Gabriela Lorenzo ’23 and Victoria Martinez ’23 were looking for a chance to embrace their own culinary culture and learn about others’ on campus.
They found that chance at the Nov. 3 the Taste of the World Event, held on the Wolfington Welcome Center lawn. The semi-an-
nual event featured six food trucks offering cuisines from different cultures. The purpose of the event was to give attendees an opportunity to learn about different cultures by tasting food from the many different communities on campus.
“It’s honestly just a great way to broaden your cultural and food horizons,” said Dana Ortgiesen ’22, vice president of SJUPride and member of the Taste of the World Committee. “I’m hoping that a lot of other students that maybe don’t [have] the widest palette per se were able to broaden their horizons a little bit.”
This sold-out event was free to students, faculty and staff, who had to register for tickets in advance. The event was hosted by Bridging the Gap, a Center for Inclusion and Diversity (CID) student-run group that works to increase awareness of the diversity and different cultures represented on campus.
“I think that Taste of the World and Bridging the Gap really want to make sure that St Joe’s is as inclusive and diverse as possible,” said Christine Nasife ’24, cultural ambassador for the Asian Student Association (ASA). “Inclusivity is the other part that we need to strive for. So, I think this event really helps with bringing together that unity and inclusivity.”
At the event Lorenzo and Martinez decided to try the mac and cheese from the Barkley BBQ truck, which offered BBQ chicken, pulled pork, turkey wings, baked mac and cheese, collard greens and potato salad. They said they were happy to see so many people attending as well.
“We’re both Hispanic, so I think we both wanted to just support the diversity on campus,” Lorenzo said. “And it’s physically a great way to bring people in and share awareness.”
Each attendee was able to sample fare from two different trucks, which included Paper-mill-Fresh Asian Kitchen, Munchie Machine, Barkley BBQ LLC, Nafi, Scoops ‘N’ Smiles and Burrito Feliz.
The trucks represented cuisine from different cultures that related to clubs on campus. These included: the African-Caribbean Student Association, the Black Student Union, the Asian Student Association, the Hawks of India and the Latinx Student Association.
Nasife was excited for students to experience a part of her culture through the Paper-mill-Fresh Asian Kitchen food truck.
“We just really want to try to spread awareness and appreciate Asian culture, because it’ll help spread diversity within St. Joe’s,” Nasife said. “I try to kind of get the word out there, like how awesome it is and how diverse Asian culture in general actually is.”
Before covid-19, Taste of the World was held in The Perch and was catered by different restaurants. However, the organization adapted to covid and switched to food trucks in spring 2021, eager to keep this cultural opportunity available at St. Joe’s.
“With covid precautions in place, we still wanted to have it so people could have that space to still have a good time and still experience different cultures and come out and support,” said DeNisa Sondai ’23, who has been on Bridging the Gap’s executive board for the last two years.
Nasife said she admires the event’s ability to bring attention to the CID and the students and organizations involved in it.
“I think Taste of the World is an amazing event to have because it brings the CID forward so much more than we normally have,” said Nasife. “I know not many students know about the CID, and the smaller organizations within it, so I think the Taste of the World really brings those students together.”
