Behind the Tables at the Global Picnic

There are many events at the beginning of the semester and USUSA, with the participation of the International Student Council and Access and Diversity organization, are making sure they aren’t being left out.

This year, the global picnic was hosted on the Taggart Student Center Patio and included multiple different cultural groups. Among these groups was the Polynesian Student Union, the Latino Student Union, the Black Student Union, the Native American Student Council, the Dominican Student Union and the Vietnamese Association.

The goal of this event was to introduce more diversity to Utah State University by sharing the foods that come from these different cultures in addition to bringing together the different cultural groups at one event. And once all the proceeds were gathered by the different clubs and either used to continue funding the clubs’ events or used to create scholarship opportunities for USU students.

“This event is so cool because the Access and Diversity group and the International Student Council come together as a multi-cultural and international group to put on this event” said Luis Armenta, USUSA Organizations and Diversity Vice President and director of the Global Picnic. “This event is also a great way to see the roots of these students from different countries and see what they ate growing up” And there was different food at the event, too.

“We decided to serve wings at our booth and we are already completely out,” said secretary Jasmine Lee.

She wasn’t the only one with food that students couldn’t get enough of, though. In addition to three different kinds of wings served by the Black Student Union, there was tacos served by the Latino Student Union, fried bread bites served by the Native American Student Council, and spring rolls served by the Vietnamese Association.

There were also also foods sold that were less familiar such as Musbi, a common snack served in Polynesian homes.

“Musbi is basically spam and teriyaki rice wrapped in seaweed, said Matt Kimbrough, president of the Polynesian Student Union “It’s very good.”

Other groups though might beg to differ on who had the best food there, however.

“I don’t mean to brag, but the Dominican Republic has the best food,” said Secretary of the Dominican Student Union, Carlos Frias.

The Vietnamese Association also was excited to share food from their culture.

“There’s no official Vietnamese restaurants in Logan so we are excited to share some of our food with Utah State University,” said Hung Pham, a representative of the Vietnamese Association.

But despite the differences in culture and the differences in food all groups at the Global Picnic could agree on one thing.

“There is no better way to share your culture than by sitting down with them and eating and talking,” Lee said, “and here at the Global Picnic, no matter where you’re from, you get the opportunity to do that.”

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