Student Government Association hosted Taste of a Rattler, an annual homecoming week event, October 26 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Florida A&M University park, behind the Benjamin L. Perry building.
The event was for food businesses to come out and promote themselves while students indulge in a variety of food by receiving one free meal ticket to any of the available vendors of their choice. SGA purchased a limited quantity of meals from featured food and beverage trucks like Irie Ice and I Heart Mac & Cheese. Just like every other year, food sold out quickly.
Sahelanda Gelin, a communication psychology graduate student, is a student government member and the student chair of Taste of a Rattler.
“We provided over 300 meals this year for students and the attendance was more than what we expected,” Gelin said.
Electronic engineering technology student Tamren Smith has never been able to attend Taste of a Rattler in the past due to class conflicts, but he enjoyed his experience.
“I got to interact with a lot of people and it was a great turn out, the lines were crazy though, the food was good too,” Smith said. “I ordered a chicken teriyaki pineapple bowl from Sam’s Pineappletit.”
Sam Burgess is the owner and operator of Pineapetite, a food and beverage company. This is his third year doing the event, and argues that it’s his most successful one yet.
“Just to be able to see some of my former classmates who are now faculty as well as seeing new faces, especially freshmen who may have not heard of our business before. It gives us an opportunity for more exposure and to gain new clientele for our business,” Burgess said.
During his first year, he networked with on-campus faculty, staff and students for the opportunity to be a featured vendor. After becoming a fan-favorite, he has returned by invitation from SGA.
Unlike previous years, the event took place over two days which allowed students to attend both days and get two meals or go on a day that works best with their schedules.
The second day was Seafood Thursday where the crowd enjoyed a seafood boil.
“We decided to split it because we wanted to do something that fit the theme of the epic return,” Gelin says. “We want students to really enjoy homecoming this year.”