Aliso Niguel High School held their annual Multicultural Food fair on Friday, April 15. All clubs run through the school are required to participate in this event. The fair was held outside the Big Gym in the front of the school during lunch. Students could buy tickets to purchase items using tickets that were exchanged for a dollar per ticket.
Shiley Moeinzadeh (10) says, “it was kinda annoying to exchange money for the tickets but I still did it.”
Clubs are required to bring a cultural dish from the country that they chose to represent. Club presidents gathered in the library during Wolverine+ to discuss their assigned countries. They were sent out a form where they could pick their top three options. As many clubs didn’t reply, they were automatically assigned a country.
Some clubs chose to run a booth with another club, but most chose to do it alone. Club presidents were told to bring posters that detailed their food and its origin.
With over a hundred clubs on campus, there was a variety of foods and drinks from different cultures that students could buy.
Unlike many other students, Mackenzie Will (10) says,“I didn’t go to the food fair because I didn’t know it was happening and brought my own food.”
A growing problem was exposure, with many other students saying that they had no idea that the food fair was happening. Many students however were aware of the fair through word of mouth, school announcements and from friends who are club Presidents.
Moeinzadeh says, “I think it was a lot better than last year, like there were more options and the food was better.”
A crowd favorite was the pasta, Moeinzadeh says “I think it was really well priced and they gave you a lot of food.”
Maya Tata (10) also says “The pasta was surprisingly good, like I really liked it.”
Tata also bought food from the club representing Australia, who was selling Fairy bread, saying that “it wasn’t really organized and nothing was done beforehand.”
Sanaa Rishi (10), says “I really enjoyed the chicken dumplings and the Horchata, but my club brought Japchae, a Korean dish”
She also says that Joel, the Debate Club President, “put a lot of work into the poster and he really did his research.”
Rishi says “It was really fun to experience other cultures and eat new foods.”
ASB member Taleiya Gordon (10), says “it ran pretty smoothly… Everyone put a lot of hard work into it and I’m glad it turned out well.”
The goal of the food fair is to appreciate the cultural diversity on and off the Aliso Niguel Campus, something that was achieved this year.
