On Oct. 15, the Globalization, Identity, and U.S. Food Cultures class traveled to the Texas State Fair to explore the development of foods today and how Texas’ cuisine has been affected by different cultures.  

In 2022, Upper School history teacher Sidrah Khan proposed the idea of a history class focused on the impact immigration and major world events had on food worldwide to Upper School History Department Chair, Amy Bresie ’96.  

She drew her inspiration from Padma Laksmi’s Hulu series ‘Taste the Nation’ as she liked the way it focused on cultural diversity and its impact on food.  

“[Taste the Nation] kind of showed a different immigrant group in the United States and their contributions to American culture through their food,” Khan said.  

The semester-long class was only offered in the spring, until 2024, when Khan decided to take a break from teaching the class, voicing that teaching Food History, along with Global History and Advanced Placement European History became difficult.  

This school year, the elective has been reoffered to juniors and seniors in both the fall and spring, allowing students enrolled in this class in the fall to take a field trip to the Texas State Fair.  

“I thought that the State Fair would be a great way to tie things into Texas history, but then also immigrant history and U.S. cultures,” Khan said.  

Students enjoyed the first-hand experience of seeing the effects different ethnic groups’ immigration have had on the U.S. This was especially seen at the many exhibits and collections around the fair. 

“We also went to an African American museum at the fair, and it was like a Nelson Mandela exhibit, and I thought that was really cool,” Trey Davis, a senior in the class, said.  

Not only did the exhibits connect with the students, but so did interactions with vendors.  

Senior Taliana Berrelez and junior Nicholas Ramos spoke to a street vendor, Mr. Picoso, translated to Mr. Spicy in English, about their shared Hispanic roots and Latin American foods.  

“I just noticed a lot of the colors and the little candies that he had,” Berrelez said.  

These candies, called chamoy, caused Berrelez to strike up a conversation with Mr. Picoso in Spanish. Ramos heard them and walked over, sparking what would become a cultural connection.  

“It was really cool to find that part of my identity, and Nicholas’ as well, in the State Fair,” Berrelez said. “The origins of that food was just something that I call home.”  

Other than the chamoy both Berrelez and Ramos purchased, students saw a variety of foods, including a donut sandwich, cheesecake on a stick and fried lemonade.  

Students were required to research a specific food before the field trip and then try it. Senior Geneva Smith-Kuzmich researched and then bought a fried Oreo, a staple at the state fair.  

“We go up to the [stand] where they serve it, and we’re like asking them questions,” Smith-Kuzmich said. 

This interactive field trip helped students explore how deeply food and people today have been influenced by different cultures and societies over time. 

“We see how history relates and how that [food’s] been shaped and why it’s at the state fair,” Smith-Kuzmich said.