The Capturing Campus Cuisine project applied archaeological techniques to investigate the eating habits of students at Michigan State University (MSU), during what the project referred to as the "Early Period," from 1855-1870. Research conducted during the project included excavation of a privy located near the first dormitory on campus, research in the MSU archives, and visits to centers of food production on campus, such as the dairy plant. The food practices section of the site documents food production, acquisition, processing, and consumption. Archival research informed the consumption section, using diaries kept by students in the 1860s although the project researchers admit that, "some are better than others" in terms of how much the diary author wrote about the foods they ate. The culmination of the project was the recreation of a meal that could have been served on campus in the 1860s. The menu, featuring codfish balls as an appetizer followed by walleye, pressed and spiced beef, turkey with oyster dressing, and beef tongue washed down with ginger beer, can be seen in the meal reconstruction section of the website.