Authentic Cuisine

I really enjoyed reading both pieces of writing. I can relate to both pieces of writing since I have a Nigerian father and African-American mother. So I’m literally “African-American”. Personally I don’t like the term because for us we are just American; if we were natural born citizens we should be classified as just American or preferably black. Nevertheless, in Lily Wong’s essay “Eating the Hyphen” the persuasive language that she uses is ethos driven because she is describing her Chinese-American heritage in real authentic Chinese cuisine. Wong talks about how she eats her Chinese dumplings differently than how they are supposed to be eaten traditionally for example in the text she says “so whether or not it perverts some thousand-year-old tradition of the proper way to eat dumplings, this is what makes [her] happy” (Wong 43). Eating Chinese dumplings with a fork, a knife, and chopsticks with ketchup is unique in comparison to the way authentic Chinese eat their dumplings but that’s what makes her “Chinese-American”, Wong is literally a hybrid of cultures. I can relate to that completely in the sense that in Nigeria when you eat Egusi or Okra soup you’re supposed to eat it with FuFu, which is boiled yams or cassava plants pounded into a doughy paste to dip into the soup. For me personally I don’t like to eat the FuFu that often because of the texture so I usually eat the soup by itself. But when I went to Nigeria my aunts, uncles, and cousins thought I was weird because I didn’t appreciate the FuFu. So I can understand the feeling of not being an authentic Nigerian because I’m not, but I’m still proud of my heritage. In response to Bryant Terry’s short piece “Reclaiming True Grits” I agree with his criticism of how African-American cuisine is being falsely advertised as harmful and a major reason why African-Americans have the health issues with diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. The health problems in the black community definitely can be attributed to poor food choices but soul food is not solely to blame. Terry goes into detail about the diversity of African-American cuisine and uses persuasive language to dispel these stereotypes. I think Terry uses Pathos and Logos to convey his point to his audience with facts but also personal experience to invoke emotion. When he talks about the misrepresentation of African-American eating habits “romanticizing comfort foods that should be eaten occasionally and presenting these foods as standard fare not only rewrites history, but also normalizes unhealthy eating habits for African-Americans who are unaware of their historical cuisine” (Terry 83). Terry does a great job of showing how marketing and the media can alter opinions about how much of these foods were being consumed that much of a daily basis. 

College Food

As a college student I can relate to Camille Kingsolver's understanding of there being limited dining options on a college campus. I also agree with the notion that our generation knows less and less about food production domestically or internationally. Not many people can have the exposure to farm life and producing their own food quite like the Kingsolver family. That awareness is important when making conscious decisions about what type of food to consume and whether it can sustain our environment. Too many food options are detrimental to our environment because of how they are mass produced, affecting the health of the animals or produce, and the cleanliness.

Body Image Problems

After reading Susan Bordo's piece called "Not just "a white girl's thing": The Changing face of food and body image problems" I started to realize how diverse the population of people who are affected by these ailments. I agree with this piece that the media plays a significant role of what images are projected of the perfect body for men or women. Also the cultural aspect of what we expect our bodies to look like puts added pressure on ourselves to set unrealistic goals for our bodies. From Bordo's piece there is now evidence that males are having body image problems due to media projections from Men's Health Magazine and superstar pro-athletes. Young men are unhappy with their natural physiques because of what our media and culture portray as beautiful bodies. Body image insecurities can affect any race and has become more prevalent in recent years. Susan Bordo's piece highlights how societal constraints are causing people to become dissatisfied with their bodies due to the pressure to try and become what is culturally acceptable. These issues are no longer just an upper class, white girl's disillusionment with her figure but a category about the lack of a diet or the over-consumption in someone's diet that could affect anyone.    

Understanding a "junk food junkie"

After reading Jill McCorkle's short story "Her Chee-to Heart" it made me think of food in a negative way. Food can become addictive if you're putting the wrong things in your body. In this present day and age there are so many preservatives added to food that it becomes less of its natural state. The artificial additives make people crave the bad things for our bodies. Obesity is an issue in the United States because there's such an easy access to fast food and processed food. Fried foods and junk food are in such an abundance in the United States that citizens are having to battle with weight gain. Maybe its a cultural thing because our country is so fast paced and results oriented that people don't take the time to enjoy their food. A light breakfast with snacking in between lunch and then having dinner before 8 pm will make sure that there's no excess weight gain. Also Americans consume an absurd amount of protein which leads to higher cancer rates among our citizens and heart disease. More rice and vegetables should be introduced into our meals instead of just meat and starches.

"What the World Eats"

I'm back again with another post about "What the World Eats" as I just observed pictures of different families all over the world and what they like to consume in a given week. So my first observation that I noticed was that traditionally westernized families consist of just the parents and the children, while other families have extended family members in the household. I also noticed that the westernized families in the United States, Europe, and Australia were buying more groceries per week than their African, Asian, or Middle Eastern counterparts that had more members in their families.

Why does food matter?

My name is Chuka Anyafo and I'm a student-athlete at UNC-Asheville. I want to discuss why food matters and how it enhances our human experience. I think food is important for a number of reasons. It's necessary for sustaining life and fueling our bodies.  It can also be viewed as an extension of a particular group's ethnicity or culture. Depending on where in the world a person lives, certain resources will be available for people while they could be inaccessible for others. So with that in mind, people's diets across the world can differ significantly if they live in a city or a rural area. A person's diet will also differ greatly depending on the socioeconomic status of the person. I want to elaborate more on the cultural aspect of food. The way a meal is prepared and consumed is important to a particular group's cultural identity and what makes us different. The preparing of a meal involves skill, precision, and flair. As a group of people come together to enjoy the meal, memories can be made and the aura of nostalgia will make the event more meaningful. Food is important to bring families closer together and also to encourage strangers to engage one another over a meal.