fuck your bland kimchi

at the intersection of food and race

[fuckyourblandkimchi]

just want people to meditate for a moment on the stress, panic, and dread Asian Americans are feeling about the pandemic along with everyone else and consider how the surge of anti-asian hatred and violence compounds this already unbearable situation for literally millions of innocent people. 

[fuckyourblandkimchi]

i posted this almost a year ago, on april 25th, 2020, and things have only gotten so much worse. 

[pnwrecipehoard]

Our Idea of Healthy Eating Excludes Other Cultures, and That's a Problem

There’s more than one way to eat a healthy diet.

Food represents our heritage and our ancestry. It reminds us of our family and friends and our childhoods, weddings, or special events, like Carnival celebrations in Trinidad (and so many other countries).

For so many people who move to a different country (or even to a different part of the same country), food is a part—and sometimes the only part—of home that they can still enjoy every day. Even though I didn’t immigrate to the U.S. from Trinidad, eating foods like roti make me feel just like I’m back in my childhood home, with my family.

When I counseled patients who had immigrated to the U.S., they would look at me, crestfallen, and say “I know I need to stop cooking and eating the way we do back home.” After a while, I realized because they never saw the foods that they were used to being represented as healthy eating, they took that to mean those foods weren’t healthy. It was like they had to choose between their heritage and their health.

No person should ever have to make that decision. As dietitians we must make the effort to research the foods of our patient populations, and tailor our counseling and assessment methods to include those meals. It’s no different than working with a patient who has peanut allergies or is lactose intolerant. It’s simply part of our role as their healthcare provider.

….

For us to truly help the communities we work with, health professionals need to embrace diversity, and expand the idea of what healthy eating looks like. We need to take the time to learn about other cultures’ foods. That goes beyond just visiting our local Korean barbecue joint in a gentrified neighborhood. If you live in an area with a large immigrant population, go visit the grocery stores and food markets in those neighborhoods.

Learn what ingredients people cook with and talk to people who live in the area about how they prepare their meals. Eat at that little hole-in-the-wall place that is everyone’s neighborhood favorite. Or just start by making your next Netflix binge the late Anthony Bourdain’s series “Parts Unknown.”

We R.D.s and other healthcare professionals need to be the leaders in challenging the status quo of what healthy eating looks like.

[pnwrecipehoard]

How it feels when white people shame your culture’s food — then make it trendy

My family's food went from 'Chinese grossness' to America's 'hottest food trend.'

I didn’t mind the smells growing up because I wasn’t aware of them. That is, until a high school friend declared my house smelled of “Chinese grossness.”

The comment clung to me like the smell in my home. My embarrassment hit a peak when my father installed a 5-foot-long fish tank in our family room so he could steam fish at home — extra fresh. I tried to pretend the blue fish swimming around in the murky green water were pets, but the lack of tank accessories gave away our true intentions, stunning my white friends.

My hunger for my family’s food was overpowered by my desire to fit in, so I minimized Chinese food’s role in my life and learned to make pasta instead. Little did I know that Americans would come to embrace the dishes and cooking styles that once mortified me. The Cantonese foods of my childhood have reappeared in trendy restaurants that fill their menus with perfectly plated fine-dining versions of our traditional cuisine. In some cases, this shift has been heartening. But in too many others, the trend has reduced staples of our culture to fleeting fetishes.

The shame associated with immigrant foods (until they become foodies’ favorites) isn’t unique to me or Chinese dishes. In her new book, “Maangchi’s Real Korean Cooking,” Korean cook and YouTube star Maangchi writes fondly of Korean soup soy sauce. In South Korea, all of her neighbors would boil their own. In the United States, though, the soup was received differently:

“I remember boiling my Korean soup soy sauce when I lived in Missouri, and my apartment manager knocked on my door. ‘What’s that smell? I got a complaint from your neighbor.’ I was so embarrassed that I didn’t make soup soy sauce again for a long time, even after I moved back to Korea.”

Even now, as an accomplished cook in New York City, Maangchi doesn’t boil soup soy sauce in her home. Instead, she takes it to a creek at the base of the Henry Hudson Bridge and boils it in a portable gas burner “where no one will complain.”

[frognonbinary-deactivated202412]

[arrghigiveup]

Putting the full text of the NYT article that the first tweet was responding to underneath the cut.

Link to the original tweet: https://twitter.com/speechleyish/status/1275990670663012352

Link to a couple of more serious threads about exactly why the biennial “Durian: the Freakshow Fruit” articles are so annoying:

https://twitter.com/amirulruslan/status/1276088736296472577

https://twitter.com/amirulruslan/status/1276313332492845056

Keep reading

[augustdementhe]

They. Went. INNNNN.

[luntfontanne]

Describing “food desert” as a neutral term that maintains the status quo of avoiding talk about systematic racism, Sbicca argues that “‘food desert’ often leads food activists to lend charitable support to manage the symptoms of the condition, whereas a term such as ‘food apartheid’ lends itself to an analysis of the structural causes behind the condition.” Bradley and Galt argue that food apartheid is more appropriate specifically because of “the racially exclusionary practices that have brought the situation into being.” The historical and ongoing significance of race at the intersections of capitalist accumulation, dispossession, and residential segregation requires an understanding of how the geographic distribution of food is a reflection of anti-Blackness and oppression as much as it is about class and economic capital. … [The] increasingly corporatized food system is not simply unequal; it is a by-product of how structural racism touches every aspect of life—even where our food resources are located.

— Ashanté M. Reese, Black Food Geographies: Race, Self-Reliance, and Food Access in Washington, D.C.

[hypokeimena]

#i’d never considered the usage of the word “desert” in the term before & i think this is important #(whether or not you think ‘apartheid’ is an appropriate alternative) #the fact that ‘desert’ is perceived as a value-neutral natural phenomenon—a relatively static place that simply exists in the world #absolves people of responsibility for creating it and separates it from the social structures that it is in reality inextricably tied to (via @el-waylly)

[luntfontanne]

i put together a list of readings on the history of agriculture, food & food justice in black communities in america that i’ve been working through, thought i’d share it here in case others are interested:

articles/lists

“Black Communities Have Always Used Food as Protest” by Amethyst Ganaway

“Restaurants Must Use This Moment to Change, Too” by Amethyst Ganaway

“Cooking Up Change: How Food Helped Fuel The Civil Rights Movement” by Nancy Schute

“How to Eat to Live: Black Nationalism and the Post-1964 Culinary Turn” by Jennifer Jensen Wallach

“There were nearly a million black farmers in 1920. Why have they disappeared?” by Summer Sewell

“The Great Land Robbery: The shameful story of how 1 million black families have been ripped from their farms” by Vann R. Newkirk II

“Their Family Bought Land One Generation After Slavery. The Reels Brothers Spent Eight Years in Jail for Refusing to Leave It.” by Lizzie Presser

@/NFUDC (National Farmers Union): How to fight racism in agriculture (twitter thread dated June 2, 2020)

Want to See Food and Land Justice for Black Americans? Support These Groups.

21 Individuals and Organizations Building Stronger Black Communities and Food Systems

books (**full text available for free)

**Freedom Farmers: Agricultural Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement by Monica M. White

**Cultivating Food Justice: Race, Class, and Sustainability ed. Alison Hope Alkon and Julian Agyeman

**Black Food Geographies: Race, Self-Reliance, and Food Access in Washington, D.C. by Ashanté M. Reese

**Dispossession: Discrimination against African American Farmers in the Age of Civil Rights by Peter Daniel

The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael W. Twitty

Building Houses Out of Chicken Legs: Black Women, Food, and Power by Psyche A. Williams-Forson

In the Shadow of Slavery: Africa’s Botanical Legacy in the Atlantic World by Judith A. Carney & Black Rice by Judith A. Carney

Recipes for Respect: African American Meals and Meaning by Rafia Zafar

Southern Food and Civil Rights: Feeding the Revolution by Frederick Douglass Opie

Every Nation Has Its Dish: Black Bodies and Black Food in Twentieth-Century America by Jennifer Jensen Wallach

Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America by Marcia Chatelain

Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land by Leah Penniman

podcasts / television

Sporkful – When White People Say Plantation & When Black Chefs Created Plantation Food

The Kitchen Sisters / Hidden Kitchens – Hercules and Hemings: African American Cooks in the President’s Kitchen – King’s Candy: A New Orleans Kitchen Vision – Georgia Gilmore and the Club from Nowhere: A Secret Civil Rights Kitchen

1619 – Episode 5: The Land of Our Fathers, Part 1 & Part 2

Chef’s Table – 6x01: Mashama Bailey (on Netflix)

further reading lists

The Ultimate List of Black Owned Farms & Food Gardens

A Reading List For Learning About Anti-Black Racism and Food

A Black History Month Reading List Centered Around Food and Farming

47 Food Studies Books, Not Just for Black History Month

A Food Justice Reading List

[senritsu]

with everything that’s going on with bon apetit, i thought i’d just share some of my favorite recipe-based youtube channels run by people of color

just one cookbook - a super wide variety of japanese recipes. easy step-by-steps and all the recipes i’ve tried have been delicious

souped up recipes -  chinese recipes - very informative videos and tasty food - i love her personality too

maangchi - who doesn’t love maangchi. delicious korean recipes and a fabulous personality

get curried - a huge variety of recipes from various regions of india 

simply mama cooks - my fav for tejano food. i believe she’s a mexicana married into a korean family, and draws a lot from that

immaculate bites - mostly quick ‘tasty’ style video recipes focusing on southern us, african, and carribean foods. easy and delicious stuff!

stove top kisses - fun and delicious recipes and the videos are super fun to watch - mostly american food

j kenji lopez alt - author of the book ‘the food lab’ - he’s maybe my favorite recipe developer out there. all kinds of food and hes super knowledgeable

[sadieekane]

Here are some vegan channels run by people of color, as well!

gourmet vegetarian kitchen - super creative projects. i personally find them very inspiring since she does things like make vegan cheese or ferment soy beans over the course of months

peaceful cuisine - he makes asmr & recipe versions of videos. everything is vegan. lots of desserts and traditional japanese cuisine

rachel ama - vegan food with a frequent caribbean twist! I love her! She has her own cookbook

cheap lazy vegan - her channel has an angle of vegan food intended for low budgets. she creates a lot of simple recipes. she has a recipe ebook as well as a free newsletter

[tw-koreanhistory]

KLM executives including Guillaume Glass, general manager at KLM apologize over the recent incident during a press conference in Seoul on Friday.

KLM apologizes after being accused of coronavirus racism

The Netherlands’ flag carrier KLM Royal Dutch Airlines apologized Friday for banning South Koreans from using a restroom on a plane amid coronavirus concerns. According to a Korean passenger onboard the KLM 855 flight bound for Incheon from Amsterdam on Monday, a hand-written note that read “cabin crew exclusive restroom” in Korean was posted on the door of a restroom. Koreans made up 135 out of 279 passengers on the plane. When a passenger asked why the note was written only in Korean, a KLM crew member said they had posted an English version next to it and that it was to protect the cabin crew’s health so they could “do the work for passengers.” After the story went viral online and was reported in the Korean media, public criticism mounted, demanding an explanation from KLM about designating a restroom for crew and why the sign was written only in Korean.

“We take the allegations that we have discriminated against a part of our passengers very seriously. We are deeply sorry that this was viewed as discrimination, which was absolutely not the intention of the crew,” Guillaume Glass, general manager for Korea at KLM, said during a press conference in Seoul on Friday.

Glass added that it was “a human mistake” to only leave a note in Korean, saying the action was done by an individual, not based on KLM policy.

He added that 10 cabin crew members onboard KLM 855 would have in-depth face-to-face talks with the vice president at The Netherlands headquarters.

[fuckyourblandkimchi]

French Chef Cut From Michelin Guide After Saying 'No Chinese Customers Wanted'

An upscale German restaurant has been removed from the prestigious Michelin Guide website following a racist remark by French chef Jean-Claude Bourgueil. The 73-year-old chef sparked outrage for saying he does not want Chinese customers while announcing the reopening of his eatery Im Schiffchen, according to Chinese media. Im Schiffchen, which is situated in Düsseldorf, had reportedly been closed for months due to the country’s response against COVID-19, dw.com reports. “We start on Friday, but only with our bistro. No …

Lol this was his “apology”:

“Following the backlash, Bourgueil took his statement back which he called “thoughtless” and “completely wrong.”

According to Bourgueil, the remark was not aimed at the Chinese people but meant for the “dictators” and “strongmen” in the Chinese government.

“I am a child of the French revolution and detest all dictators in this world. Dictators that oppress their citizens and punish people with death,” he explained in a statement.”

[fuckyourblandkimchi]

Life is constantly in motion. Kimchi and kochujang didn’t get their iconic red tint until the early 16th century, which Portuguese traders brought red chili peppers over from their native birthplace of the Americas.

Pasta and noodles were first made in China, making their way over to Italy and other parts of the world via traders likely sometime in the 13th century. 

You can’t globalize a globe. As COVID is showing us right now, the world is actually a pretty small place. 

Ask yourself--why were we taught that colonization led modern globalization? And why is it important to remember that Vikings traveled to the Americas long before Columbus decided to set sail? Our current catastrophic situation was not inevitable--it was, and still is, possible to live in a world filled with curiosity and cooperation rather than competition. 

We have always been responsible for each other. We can share and mix and meld and grow and evolve--or we can hoard, compete, and dehumanize ourselves and each other. 

I have to speak up about cultural appropriation and racism because I can’t stand living in a world where Korean and Chinese THINGS are valued more than the people who create them. I’m tired of hearing about people loving Korean food, music and culture while Asian-American people are spat on, abused, and humiliated as viral vectors. I’m sick of white fear of China’s rise to global superpowerdom, the unwarranted blame heaped on the Chinese market workers who are also victims. I want people to see that we are all different in our surface aspects, in our culture, but we are ALL THE SAME in that we are tender-hearted human beings, equally vulnerable to invisible contagions and fascist regimes, and ultimately reliant on each other to grow, change, and move forward. 

[fuckyourblandkimchi]

I Am Not Your Peril – Emergence Magazine

In the wake of COVID-19, Lisa Lee Herrick challenges the resurgence of dangerous historical frames of race and belonging.

“FOOD IS A COMMON access point to deeper conversations about the lived experiences that unite us, as well as those that divide us. Cuisines and cultural food pathways emerge as culinary histories of how people have survived against hunger and famine, against displacement, loss of country, and despair. How we eat—and what we eat—are clues to the evolutionary DNA of our cultures. It is literally a matter of taste—but racism fouls the mouth, makes waters bitter, and poisons our connections to one another no matter the era.

Why do we nitpick Chinese food pathways and demonize Asians in general for participating as major suppliers and consumers in the global demand for cheap and affordable food products, yet we seem inoculated with the inability to overtly criticize or racialize—in the same manner—the heavily regulated food chains designed to supply a near-endless volume of meat and produce in the United States and in Europe?

China is one of the largest export markets for US-raised meat, dairy, eggs, nuts, grains, soybeans, animal skins, and agricultural feed: Chinese consumers and industries account for over 17 percent of US total agricultural exports, valued at $24 billion a year. Our tastes for exports are not mutual: the majority of Chinese exports are nonperishable goods (like teas and spices) and consumer goods (like machines, furniture, and toys) because of our obsession with steep deals and discount shopping—and Chinese-made goods are cheaper and easily replenished, the labor behind the industries that make them conveniently invisible and low cost.

This lateral slide—that China produces cheap products, and therefore, Chinese lives are expendable—has contributed to troubling patterns throughout recent history: when major global crises arise, whether military or economic or pandemic, it’s easier to make the Chinese (and other people of Asian descent) the villains than to investigate the complicit relationships that spread pandemonium around the world.“

[fuckyourblandkimchi]

just want people to meditate for a moment on the stress, panic, and dread Asian Americans are feeling about the pandemic along with everyone else and consider how the surge of anti-asian hatred and violence compounds this already unbearable situation for literally millions of innocent people. 

[fuckyourblandkimchi]

“As local media coverage of COVID-19 ramped up in March, Sue, who is Hmong-American, prepared herself to get dirty looks. Sue never thought someone would say to her in a grocery store, “I don’t want you to spit the virus on my stuff.”

Sue, who also chose to withhold her real name for fear of reprisals, stood in a grocery check-out line in mid-March at a Milwaukee store when a woman came from the back of the line and yelled, “Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me.” Sue looked up from her phone. The woman budged in front of her and said, “Yeah I’m talking to you. I need you to move six feet away from me. You know what I’m talking about. I don’t want you anywhere near me.”

Then it hit Sue. This was a racial attack. In an even tone, Sue told the woman, “You’re being very ignorant right now.”

As Sue began putting her items on the conveyor belt, the woman became angrier and told Sue to take her items off. The woman did not want Sue’s items to touch her food. She told Sue she did not want Sue to spit the virus on her stuff.

The woman’s daughter attempted to defuse the situation, and apologized to Sue for the outburst. But the woman continued taunting Sue. Finally an employee removed the woman from the line after Sue asked for the store to deal with the situation.

With her purchase complete, Sue noticed an older Hmong couple making a purchase. She waited nearby to make sure that they proceed safely through the checkout. When Sue finally did leave the store, she was shaking.”

-Excerpt from “ALREADY A COMMUNITY INFECTED BY RACIAL HATE, ANTI-ASIAN SENTIMENT HITS MILWAUKEE ALONG WITH COVID-19″ Milwaukee Independent, April 3rd, 2020

[fuckyourblandkimchi]

Asian Grocery Stores In The Time Of Coronavirus

Say hello to short(er) lines and extra provisions — but not necessarily a lot of rice.

From the article:

“While a security guard at 99 Ranch in Arcadia told me the store was busier than usual, the Asian grocery chains I've visited in recent weeks (Arcadia Market, H Mart and a few others; this is hardly an exhaustive survey) and the ones I've seen on social media seem remarkably empty.

With the coronavirus shutdown keeping diners away from its famed dumpling houses, noodle joints, hot pot restaurants and dim sum palaces, the San Gabriel Valley's robust restaurant industry has been hit hard. Racism and xenophobia have added salt to the wound, further devastating businesses owned by Chinese Americans. Those factors may also be keeping non-Asian shoppers away from Asian supermarkets.

Want to support these stores and skip the long lines at "standard" grocery stores? Pay them a visit.”

[fuckyourblandkimchi]

ok so I'm completely in LOVE with your blog and I found you through your amazing explanation on the history of budae jjigae. I was just wondering if there were any resources I could turn to if I wanted to learn more about the histories of different Korean food?? thanks for all the work you do!

I don’t have resources about the histories of different dishes but if you are curious about one in particular, I could probably help you. 

Also, I thought you might find this resource interesting, it’s a pretty thorough and well-researched account of the history of Korean cuisine and daily diet--there are some pretty amazing historical details, like one traveler writing that Korean farmers ate like kings and that it was common for one person to eat 30 peaches in one sitting! https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/history-of-korean-food

[fuckyourblandkimchi]

LOVE your blog. I am Chicana and have been to Korea a couple times and I was astounded to see how weird Americans can be about Korean food? One time I went to a small restaurant to order 돌솥비빔밥 and the owner brought it to be without bibim sauce because he thought it'd be too spicy. I wasn't offended, but it definitely made me wonder how many American people must have caused trouble that they felt the need to change the way they made it :(

Sorry for the late response but thank you for the kind words!! And it’s good to not be offended--I’ve seen some peak white entitlement especially from tourists in Itaewon and the owner was probably just trying to be considerate.