she said.

A favorite memory of the special program for Loughlin, was getting her friends to taste the traditional English dishes aside from the things they knew of like fish and chips.

“It was good that we could share that experience together,” Loughlin said.

One of her best-loved dishes that was featured was sausage rolls because she said they’re a classic in England.

“They did like a twist on the dessert called Eton Mess, so that was really good because my mom makes that all the time,” she said.

Loughlin said she finds it cool that a “Taste of Home” celebrates the student-athletes home cuisine.

Food is a large part of Louisiana culture and many cultures, which often brings people together.

Dr. LaKeitha A. Poole, director of student-athlete mental health, at LSU said a meal is one of the best ways for people to put their defenses down and just feel open.

She said homesickness is a challenge for not only international student-athletes, but for those who are from places in the U.S. too.

“I think it gives people an opportunity to be able to connect with a part of their identity that sometimes when you go off to college you don’t think you can take with you,” she said.

“We have athletes from all over the world not even just here in the U.S., and so it’s always like a pleasant thing to be able to see a variation of your favorite meal being served in the Performance Dining Center that you go to every day.”

Poole explained that the student-athletes feeling like they’re home, even if it’s just for a meal, helps their overall success.

“Being away from home is tough and then competing at this level is tough, so any reminder you can have about where you’re from and connecting back to that is always a good thing for people’s well-being and overall mental health,” she said.

A “Taste of Home” allows the student-athletes to connect with their peer athletes who they interact with often and those who they don’t interact with a lot.

Organizing a “Taste of Home” celebration for student-athletes doesn’t just happen, it’s a process that everyone enjoys being a part of.

Registered Dietician Rebecca Moore said she enjoys working with student-athletes and helping arrange the celebrations. While working with her group of student-athletes, she gets to know them individually and finds out the types of cuisine that they grew up enjoying.

From there, a regional location is picked where a good number of student-athletes are from. Moore connects the student-athletes to Chef Michael Johnson, so they can share recipes with Johnson for the special “Taste of Home” program. Meanwhile, the student-athletes are paired up with their peers who are from the same area, and who sometimes are on different teams so they can get to know one another.

“It really—truly becomes something special that the athletes can get really excited about, and then all of our other athletes get to experience what their teammates or their friends grew up with even if they’ve never tried that specific cuisine before,” she said. “It’s really fun and it creates a good family environment and allows our student-athletes to really truly feel like they’re home for a minute.”

She recalled how fun and how big of a success a “Taste of Home: England” was for the student-athletes. So popular that a few weeks later, they were able to enjoy some of the recipes again.

Moore discussed how food is about more than fueling the body for performance.

“Food is also emotional,” she said. “We have memories tied to flavors and aromas that come with foods and food can be comforting. For our student-athletes that are coming to college especially if they traveled a really long way to be here, there’s things that they’re going to miss about home and family and a lot of times that revolves around food.”

“If we can give them a little piece of home while they’re here it helps them realize that we really care about them as a whole person and an individual and we care about their background and what they individually bring to LSU Athletics, and not just them as an athlete.”

Moore said getting to know the student-athletes that she works with as a person is important, and not just asking them about what they had for breakfast.

Chef Michael Johnson said a “Taste of Home” was designed for the Performance Nutrition Center (PNC) to interact with not only the student-athletes, but with their families as well to celebrate the athletes’ heritage.

“I thrive on the interaction and getting to speak with the parents and getting to talk with the athletes about where they’re from,” he said. “It’s looking into their eyes and seeing the excitement of talking about the food from their childhood. That brings about an emotion in people.”

“I think it’s really wonderful and when we get to execute the food, watching the kids that it’s specifically celebrating—we have yet to have anybody disappointed from it—I’ll just put it that way.”

Since a “Taste of Home” began, Johnson said he thinks he’s accumulated at least 100 recipes from the student-athletes and their families.

“It’s been very enjoyable,” he said.

When asked if he could pick a favorite celebration, he said it would be tough to pick a favorite, but that each one had a favorite moment. He reminisced on cooking a whole pig on the grill, the tears of joy from Loughlin and other English players and Polynesian student-athletes who were celebrated with a luau last year who gave him a hug at the end as they thanked him, and applauded the work of Johnson and everyone who helped make it happen.

A “Taste of Home” that surely is memorable for Johnson is when he took pictures with former LSU quarterback Joe Burrow and his family, and LSU head football coach Ed Orgeron whispered to him that Burrow could be the next Heisman Trophy winner.

“That was an incredible moment and obviously it came into fruition,” he said.

Johnson said he looks forward to the time when parents can return to celebrate and enjoy the moment with the student-athletes. It means a lot to Johnson and the PNC to interact with the student-athletes and their families on such special occasions.

“It’s not just about football, it’s not just about soccer, it’s not just about baseball, it’s about us caring for their kids the way that they would.”