Lunar New Year dishes from Taste of MP restaurant. Clockwise, from top: Whole chicken, whole steamed fish with ginger and scallions, fried whole shrimp, clams with black bean sauce. Credit: Mel Melcon | Los Angeles Times via TNS
Ziqi Chen moved from Fujian, China, to Virginia when she was in high school. Her favorite foods are egg-drop soup with seaweed, pork belly and her mom’s homemade soup.
“Every time I FaceTime with my mom, I say, ‘Mom, I really miss the soup you make,’ because soup is a big deal where I’m from in the southern part of China,” Chen, a fourth-year in economics and finance, said. “Other people who are from the same area might feel the same way because with every meal they are used to eating soup, and here it’s not an option.”
Chen isn’t the only student far from home — Ohio State enrolled over 5,500 international students last year, according to the university.
Undergraduate Student Government Vice President Derek Moore, a fourth-year in information systems, said after talking with Chen, he spearheaded an initiative to create a more diverse array of food options for students at Ohio State.
“[Chen] mentioned some of the things she wished she had here in the United States, specifically at OSU, because it’s more convenient to use either your dining dollars or meal plan,” Moore said. “She understood that Ohio State had some options, but there were simple things they didn’t necessarily have, like snacks, foods near holidays and breakfast items.”
Chen said talking with students from different cultures would be beneficial when adding new campus foods, because students would be able to express their wants and needs.
“Aside from the Mongolian grill, the grab-and-go Chinese section of Scott is very, very Americanized,” Chen said. “Another thing is the lack of Asian soup options. It’s always chicken noodle soup or tomato or cheddar. Miso soup would be so easy to make.”
Moore said he took the issue to university dining, where he started creating the project to bring in more inclusive dining.
“When you are in a place that is a very rigorous academic environment, you’re away from your friends and family, sometimes not even being able to travel back for break,” Moore said. “It’s just very nice to have those little pieces of your culture to make you feel connected to the place you came from.”
Moore said to kick off the initiative, six new dishes were served at select university dining locations — including the Union Market and Traditions at Kennedy, Morill and Scott — on the Lunar New Year Jan. 22. The dishes included doughnuts, lo mein, pork buns, pork dumplings and momos, according to USG’s Instagram. The meals were chosen after survey results of feedback from 178 students were shared with university dining as well as a taste test with over 50 participants.
The goal of the new foods is to appeal to international students, Moore said, but students from any culture will eat it as well.
“That’s also just a part of cultural sharing and cultural knowledge — being able to share that experience with others,” Moore said.
Zia Ahmed, senior director of student dining, said due to the popularity of the event, USG is currently working with Dining Services to have diverse food options available for students permanently.
“We will continue to explore opportunities both with our regular menu items that we’re offering. For example, every week we are offering Indian-inspired cuisine at the Union Market,” Ahmed said. “It’s been part of Dining Services’ strategic plan because diversification of food is really important not only at The Ohio State University but in general everywhere.”
Ahmed said by working closely with organizations like USG, student dining can get a sense of what ethnic foods students want to see in dining halls to “introduce new items” into the menu. Ahmed said students can also expect to see newer, more diverse foods in grab-and-go cafes around campus.
“We will continue to introduce newer foods as season specials, then as we see more people are enjoying it, we are going to make them more mainstream,” Ahmed said.
Ahmed said it is unclear when students will get to try these new foods, as the process can be quite lengthy. Depending on the food item, it could take anywhere from a few months to a semester to taste the new foods. They have not yet specified which foods will come first.
“Something as simple as an Asian-inspired doughnut could be within a few weeks, but if we are trying to source a unique spice, it may take a little bit longer,” Ahmed said.
