Kevin Perez-Lopez
he/him | KEH-Vin
Pilot Light Fellowship Alumni Network Summer Intern
As a Fellowship Alumni Network Intern, Kevin Perez-Lopez oversees The official Pilot Light Fellowship Alumni Network Newsletter, helping write and edit articles included in the newsletter. They are passionate about making sure others know about Food Education. Growing up in a Mexican neighborhood, he was around many people that suffered from diabetes, and through school he was taught the importance of healthy foods and ways to combat negative eating habits. His goal is to be able to spread the knowledge of Food Education to others, so there can be more people aware about these health issues. He attended Infinity Math Science & Technology High School where he participated in an early college program which granted him an associate’s degree as well as a high school diploma. In the fall, he will be attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Favorite Food Education Standard: FES #5 – Food impacts health.
In my junior year of high school my Spanish teacher implemented food education into our class and taught us the importance of eating healthy and exercising. She was Mexican, and so was everyone else in the class, so she taught us how although our culture has very good tasting foods, they’re not very healthy. Many of us Mexicans suffer from diabetes and it’s because we are not aware of the negative effects of the food we consume. By trying to educate others on food, it can help prevent these issues and it’s something that I want to do.
A favorite food memory:
When I turned seven, my parents had rented a clown. Every single kid that was there with me was terrified of him, and so was I. We pretended to have fun during the activities, but honestly, we did it just because we thought he would kidnap us if we didn’t. When the clown had left, we were all left pretty terrified. My parents then took out this cake, an awesome skyscraper Spider-Man chocolate cake. It was him fighting Doc-Ock, Lizard, Sandman, and more. Suddenly, we had forgotten all about the clown and ate so much cake that it felt as if our stomachs were really going to explode. We all laid in the Batman bouncy castle telling each other jokes and what games we should buy for the Xbox. That was the last time the entire family was together, and I think about it pretty often.