Gone are the days of surviving on gas station snacks in small town Missouri. Photographers at this week's Missouri Photo Workshop/Hometown Edition are enjoying the tastes and comforts of home, we know, because we talked to MPW.73 participants across the globe to see what they typically eat when heading into the field.

Jimena Rodriguez Romani - Cusco, Peru

Chicha morada, a sweet purple corn and lemon juice mixture is Jimena Rodriguez Romani's go-to liquid, in addition to water. She prefers drinking chicha morada rather than eating because of the warm climate.

“In general, [Peruvian food is] really important,” Rodriguez Romani said. “I know it can sound silly, but when you go to a house and they don’t serve food, it seems kind of bad. I am doing a project here and I am going to rural houses. There are a lot of poor families, but they kill you an animal to make a plate even if they don’t have enough.”

Right, a glass of chicha morada, along with choclo con queso, a dish Rodriguez Romani made with corn, queso andina cheese, egg and Peruvian potatoes.

“I think we all know what human nature is, what real life looks like,” Hanger says. “I don’t think you need to be an expert to spot it when it feels inauthentic. There’s just something there.”

With more than 17 years of experience on staff at The New York Times and multiple international awards for photo editing, Becky Lebowitz Hanger says while her extensive experience benefits her, it isn't always the only tool to gauge authenticity in photo stories.

Generating an authentic story starts from the very beginnings of a pitch. If an editor pushes back on a photographer’s idea, that photographer must care enough about their subject to explain the layers to their story. Hanger enjoys watching her students believe themselves enough to do so.

“They listened to reason, they were open to conversation and they were open to the idea that they were wrong,” Hanger said. “But when they felt strongly about something, they stuck to their guns. I appreciate that. It goes with trusting your gut.”

In Hanger’s two previous years as MPW faculty, she has found that her favorite participants’ stories all have one thing in common: empathy.

“It was very clear to me that they didn’t go in thinking, ‘I need to create a photo story to put in my portfolio,” Hanger said. “They were trying to build a connection with [their subjects]. That came through in their photos, that human connection, and as a result they ended up with wonderful work which they probably did put in their portfolios, but that wasn’t the end goal.”

For students who get caught up in the wrong mindset, or those preemptively “making a to-do list for the next day in [their] head,” Hanger notices their photos feel less compelling.

“They need to be present and open in the situation so they can feel something, so they can have a human response,” Hanger says. “We, as viewers, as readers, as consumers of photos, we won't feel anything. We won't have a human response if the photographer didn’t have a human response. That's how you get to a deeper feeling.”