I wanted to start with this piece of literature by Esmeralda Santiago because I just plain fell in love with it. I felt so many of the emotions being conveyed while reading this book: pity, happiness, fear, ignorance, stranded, adventurous, harsh, hopeful, delectable, indulgent, and ambitious to name just a few.
One of the first things that really struck a chord with me when reading this book was how Negi recorded her time line through her memories of the vegetation that surrounded her at the time. The smells, the colors, the tastes; all recorded as though part of her genetic make-up. It saddened me to witness the destruction through Negi's eyes that occurred through the Americanization of the Puerto Rican culture and what impact the food pyramid had. (Jim, I immediately thought of you....)
This brings me to my next point - During the seminar Bob posed some questions around the Americanization of food and an American food culture - do we have one? I would like to explore this theme some here today using "When I was Puerto Rican."
I agree, Abby. I very much enjoyed this reading, which resonated with me on many levels, bringing back childhood memories and bringing to life the daily scents and savors of life in a latino neighborhood in the New York area.
For me, the relationship of food and family, of food and love or affection, and of food and identity are depicted so vibrantly.
Sadly, the americanization of food accompanies that of identity, with all the health and social consequences we read about on a daily basis, as well as more global consequences such as the energy costs of bringing global food to market.
I look forward to continuing the conversation begun in Miami over these next few days and look forward to hearing from all of you.
@Kathy - Not a problem. Post however you need to for now.
"Today, I stand before a stack of dark green guavas, each perfectly round and hard, each $1.59. The one in my hand is tempting. It smells faintly of late summer afternoons and hop-scotch under the mango tree. But this is autumn in New York, and I'm no longer a child.
The guava joins its sisters under the harsh fluorescent lights of the exotic fruit display. I push my cart away, toward the apples and pears of my adulthood, their nearly seedless ripeness predictable and bittersweet." (p. 4)
This opening sequence at the beginning of the book really stands out to me. Why not opt for the guava over the apples and pears? Why is it not an option. It is tangibly in the store, it is a viable option, affordable, and yet Negi does not believe it to be an attainable choice. In her view she must make a more sensible American choice.
If the time period was different and say Negi moved to New York in the eighties and is current a young adult would she still look to make the American choice?
Abby, While attitudes today are different, I am not sure that the time period is the only factor in play.
While it is true that new arrivals today are able to remain so much more effectively in touch with loved ones at home and with their own culture through advances in telecommunications and relative ease of international travel, socioeconomic differences among recent immigrant groups are a factor as well.
Meaning the apple is still the more practical choice due to financial strain? I have no idea how much a guava costs versus an apple. I would assume in upstate NY it is going to be a significant difference. I am off to the store later and will investigate this.
What is money was not a factor? Would the choice then change? Our country's current economic status might lead us to say yes. Countless news articles and stories have been reported on the increase in cheap fast food bought during these rough times. (Which will in turn affect the health of these same Americans.)
Literacy and the level of educational attainment play a role in the maintenance of heritage languages, an important factor in cultural identity, and may surely be considered a significant factor in retention of other aspects of this identity, including food choices.
Yes, the apple for the American choice, but also because the apple (and also pear) is how Negi defined American fruit.
I teacher in the city of Rochester and we have a number of students who are bilingual. They are considered lower class and many are below the poverty line. They have been luckier to have grown up during a time where in it has been more celebrated to maintain a connection with their native language and speak it fluently in and out of school. I do not know if the same can be said for food.
I am reminded, however, of a time I visited a friend from college in Boston. She lived with a woman from Korea. She cooked in the traditional Korean style. It amazed me because she was the first immigrant I encountered who had maintained her origins when it came to food.
Hello all: I am reponding from Chicago where I am engrossed in Health Care Reform- so this posting will be brief -the next more in depth.
From the very title, When I Was Puerto Rican", and the ensuing rich and emotional memoir it appears to me that Santiago is trying to provide us with a deeper understanding of the struggles a family like hers is faced with, not unlike others we have studied collectively and our own personal life experiences. The family unit is barely holding together through uncertainty, marital struggle,and abject poverty. The lure to escape for a better life (33) creates a dilema, rural "jibaro" country dweller or move into the city.
Like my own Irish cultural background holidays and funerals are focal points to put aside the miseries of daily life and struggle and to celebrate with food and family from far and near. The graphic holiday pig story (161) and the Christmas party that ensued give us a glimpse of the good times and the respect for the food and people. In contrast the American invasion (66) points to the American invaders putting their nutritional values ahead of the local practices...but senior..." the fruits you recommend do not grow in Puerto Rico", ..." then substitute". Jim Hunt
Jim, I am happy that you have joined our conversation this evening and wish you well in the important discussion of health care reform.
Just back from a neighborhood backyard bbq which included couscous, caprese, and gazpacho among the international selections, I cannot help but think of the meals of my childhood -- Irish and German, in an Italian community rapidly becoming Hispanic.
Your voice will be so important in emphasizing the importance of healthy choices for all our children and a culture of enlightenment without coercion for all in our food choices.
Kathy I am so jealous! I too just returned from two bbqs. The first was at the home of an Asian/Polish couple. The guests were also two mixed couples - black and white. So many opportunities for great cuisine. We were served hamburgers, fruit, and potatoes. The second bbq was mixed black, white, and asian as well. There we were served hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, and potato salad.
I do have to say, however, where the food was lacking the commensiality and the familial conversations were not. This, more than anything, continues to demonstrate strongly to me that the food can play second seat to the time spent with great people..... as I remember our conversations at meals more than the meals themselves during seminar.
J and K - the conversation has been wonderful. I would like to continue on this course into the evening if anyone wishes; as well as tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, we will be adding in the movie Like Water for Chocolate to our discussion.
What an amazing book! It is interesting how many connections there are between food and culture. And what interesting anecdotes you (Kathy and Abby) have shared!
This book, and your discussion, recalled a teaching experience I had in the spring semester of this year. I taught English 101 in the spring and I was fortunate to have three international students in my class. They were all Chinese, but from entirely different parts of that country. We met pretty frequently, and I found myself working doubly hard to engage them on a level that wouldn't evoke their anxiety the way English (writing or speaking it) always did.
Eventually we ended up talking about Chinese food. They "confessed" to me that they had eaten dog. They explained to me that the dog they eat in China is a specific kind of dog. I was amazed at how embarrassed and shy they seemed about this, and quickly realized that not only were they struggling with being bilingual and in another country, but somewhere along the way they had learned shame about certain things. What a profound experience!
As the book demonstrates, food and culture are so closely tied that they seem inseparable. I'm fascinated by the ideas of americanized food and also about the relationship between culture and eating disorders...if culture and food are a direct expression of each other, what does that mean for people who don't (or can't) engage in with food.
I think that we could probably hold a peer day just on animal culture. I have a colleague from Jamaica and she grew up where animals were not pets and they stayed outside. When she moved to the US it was the first time in her life that she experienced family pets. She describes so articulately how this absolutely scared and confused her. She still does not understand why people would consider a cat or dog a part of the family or how people could share their living space with such.
It saddens me to think that we have shamed people into not embracing their culture. More diversity training may indeed be needed.
I just re-read all of your first day comments and was fascinated. Some of your observations are so interesting and they prompted me to think about food in the community and culture where I live. My children attend one of the nation's most diverse high schools and frequently invite their friends over for dinner. Many of my son's friends play football with him and are often hungry when they come over after practice. One day one of them pulled me aside and told me that he was so sorry and seemed genuinely upset. I asked him why and he explained that he doesn't like turkey and he knew that white people's rule was to eat everything on your plate. I asked him where he had heard that and that my family had no such rule. He looked so relieved. I take no pride in what I cook and serve. I have zero connection to it and only view it as a necessary means to an end. He told me his mother would beat him if he ate as little at home as he ate at my house. He told me that his mother would cook the following week and have me over. He asked me if I ate greens. He then went through what she usually makes, pausing to describe the flavors. His face was lit up. He was so excited about the idea of being able to invite me to his home where food must have more of a relationship to love than it does for me. I was so glad that he was proud of his mother's cooking and equally thrilled that he was interested in talking about it.
I'm a mom dedicated to living & teaching a healthy and realistic lifestyle. I started this journey as a way to save my own life & now I want to share what I have learned. I hope to inspire others to take that first step.
I wanted to start with this piece of literature by Esmeralda Santiago because I just plain fell in love with it. I felt so many of the emotions being conveyed while reading this book: pity, happiness, fear, ignorance, stranded, adventurous, harsh, hopeful, delectable, indulgent, and ambitious to name just a few.
ReplyDeleteOne of the first things that really struck a chord with me when reading this book was how Negi recorded her time line through her memories of the vegetation that surrounded her at the time. The smells, the colors, the tastes; all recorded as though part of her genetic make-up. It saddened me to witness the destruction through Negi's eyes that occurred through the Americanization of the Puerto Rican culture and what impact the food pyramid had. (Jim, I immediately thought of you....)
This brings me to my next point - During the seminar Bob posed some questions around the Americanization of food and an American food culture - do we have one? I would like to explore this theme some here today using "When I was Puerto Rican."
I agree, Abby. I very much enjoyed this reading, which resonated with me on many levels, bringing back childhood memories and bringing to life the daily scents and savors of life in a latino neighborhood in the New York area.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the relationship of food and family, of food and love or affection, and of food and identity are depicted so vibrantly.
Sadly, the americanization of food accompanies that of identity, with all the health and social consequences we read about on a daily basis, as well as more global consequences such as the energy costs of bringing global food to market.
I look forward to continuing the conversation begun in Miami over these next few days and look forward to hearing from all of you.
Best,
Kathy
Sorry for posting the first comment as "Anonymous, but I am having difficulty with AIM profile. Kathy Stein
ReplyDelete@Kathy - Not a problem. Post however you need to for now.
ReplyDelete"Today, I stand before a stack of dark green guavas, each perfectly round and hard, each $1.59. The one in my hand is tempting. It smells faintly of late summer afternoons and hop-scotch under the mango tree. But this is autumn in New York, and I'm no longer a child.
The guava joins its sisters under the harsh fluorescent lights of the exotic fruit display. I push my cart away, toward the apples and pears of my adulthood, their nearly seedless ripeness predictable and bittersweet." (p. 4)
This opening sequence at the beginning of the book really stands out to me. Why not opt for the guava over the apples and pears? Why is it not an option. It is tangibly in the store, it is a viable option, affordable, and yet Negi does not believe it to be an attainable choice. In her view she must make a more sensible American choice.
If the time period was different and say Negi moved to New York in the eighties and is current a young adult would she still look to make the American choice?
Abby, While attitudes today are different, I am not sure that the time period is the only factor in play.
ReplyDeleteWhile it is true that new arrivals today are able to remain so much more effectively in touch with loved ones at home and with their own culture through advances in telecommunications and relative ease of international travel, socioeconomic differences among recent immigrant groups are a factor as well.
Best,
Kathy Stein
Meaning the apple is still the more practical choice due to financial strain? I have no idea how much a guava costs versus an apple. I would assume in upstate NY it is going to be a significant difference. I am off to the store later and will investigate this.
ReplyDeleteWhat is money was not a factor? Would the choice then change? Our country's current economic status might lead us to say yes. Countless news articles and stories have been reported on the increase in cheap fast food bought during these rough times. (Which will in turn affect the health of these same Americans.)
Literacy and the level of educational attainment play a role in the maintenance of heritage languages, an important factor in cultural identity, and may surely be considered a significant factor in retention of other aspects of this identity, including food choices.
ReplyDeleteThe apple as metaphor for the "american" choice?
KS
Yes, the apple for the American choice, but also because the apple (and also pear) is how Negi defined American fruit.
ReplyDeleteI teacher in the city of Rochester and we have a number of students who are bilingual. They are considered lower class and many are below the poverty line. They have been luckier to have grown up during a time where in it has been more celebrated to maintain a connection with their native language and speak it fluently in and out of school. I do not know if the same can be said for food.
I am reminded, however, of a time I visited a friend from college in Boston. She lived with a woman from Korea. She cooked in the traditional Korean style. It amazed me because she was the first immigrant I encountered who had maintained her origins when it came to food.
Hello all: I am reponding from Chicago where I am engrossed in Health Care Reform- so this posting will be brief -the next more in depth.
ReplyDeleteFrom the very title, When I Was Puerto Rican", and the ensuing rich and emotional memoir it appears to me that Santiago is trying to provide us with a deeper understanding of the struggles a family like hers is faced with, not unlike others we have studied collectively and our own personal life experiences. The family unit is barely holding together through uncertainty, marital struggle,and abject poverty. The lure to escape for a better life (33) creates a dilema, rural "jibaro" country dweller or move into the city.
Like my own Irish cultural background holidays and funerals are focal points to put aside the miseries of daily life and struggle and to celebrate with food and family from far and near. The graphic holiday pig story (161) and the Christmas party that ensued give us a glimpse of the good times and the respect for the food and people. In contrast the American invasion (66) points to the American invaders putting their nutritional values ahead of the local practices...but senior..." the fruits you recommend do not grow in Puerto Rico", ..." then substitute". Jim Hunt
Jim, I am happy that you have joined our conversation this evening and wish you well in the important discussion of health care reform.
ReplyDeleteJust back from a neighborhood backyard bbq which included couscous, caprese, and gazpacho among the international selections, I cannot help but think of the meals of my childhood -- Irish and German, in an Italian community rapidly becoming Hispanic.
Your voice will be so important in emphasizing the importance of healthy choices for all our children and a culture of enlightenment without coercion for all in our food choices.
Best,
Kathy Stein
Kathy I am so jealous! I too just returned from two bbqs. The first was at the home of an Asian/Polish couple. The guests were also two mixed couples - black and white. So many opportunities for great cuisine. We were served hamburgers, fruit, and potatoes. The second bbq was mixed black, white, and asian as well. There we were served hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, and potato salad.
ReplyDeleteI do have to say, however, where the food was lacking the commensiality and the familial conversations were not. This, more than anything, continues to demonstrate strongly to me that the food can play second seat to the time spent with great people..... as I remember our conversations at meals more than the meals themselves during seminar.
J and K - the conversation has been wonderful. I would like to continue on this course into the evening if anyone wishes; as well as tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, we will be adding in the movie Like Water for Chocolate to our discussion.
What an amazing book! It is interesting how many connections there are between food and culture. And what interesting anecdotes you (Kathy and Abby) have shared!
ReplyDeleteThis book, and your discussion, recalled a teaching experience I had in the spring semester of this year. I taught English 101 in the spring and I was fortunate to have three international students in my class. They were all Chinese, but from entirely different parts of that country. We met pretty frequently, and I found myself working doubly hard to engage them on a level that wouldn't evoke their anxiety the way English (writing or speaking it) always did.
Eventually we ended up talking about Chinese food. They "confessed" to me that they had eaten dog. They explained to me that the dog they eat in China is a specific kind of dog. I was amazed at how embarrassed and shy they seemed about this, and quickly realized that not only were they struggling with being bilingual and in another country, but somewhere along the way they had learned shame about certain things. What a profound experience!
As the book demonstrates, food and culture are so closely tied that they seem inseparable. I'm fascinated by the ideas of americanized food and also about the relationship between culture and eating disorders...if culture and food are a direct expression of each other, what does that mean for people who don't (or can't) engage in with food.
Amazing stuff.
I think that we could probably hold a peer day just on animal culture. I have a colleague from Jamaica and she grew up where animals were not pets and they stayed outside. When she moved to the US it was the first time in her life that she experienced family pets. She describes so articulately how this absolutely scared and confused her. She still does not understand why people would consider a cat or dog a part of the family or how people could share their living space with such.
ReplyDeleteIt saddens me to think that we have shamed people into not embracing their culture. More diversity training may indeed be needed.
I just re-read all of your first day comments and was fascinated. Some of your observations are so interesting and they prompted me to think about food in the community and culture where I live.
ReplyDeleteMy children attend one of the nation's most diverse high schools and frequently invite their friends over for dinner.
Many of my son's friends play football with him and are often hungry when they come over after practice. One day one of them pulled me aside and told me that he was so sorry and seemed genuinely upset. I asked him why and he explained that he doesn't like turkey and he knew that white people's rule was to eat everything on your plate. I asked him where he had heard that and that my family had no such rule. He looked so relieved.
I take no pride in what I cook and serve. I have zero connection to it and only view it as a necessary means to an end. He told me his mother would beat him if he ate as little at home as he ate at my house.
He told me that his mother would cook the following week and have me over. He asked me if I ate greens. He then went through what she usually makes, pausing to describe the flavors. His face was lit up. He was so excited about the idea of being able to invite me to his home where food must have more of a relationship to love than it does for me.
I was so glad that he was proud of his mother's cooking and equally thrilled that he was interested in talking about it.