Growing up in a low-income family I have learned to be grateful for everything we have. One main thing my parents always placed importance on is food and food waste. We had a budget for food and we couldn't afford to just buy random things and name-brand or not eat leftovers these are things that remain important to me today. Part of the reason I joined culinary school is that my family and I would bond over cooking together especially when I was younger. We all took tasks to get dinner done quickly since we would get home at the time most families are already having dinner. We would play music or listen to soap operas and it was rewarding to sit down, relax and talk about our day after working hard for the meal. I love our food, my mom is Guatemalan and my stepdad is Mexican and our food is a fusion of both. I never realized how special that was until I met people from different cultures once I got older. My friends and family would ask my parents to cook for them, especially their carnitas tacos. The carnitas tacos were originally a Mexican recipe from my stepdad's family and then my mom replaced some ingredients she couldn't find in the store, with our Guatemalan ingredients at home. The result was delicious! And it represented our family, a little bit from both cultures in one. Besides us bonding over dinner and the fusion of our cultures, my parents instilled in me since a kid, the importance of not wasting food. Sometimes our leftovers made the best new dishes. If we had chicken quesadillas the night before and some chicken breast leftover, we would take any veggies from the fridge and some tomatoes and add them to the shredded chicken and then make some chicken tostadas with some beans and cheese. Not only would we stretch food out, but it was also efficient for our budget. I wasn't always so open about my culture, in school kids would make fun of me for bringing food from home and they would say it looked disgusting. I hated school lunch and the milk with that school food would make me sick. I loved my food from home and wondered how they could call it disgusting. I now know they were probably curious because they've never had it before, because they wanted to have it or wished they had brought food from home instead of eating the school lunch. Now in culinary school I see how different everyone's relationship and access to food is, many have a larger knowledge than I do, but that doesn't mean I am any less. I love to learn from them and to share my experiences because they make me who I am. Many people have told me they see how passionate I am and that is because I care because my parents taught me to care nd to be mindful. I hope to one day teach others how to budget with food and how to reduce their waste and I want to help those who need hello with access to food.

I am passionate about culinary school because food should be accessible to all, and that isn’t always the case. When I was in middle school I was waiting in the lunch line and grabbed the plate that looked the yummiest, then my classmate excitedly grabbed the one she wanted, when we went up to punch in our student ID we usually waited for each other, I stood next to her while she was putting her numbers in. Thats when the lunch lady snatched her plate away and said she didn’t have any money in her account, then said if she wanted to eat to grab a sandwich. The sandwich looked old and dry, my classmate and I sat down and she looked sad, she never paid for food, we all had the food assistance program, but for some reason it was taken away from her. I gave her my food and I could tell she was embarrassed. That story was important for many reasons, first off a students food was taken away in front of the others, we were in middle school which is an awkward stage already and being embarrassed in that way didn’t help. Second of all, that food could not be served again, the lady just let it sit on the table until it got cold and thrown away. That food could have been given to her and just allowed for my classmates mom to figure out why she hadn’t gotten the meal aid. Lastly, to deny a child of food is bad enough, and then to offer a small sandwich which was not at all appetizing has dehumanizing. I care about every meal I make, from the ingredients to the way of preparation to the presentation. I live in an apartment so I am not really able to grow my own veggies and fruits, but my college does have a gardening program and class which I hope to join to learn more. The chefs in my university always emphasize the importance of knowing where your food comes from. Only then do you see why it is important to reduce waste, to find ways to use every single part of that thing. I am passionate because I come from a family of farmers, my grandparents raised chickens, pigs, ducks, coffee and corn. I saw each stage of those things and how they ended up at our table. I miss being able to experience the fruits of my family’s home country Guatemala. I miss them freshness and here nothing gets close to my grandparents homemade coffee, their tortillas made from the corn they grew or the chicken soup made from the chickens and veggies a result of their labor. Even though we didn’t have a lot of money we were rich in regards to our land, our products and we never denied a person a meal. I care because I’ve seen the times where others haven’t. Ive seen food be made just to be produced and sold, but I’ve seen food be created from seeds and grains to meals of love. I want to be the chef than can provide for those who need a little more love in life.