Guacamole, Tzedakah and Friends

Food has an amazing capacity to bring people together around a good cause. A couple weeks ago I saw this in action at theme house event, called the Guac-off. While guacamole might not always seem to be the first choice vehicle for community service, it was just that. After all, who doesn't love guacamole? The competition was an open call to all theme houses to make their own guacamole, which would then be judged by Wheaton faculty and Staff members, who would pick the winner and the winner would win the proceeds from the one dollar admission price to donate to a charity of of their choice. It was a chance for people to show off their culinary skills and creativity, which is something that does not often happen on a college campus. But it was also chance to do something you might love while also giving back to the community. Making the guacamole meant more than just buying a few delicious avocados and googling ways to spice up a recipe but it was also an exercise in mindful action. Every sliced onion, every pinch of salt became a chance to do something beyond yourself, which may sound dramatic but it's true. It made me think about my actions in terms of how the everyday could be extraordinary. Food is a necessary life force, something that I think about all the time, but how often does that thinking about food lead to a greater good? Unfortunately not as often as I'd like. The competition was held at the Jewish Life house, bringing to mind the tradition of Tzedakah, giving back to community in Jewish Faith. Though Tzedakah isn't a tradition I knew a lot about before hand, it's one, along with similar traditions in other cultures that has always struck me has having a certain beauty to it. While religion can manipulated and used to destructive ends, traditions like Tzedakah in Judaism and often times Islam as well, is a reminder of the humanity capacity to care for each other. While neither Jewish or Muslim, myself such human traditions are important to me because they are an acknowledgement of the unequal distribution of resources and power and the ways in which they have been combated across thousands of years. The Guac-off, was a way to connect with that history as well as with the Wheaton community around us. I got to combine my heritage, that of a Mexican-American with the heritage and traditions of others. The different guacamole's reflected the backgrounds of those who made them as well as the spirits of the houses who participated. Some of the dishes were experimental, mixing guacamole with Mediterranean flavors, or seasonal New England vegetables (squash) and some were classic that reminded me of summer picnics with me family. The winner? Not to brag but myself and Ivy took home the prize with a pomegranate, tequila and habanero recipe. The money raised will be donated to the Road Island Center for Sexual Health and Pleasure, an organization dedicated to sex positive education. The Guac-off became representative of so many important things in my life , food, social justice, history and sex education.