Opinion-Editoral: Food Is Culture

Dev Kartan, Red & Black Contributor

OCT. 31 - With the recent change to the funding model allowing food at cultural events, i just wanted to share a little bit of what was happening in those meetings. I’m going to be reading a shortened version of the same speech I gave at fincom

I apologize if some of you find this long winded, but these are all things that I, members of our [ISA] Executive board as well as many other members who contributed felt were necessary to be shared. I have an obligation to my community members to share. So, this is our take on cuisine as culture.

Throughout my entire life food has been intricately woven into my cultural experience. Growing up Brown in a predominantly White area is already an “othering” experience, but the extent to which is often diminished or ignored. I remember a turning point in my life, I had just moved to a new school in third grade. I was so excited to eat my comfort food after a stressful day, Roti and paneer for lunch. I had, what is not uncommon, more accurately the classic immigrant experience. I was told that my food looked weird, was gross, and smelled disgusting, just because it was unfamiliar. Moments like these are what teach us to subdue our culture and hide integral parts of ourselves. I remember going back to my mother that day and demanding from her to only pack me a brown bag lunch with a pb&j for the rest of the year. The love and effort she put into preparing that meal for me was lost.

That sentiment however is never overlooked in ours and many Indian households. The family dinner is a constant consistent show of our familial love and bonding. Even if my mum and I spend hours yelling at each other over some petty fight we will always sit back down with each other over dinner.

Just from these two anecdotes you can see the pedagogy behind cuisine-based events on campus. We bring new and unique foods for people to taste and give them a space to unabashedly try something they haven’t before. That’s a super vulnerable experience, openingyourself up to learning like that, which is why we believe it is essential to have.

Over the course of our events we bring people into a familial dinner setting where they can put aside differences and be comfortable, allowing them to further their understanding of unique minority experiences. From a structural level, the events work on two planes. The food is a HUGE draw. It’s undeniable that the catering brings in a massive audience to the events. The second is learning by exposure. While they are not only experiencing cuisine, they are getting Bollywood music, henna, carrom, and so many other cute cultural experiences we hold dear. We are able to control how we are perceived on campus, putting our best foot forward.

People all over campus have taken significantly more interest in Indian culture following our events. Our [ISA] Exec board has had so many people approach us individually to ask questions or just to see when the next event is. There is massive campus support for these events.