Food, Culture, and the Human Experience
Good afternoon everybody,
Welcome back to my health and wellness page! Lets face facts, everyone loves to eat food and finding a healthy meal in the 21st century can be difficult because of information overload. As I stated before in my first post I plan on bringing interesting topics to the forefront in terms of both health and wellness, and today I intend to focus on culture and diversity. Not to state the obvious but most of the meals we cherish today come from elsewhere and are preserved in both the customs and traditions of immigrant families looking to fulfill the promise of the American dream. One take away from watching shows such as Bizarre Foods, reruns of Parts Unknown, and the Booze Traveler is the shared human experience in how food unites people and defines culture at the same time.
While some meals were cultivated by the rich many other meals were cultivated out of necessity (think about black people and the impacts of of chattel slavery through out the Americas, war and famines through out much of Asia, and the ongoing Great Migration across most of Central America) and you have a recipe for meals that would be preserved in the culture and stand the test of time. Being a first generation American with a Guyanese heritage was a difficult path to navigate as a child growing up in the south. Mainly because there were very few Guyanese people in NC at the time I was growing up. Learning through trial and error that certain aspects of both cultures would be embraced and encouraged by some, other aspects would be shunned or ridiculed by others.
Although I was a picky eater myself through out most of elementary school, certain foods were just too good to ever be forgotten! Guyanese foods such as curry and roti, channa, metemgee, along with salt fish and bake are a few keystone cuisines in every Guyanese house hold. Never have I ever met a Guyanese who would turn down salt fish and bake, unless they are vegan then they would just eat the bake! Due to the browning of America, a small (yet loud) minority of people have felt disenfranchised, emboldened and have an overwhelming fear of being left behind economically by people with a darker pigment.
One politician rose through the ranks by beating the drum of white nationalism, racism, and xenophobia claiming that he alone would make "America Great Again". The question that no journalist has asked this politician or his (spokes woman) for that matter is "when has America been great"? The truth of the matter is that without the contributions of people of color, the America that we know today never would have existed. I write all this to say that if we love and cherish one another, like we love and cherish each others cultural cuisine than America would truly live up to the ideals that were etched into the constitution and bill of rights.
Some of my favorite foods and meals that I cook have a significant influence from Central/South America and the Caribbean. Cooking these cultural cuisines for others and watching them enjoy it helps bring people from all walks of life together rather than dividing us apart. One thing I know for sure, is that sharing food with one another breaks down barriers and opens room for dialogue.
Welcome back to my health and wellness page! Lets face facts, everyone loves to eat food and finding a healthy meal in the 21st century can be difficult because of information overload. As I stated before in my first post I plan on bringing interesting topics to the forefront in terms of both health and wellness, and today I intend to focus on culture and diversity. Not to state the obvious but most of the meals we cherish today come from elsewhere and are preserved in both the customs and traditions of immigrant families looking to fulfill the promise of the American dream. One take away from watching shows such as Bizarre Foods, reruns of Parts Unknown, and the Booze Traveler is the shared human experience in how food unites people and defines culture at the same time.
While some meals were cultivated by the rich many other meals were cultivated out of necessity (think about black people and the impacts of of chattel slavery through out the Americas, war and famines through out much of Asia, and the ongoing Great Migration across most of Central America) and you have a recipe for meals that would be preserved in the culture and stand the test of time. Being a first generation American with a Guyanese heritage was a difficult path to navigate as a child growing up in the south. Mainly because there were very few Guyanese people in NC at the time I was growing up. Learning through trial and error that certain aspects of both cultures would be embraced and encouraged by some, other aspects would be shunned or ridiculed by others.
Although I was a picky eater myself through out most of elementary school, certain foods were just too good to ever be forgotten! Guyanese foods such as curry and roti, channa, metemgee, along with salt fish and bake are a few keystone cuisines in every Guyanese house hold. Never have I ever met a Guyanese who would turn down salt fish and bake, unless they are vegan then they would just eat the bake! Due to the browning of America, a small (yet loud) minority of people have felt disenfranchised, emboldened and have an overwhelming fear of being left behind economically by people with a darker pigment.
One politician rose through the ranks by beating the drum of white nationalism, racism, and xenophobia claiming that he alone would make "America Great Again". The question that no journalist has asked this politician or his (spokes woman) for that matter is "when has America been great"? The truth of the matter is that without the contributions of people of color, the America that we know today never would have existed. I write all this to say that if we love and cherish one another, like we love and cherish each others cultural cuisine than America would truly live up to the ideals that were etched into the constitution and bill of rights.
Some of my favorite foods and meals that I cook have a significant influence from Central/South America and the Caribbean. Cooking these cultural cuisines for others and watching them enjoy it helps bring people from all walks of life together rather than dividing us apart. One thing I know for sure, is that sharing food with one another breaks down barriers and opens room for dialogue.
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