Thanksgiving is right around the corner and University of Rhode Island students are preparing to go home for the long weekend, with their holiday hot takes and all.
Whether they think that Thanksgiving food is gross overall or they only like Thanksgiving because of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, URI students have plenty of unpopular opinions.
Freshman Tyler Cseretti confidently said that stuffing is not good when I asked him his unpopular opinion. I would have to disagree with this statement, making this the perfect hot take to kick off my investigation.
Another freshman, Jackson Jordan, agreed with Cseretti’s statement, while also talking about what foods are most important for the holiday.
“I hate stuffing and I love turkey,” Jordan said. “Mac and cheese on the table is a must; mashed potatoes are a must; gravy is a must.”
Sophomores Morgan Merchant and Alana Nyhuis countered this and claimed that “stuffing is the best.”
The two students then added that they don’t really like the sweet Thanksgiving foods.
“I don’t really mind it, but I don’t really get cranberry sauce,” Merchant said. “What is the point?”
Following Merchant’s statement, Nyhuis said “I hate that one, the one with the marshmallows and sweet potatoes, I forget what it’s called, but I don’t like that.”
Nhyuis was referring to sweet potato casserole.
Two other students said that they weren’t the biggest fans of Thanksgiving’s most traditional entrée: turkey.
“Turkey is horrible,” first-year student Willy Njeru said. “There are so many other food options that can be made a lot better and taste a lot better than turkey. Turkey is dry, and it is just so hard to make.”
Jeff Pun ’21 said that his family never eats turkey on Thanksgiving, given his culture.
“I come from a Hispanic culture, so I don’t do turkey, I actually do pork,” he said. “My mom makes that, so I’ve actually never really had turkey for Thanksgiving.”
He followed this by saying that pork is the clear better option of the two.
“The way that my mom cooks it, it’s definitely better,” Pun said.
Fiona Greenough, a senior, said that she “hates” green bean casserole.
“It’s mushy and seems like vegetable vomit to me,” she said.
Although she has never had sweet potato casserole, she thinks she would prefer that.
Molly Atkin, a junior, said that she doesn’t like foods that have raisins in them.
“I don’t have a problem with any Thanksgiving food unless somebody puts raisins where they don’t belong,” she said. “People put raisins in their stuffing, and to that, I say ‘ew, disgusting.’”
Greenough jokingly responded to this and stated that she used to have a shirt that said “raisins ruin everything.”
Although there will always be some sort of controversy over what the best Thanksgiving foods are, it’s important to keep the true meaning of Thanksgiving in mind. Spend time with people who love you, eat some yummy food and enjoy your break; even if you’re a stuffing-hater.