By Pham Tran
Hashtag Vietnamese. Hashtag Asian food. Hashtag Asian people. This combo makes up the stereotype “Fall Fest has no diversity!” at this annual event at Fountain Valley High School (FVHS) as it seems like clubs prefer selling more Asian food instead of offering a variety of food cultures.
But is this true? Does FVHS favor one ethnicity over another? Let’s dive deep into this matter and hear what clubs have to say!
Fall Fest is a fall fundraising event where clubs make and sell a variety of foods with fun attractions such as the haunted maze, inflatables and many more games for everyone to enjoy. The foods sold don’t often come from the board’s preferences of specific cultures. It’s all about what they can make and whether that handmade food guarantees to bring them profits.
What they can make comes from the food that they are familiar with, which leads us to the demographics of students at FVHS. Our school educates a population of 55.8% Asian students according to Niche, so around half of FVHS is familiar with Asian food and cultures.
The campus is located in the suburb of Little Saigon, the most populated Vietnamese area in the United States according to CSUF News. Because of this, a lot of Vietnamese heritage students attend FVHS. There is no favoritism towards any ethnicity but most students just know about Asian food the best as it is one of the most prevalent cultures in the county. Some clubs notice this themselves and are trying to include more American and European food as well as other ethnicities.
Sophomore Commission | Pad Kra Bao
Being one of the most delicious items on the menu at the dinner table, this Thai basil pork stole Madison Phan’s, president of Sophomore Commission, heart. Pad Kra Bao is one of Phan’s homemade favorites by her own personal chef, Phan’s mom, and only her recipe can hit the right spot.
“When she first made it for me, I really loved it because it was really easy to make. It took her like five or ten minutes to make it. She topped it off with a fried egg. We served that together and the flavors just went together really well,” Phan said.
Phan brought a sample portion of this Pad Kra Bao to her club meeting and had all board members try it. Just like her, they all loved it at first taste. Sophomore Commission committed to including this dish on their Fall Fest menu with an impressive record of selling out the last forty portions thirty minutes before the clock struck 10 p.m.
French Club | Quiches
The one and only quiche recipe from the overseas of Lorraine, France, made its arrival at Fall Fest by the French Club. John Ennen, president of the club, always enjoyed the homemade quiches made by his mom whenever she made them. If it wasn’t the Lorraine recipe, the quiches don’t feel right for Ennen.
“My mom made it many times for me before. This recipe is specifically from the Lorraine region of France. It would typically require the specific ham but unfortunately, that’s not available in the US, so we had to change it to ham. But yeah, that would be a specific one,” Ennen said.
Ennen also desired to spread French culture to FVHS students. They used this opportunity to introduce students to a new French food and hoped they liked it just like he does, every single time.
HALO | Lasagna
Unlike other clubs, Healing Autism through Learning and Opportunities (HALO) decided not to sell a favorite homemade food. Instead, President Emma Nguyen wanted to go with lasagna, an American dish, as it is something interesting and unique that people wouldn’t expect to see. Nguyen grew up in a Vietnamese household, so lasagna is also not one of the foods she is familiar with.
Nguyen noticed the scenario herself as there seemed to always be more Asian foods than Americans. She wanted to make Fall Fest a fun and enjoyable experience for both the club and FVHS students by making something that they are not always familiar with and haven’t gotten a chance to try before.
“I do notice how it’s always Asian food, and it doesn’t branch out. So I think that us, HALO, doing that was pretty cool and we broke the status quo of shifting from Asian foods to America,” Nguyen said.
In the end, Fall Fest does have diversity and we just need to take a walk around to see them all. So don’t let the Asian stereotypes prevent you from seeing the truth behind this story!
The next time you’re at Fall Fest, be sure to look at the foods from all cultural backgrounds and give them a taste if you’ve never gotten a chance to try them before.
