When White People Shame Your Culture's Food-Then Make It Trendy Summary

Rice for Thanksgiving by Jocelyn Fong states that what comes to her mind with Thanksgiving celebration is her grandma’s eleven children poring turkey gravy over rice and the way she feels and relates to the representation of different cultures. Likewise, the reason why she has this image of Thanksgiving is that of the different roots of cultures she has, she has Asian, American, and Anglo influences in relation to culture. First, Fong was confused about what she must fit into a culture completely and that only was related to foods and traditions; this thought was influenced the generation of her grandma’s parents with the political issues and government applications in the United States where Chinese people were considered illegal immigrants

In an article written by Amy S. Choi entitled, “What Americans can Learn From Other Food Cultures,” Choi discusses food in ways that pertain to ones culture. Today, our younger generation has become less thankful for simple, traditional foods and more wanting of foods prepared in less traditional ways, almost as if, “the more outlandish the better.” Choi mentioned in her article that, “those slightly younger have been the beneficiaries of the restaurant culture exploding in Shanghai” (Choi, Amy. “What Americans Can Learn From Other Food Cultures.” Ideastedcom. 18 Dec. 2014. Web. 17 June 2015) being from America I agree with her statement. Food in many cultures has become a status symbol; I believe that dining in expensive restaurants that serve

Food is a highly unique commodity, for though it is essential to every single person on earth, there is no other commodity which is acquired and consumed in such diverse ways. It is a multifaceted social instrument, serving to connect people across cultural boundaries while simultaneously drawing lines through society, dividing people across race and class. Though we have discussed the connections between certain alternative food movements and the creation of a ‘white’ identity, I contend that the social mechanisms of food extend beyond the production of ‘whiteness’, and are intricately bound up in the creation and perpetuation of other racial and class identities in Western society. As the ways in which we consume and engage with food

Well-known author Amy Tan, in her short narrative “Fish Cheeks”, writes about the embarrassment she has because of her culture and ethnicity. She talks about this when a white father and his son, Robert, whom she likes, want to come over her house, and as a chinese-american young woman, she is a little ashamed of the chinese food. She also is ashamed by the type of house and environment she lives in.

Food can partially shape a person's cultural identity. Geeta Kothari explores the cultural nuances between American and Indian food in the essay, “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?” She expresses this through the symbolism of food, growing up and living between two different cultures. Kothari begins her story as a nine-year-old child curiously wanting to eat the same foods as American children: tuna salad sandwiches and hot dogs. She does not have the guidance from her mother regarding American food and culture. Kothari’s mom curbs the curiosity by reluctantly letting her daughter indulge in a can of tuna fish. Kothari describes the open can of tuna fish as “pink and shiny, like an internal organ” and she wondered if it was botulism (947). The way

Something as simple as a food influenced how she saw herself and beyond that into the changing patterns in society. She recounts the contrasting ideas about the diversity of culture throughout history. When she recounts her own experiences in saying, “I learned heritage is something to be celebrated” then her grandmothers, “the central focus of American immigration policy was keeping the Chinese out”, she is acknowledging that we are living in different times than those her grandmother lived through. Fong came to her new understanding of how truly American she is. With the two sides of her family’s history, Fong is able to say that she can see how strong her heritage is even if she does not know how to speak Cantonese or celebrate the Chinese New Year. She sees her culture is both Chinese and American no matter what box she

Paula J. Johnson, a curator at the National Museum of American History, says that foods such as wasabi, Sriracha, and hummus would have been considered “foreign foods” 50 years ago, but today they are common, everyday staples for many people across America. Ramanathan briefly states before this that the only constant in American foods is global influence and then goes on to say that it’s not uncommon in modern times for people to eat, for example, Thai food for lunch and then Italian for dinner. She writes that America has people from all backgrounds, cultures, and countries and their influences are present everywhere, especially the food. In America today, there are so many influences on our foods that using the term ethnic to describe them makes it sound foreign when the food is something people eat every

During yumcha, there is a wide range of food from steamed buns to spare ribs to fried vegetable dumplings to chicken feet. I generally don’t eat chicken feet or animal offals because I don’t like their texture or taste, but native-Chinese people often misinterpret my pickiness for a sign of my American upbringing. They assume that I don’t eat chicken feet or animal offals because I am an American who disapproves of eating organs or bones, not because I am an individual who dislikes the slimy texture of liver. Thus when I eat with native Chinese people, they will use my food choice to distinguish me as from a native Chinese, and instead label me as a jook-sing, or a Chinese person raised in a Western

The third most important aspect in her metamorphosis in to “being Chinese” is tasting authentic Chinese food. Jing-mei is excited to taste the food showing her internal yearning to understand her heritage. She experiences true Chinese hoisin sauce. Now that she has tasted foods that seems common to Chinese people Jing-mei connects more with the culture. She feels more Chinese than

Another great sense of food is the warm soft tortillas that carry delicious pieces of juicy beef fajita. At restaurants, the sight of the steam leaving the food, creates a mouth to water as well as a pleasant feeling of home. However, not every place is going to capture the appetizing taste of food. Say for example, school. I remember one time in elementary they were serving tamales. I was so excited to see a Hispanic dish, I know I had the biggest smile on my face. I continued to my class table and sat down. All of a sudden my friend sitting across from me, a friend that happens to be Asian, questioned, “You like that?” Bluntly, I responded “Yeah, why?” In which he responded, “Oh, I didn’t like it.” Tamales, might I add is special occasion meal, that is prepared in a dried corn husk. Masa de Maize or the dough would be spread against the dried corn husk. Then it would be filled with chicken, pork, or cheese. Then the components would be wrapped by the corn husk to be

In “The Myth of the Latin Woman” and “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?” the subject of feeling like an outcast due to being of a non-white culture is examined. From the perspectives of two different women from two separate cultures (Puerto Rican and Indian), a series of anecdotes show the discrimination they face throughout their lives, all because their heritage does not match up with the world around them. “The Myth of the Latin Woman” focuses primarily on the stereotypes of Puerto Rican women, and how these stereotypes have followed the author no matter where she traveled. “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?” focuses on the lack of belongingness felt by the author both in childhood and her adult life through food.“The Myth

In ‘A Short Essay on Being, Jenny Boully focuses on the ideas of how power and stereotyping are the driving factors that feed into Adichie’s view on the danger of a single story. Everyday, we are surrounded by headlines and events occurring around the world, though unsurprisingly the majority of it is predominately American news. Our cultural and economic power is remarkably influential that we flood our American ways of doing things onto the shores of others through many aspects, one in particular is having the ability to drastically alter cultural foods and still labeling it as it’s original formula . In many ways, Boully uses her love for native food in her stories to show how self-righteous and powerful Americans can be when she hears one of her friends say, “Oh you haven’t had Thai food?

In 2010, as my sisters-in-law and their families prepared to immigrate to the United States (U.S.), my husband and I did all we can to advise and assist them in getting ready for their long journey from Nigeria to the U.S. To our surprise, contrary to every advice we gave them, in preparation for life in the US, they started out with trying American fast foods of different kinds. Culture shock is expected for anyone who immigrates to the US, regardless of where they come from. The type(s) of help the person(s) gets on how to overcome it and their adherence, most often, determines the future outcome of life in their new country of residence.

How could food, such an inanimate object, have so much value in many different cultures? I am going to write about Tampopo because food has a strong presence in it. I want to show that food in Tampopo has cultural value and demonstrates the blending of different cultures through the food. Others have written about the obsession of food that is shown in the film and the aesthetics of preparing and capturing the beauty of ramen. But, I want to continue proving that the food in Tampopo has cultural values tied to them. Tampopo displays a wide variety of food that mirrors the culture of modern Japan. Tampopo especially shows the different cultural food that is eaten: Japanese, Chinese, and European. While traditional Japanese culture has been

Around the globe, people are very fond trying and experiencing food they have never tasted. Sometimes your own ethnic food and taste can appear tedious to you at a certain amount of time. One of the most popular ethnic foods in America is the Chinese cuisine. Society is so blindly in love with it, they cannot seem to notice that Chinese food in America is not the authentic food in China. In addition, American fast food that goes overseas, have misplaced its authenticity as well as Chinese food in America due to many valid reasons. The conclusion of authenticity has raised an argument whether for what reasons why Chinese food has lost its authenticity. Moreover, the different reasons why there is a lack of authenticity in ethnic Chinese