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Food And Cultural Suppropriation In The Culture Of Food

Decent Essays

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “there are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread”. Food is one of the many things that is appreciated and loved by everyone all around the world. Each geographical region of the world most likely has its own type of food or some kind of variation to it which eventually adds up to a lot of cuisines. The larger the number of regions, the larger the number of cuisines. So, one must be thinking, how does food relate to cultural appropriation? What is the relationship between them? In depth, everyone eats or at least tries a dish that is not particularly from his or her culture which is completely okay but it becomes a problem when one steals an aspect or a factor from a culture and try to change it to make it theirs. This is where the term “cultural appropriation” comes in play. This issue is big these days, and also the most discussed about because culture is very important and sensitive to many. Cultural appropriation is the utilization of an element from one culture by the people from another culture without having a permission granted. The elements could be a culture's traditions, food, style, fashion, beliefs and such. For example, restaurants or food chains using the Indian term “chai” in their drink names. Chai means tea but there are so many drinks out there that are named “Chai Tea Latte” or “Chai Tea Mocha” which makes zero sense because chai is tea. As an Indian myself, I really do not

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