From Nashville Hot Chicken to Chinese Chicken Salad, popular discourse has increasingly turned to questions of culinary appropriation. From SFA’s standpoint, that’s a good thing. Concern over who cooks the cuisines of other cultures is not new, and the lines between appreciation and appropriation, between trend and tradition, are fuzzy at best.
The implications of culinary appropriation are both concrete (who benefits financially from selling other cultures’ foods?) and abstract (what do culinary representations of other cultures teach about those communities and their place in American culture?). They warrant informed analysis.
Below, we’ve compiled a brief primer on the topic and its recent treatment in the media. Read up, and let us know your thoughts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or by emailing [email protected]southernfoodways.org.
Recent Musings on Cultural and Culinary Appropriation
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, The Danger of a Single Story
- Rodney Carmichael, Why Cultural Appropriation Could Be the Best (and Worst) Thing for Soul Food’s Survival
- Hillary Dixler, How Gullah Cuisine Has Transformed Charleston Dining
- John T Edge and Tunde Wey, Who Owns Southern Food?
- Conor Friedersdorf, What’s Leafy, Green, and Eaten by Blacks and Whites?
- Maria Godoy and Kat Chow, When Chefs Become Famous Cooking Other Cultures’ Food
- Matt Hartman, Garden and Gut
- Sarah Joh, An Asian’s Take on Why Cultural Appropriation of Food Is Offensive
- Francis Lam, Cuisines Mastered as Acquired Tastes
- Ruth Tam, How It Feels When White People Shame Your Culture’s Food — Then Make It Trendy
- Bryant Terry, The Problem With ‘Thug’ Cuisine
- Clover Linh Tran, CDS Appropriates Asian Dishes, Students Say
- Michael Twitty, Thug Kitchen: It’s Not Just About Aping and Appropriation, It’s About Privilege
- Phylisa Wisdom, Breaking Bread: Appropriation Or Appreciation? The Case of Mexican Food
