Family and Food

When KC Hysmith (‘23 PhD) and her husband take their son and daughter to Chapel Hill’s Franklin Street, they often end up at Sutton’s Drug Store and grab chocolate malts — a spot that reminds Hysmith of a similar diner near Texas A&M University where her parents split chocolate malts in the 1980s.

“You can get that same American-style food almost anywhere in the nation,” Hysmith said. “Diners like that are a comforting space.”

At Carolina, she studied the intersection of food, gender, and the digital landscape. She works remotely from Carrboro as the director of communications for the Museum of Food and Drink.

During her time as a student, she served as associate editor of Edible NC: A Journey across a State of Flavor, authored by Marcie Cohen Ferris, and as co-author of the Saltbox Seafood Joint Cookbook, both published by UNC Press. Her work has also been featured by The Boston Globe, The New York Times, Gastronomica, Food52 and other media outlets, garnering her more than 125,000 followers on Instagram.

During her first year as a graduate student in American studies, Hysmith received The Graduate School’s Weiss Urban Livability Program — which paired well with her department’s emphasis on interdisciplinary research and to grow her network of colleagues.

“Being a Weiss fellow and having a built-in community from my first day as a Tar Heel was so meaningful and welcoming,” she said. “The fellowship connected us to public-facing academics and folks in town, like the leaders at TABLE and the Carrboro Farmers’ Market, who also helped us find community beyond campus and gave us the opportunity to use our academic experiences and training to support that community, our new home, too.”

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