RFoC Hosts Day Of Cultural Cuisines

By Hope Bishop

The RFoC is a common hangout for many students on campus, a place to eat a variety of American foods; however, this year’s International Food Fair turned the dining area into a buffet of culture, a place to sit back and experience an entirely new country.

The annual International Food Fair is a fundraiser for SVSU’s English as a Second Language (ESL) program. 

Kelly VanConnett, a chef of the RFoC, said, “The food fest began in 1999, but was a lot different then. It was held in Groening Commons, and students prepared the food in their dorm rooms. Now the RFoC provides accessibility to the kitchen and makes things a lot easier.” 

International students from Africa, Japan, China, Taiwan, India, Saudi Arabia, Korea, Thailand, Palestine, Kuwait, Germany, Mexico, Pakistan, France, Colombia and students from the United States all cooked foods from their home countries.

The students prepared a variety of ethnic foods at stations set up for each country.

Juan Velasquez, a student from Colombia learning English at SVSU said, “We made sancocho, a very popular Colombian soup. The ingredients weren’t hard to find – potatoes, corn, cilantro, avocado, chicken and green bananas.” 

“I like American food,” Velasquez said, “but I cook Colombian food all week.”

Representing Kuwait, mechanical engineering major Ali Ali said, “We made chicken sauce and rice because it’s a very traditional food. The spices were hard to find here, though.”

Victoria Wilson, an undecided student from Germany, prepared kartoffelputter (potato pancakes) and zwiebel kuchen (onion cake). 

“It is very good and is a family recipe,” she said. “Everything was easy to find.”

The fair provided the SVSU community with opportunities to sample the variety of foods and cultures.

Nursing freshman Lindsey Wallace said, “It’s interesting to see what different cultures eat and fun to try something else than American food.”

Kailah Happ, an athletic training freshman, said, “Personally, I am used to American food – and there isn’t any ketchup or ranch around here.”

Jolene Jaquays, an ESL specialist at SVSU, said, “I’m really picky, but I managed to find something delicious from every country.”