To celebrate SVSU’s diverse international student population, the Marketplace at Doan hosted the International Food Fest on Tuesday, Nov. 11, for  members of the community and university.

The Marketplace was closed from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. to set up for the event. Participating international students, who prepared for days prior to the event, had decorated their stations and set up their food to represent their native cultures.

Vanguard photo | Cody Shrader

e Marketplace at Doan invited community members, students, faculty and staff to sample cuisine from various cultures at the annual International Food Festival on Tuesday, Nov. 11. SVSU international students prepared entrées and desserts considered traditional fare in their home countries.

The Marketplace offered community members, faculty, staff and students many different types of food. Stations offered options such as fried breads, noodles, rice and chicken prepared in different ways and traditional desserts.

There were options for everyone, even American food for those who were not as willing to venture outside their comfort zone.

“(I think) it’s important to try new food. This isn’t here every day and food from different cultures kind of makes you feel like you’ve been there,” Ashley Ewald, an exercise science third year, said.

Ewald was attending the International Food Fest for the first time in her three years at SVSU.

“People might come to like the food from other countries and spark an interest to make them invest more into looking into those countries,” Ewald said.

In addition to introducing varieties in taste, preparation and presentation of food, the festival also emphasized and celebrated other cultural differences.

“Well, I definitely liked all of the different food dishes and being introduced to new things that I hadn’t been a part of before and talking to people from different cultures and trying their food,” international business major Gavin Knake said.