How to eat food without being racist

[kelownabomberfan]

Are you even thinking about oppression while you eat that taco? According to Social Justice Internet, it’s totally fine to enjoy foods from other cultures — as long as you don’t call the food “authentic,” act like it’s out of the ordinary, or forget to get upset about Islamophobia every time you eat hummus. Yep. According to “The Feminist Guide to Being a Foodie Without Being Culturally Appropriative,” it’s pretty damned hard for you to eat anything but a cheeseburger without its author, Rachel Kuo, thinking you’re being offensive. Have you ever gone to another country and tried an “authentic” version of that country’s cuisine? If you said yes, you’re already a racist. According to Kuo, the word “authentic” should never be used when discussing another culture’s food because “seeking ‘authenticity’ fetishizes the sustenance of another culture.”

 

“The idea of the “authentic” food experience is separated from reality,” Kuo writes. “It also freezes a culture in a particular place in time.” Unfortunately, Kuo had no recommendations for how someone should describe the kind of food he ate on a trip to China versus what he ate on a trip to Panda Express. She simply declared that using the word “authentic” to describe the former to be totally unacceptable. But don’t worry — she did have a ton of other great tips! For example: If you eat something new like a pig intestine, do not under any circumstances act like it is a strange or interesting experience to you. “When people think they’re being adventurous for trying food from another culture, it’s the same thing as treating that food as bizarre or weird,” Kuo said.

 

Kuo, who described herself as “Taiwanese and American,” said that one of her favorite foods is made with pig intestines and congealed pig blood. She explained that although she is totally okay with you eating pig intestines and pig blood even if you’re not Taiwanese, you had better not act like it’s a big deal when you do it. “By making a big deal out of someone’s culture and food, it reminds them that they’re culture is abnormal and doesn’t quite belong in this world,” Kuo states. ‘Folks might love Mexican food, but not care about different issues such as labor equity and immigration policy.’ So basically, eat all of the pig intestines you want . . . but you had better not act like eating pig intestines isn’t what you do every day. Simply say “Oh, this is very good, very normal food!” or don’t say anything at all — or else Kuo is going to feel as though she literally does not belong on planet Earth. Seems fair. Why should people have the freedom how they’re feeling about new experiences when they experiencing them? Oh, and there’s another thing: You cannot eat a culture’s food without thinking about the oppression that the people of that culture have gone through. 

 

“When food gets disconnected from the communities and places its [sic] from, people can easily start forgetting and ignoring historical and ongoing oppression faced by those communities,” she writes. “America has corporatized “Middle Eastern food” like hummus and falafel, and some people might live by halal food carts, but not understand or address the ongoing Islamophobia in the US,” she continues. “Folks might love Mexican food, but not care about different issues such as labor equity and immigration policy that impact members from that community.” See, it’s easy! You can totally go ahead and eat that burrito in Mexico! Just don’t call it authentic or think of it as an interesting experience — which you shouldn’t have time to think about anyway, seeing as you’re supposed to be thinking about immigration the whole time.

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/427436/cultural-appropriation-authentic-food-racist

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

Well cuss, looks like I am the Nick Griffin of gastronomes.

[kelownabomberfan]

Well cuss, looks like I am the Nick Griffin of gastronomes.

 

You are an English politician who was a member of the European Parliament?

[sweep the leg]

Some people (not you KBF) have too much time on their hands to come up with ways to be offended.

 

In another ridiculous story, free yoga on the campus of U of Ottawa has been suspended b/c it's been deemed culturally insensitive. They even had a meeting with all parties involved to see if they could call it "relaxation stretching", but that wouldn't work either. Apparently there was one person who complained, so they shut it down.

[The Unknown Poster]

Some people (not you KBF) have too much time on their hands to come up with ways to be offended.

 

In another ridiculous story, free yoga on the campus of U of Ottawa has been suspended b/c it's been deemed culturally insensitive. They even had a meeting with all parties involved to see if they could call it "relaxation stretching", but that wouldn't work either. Apparently there was one person who complained, so they shut it down.

That is unbelievable.  In what context is it culturally insensitive?  I'd continue to do it, wait for a ban or arrest and let some pro bono rights activist lawyer take it to the supreme court.  I imagine one news cycle of outrage and embarrassment would cause an immediate reversal in that boneheaded decision.

[sweep the leg]

 

Some people (not you KBF) have too much time on their hands to come up with ways to be offended.

 

In another ridiculous story, free yoga on the campus of U of Ottawa has been suspended b/c it's been deemed culturally insensitive. They even had a meeting with all parties involved to see if they could call it "relaxation stretching", but that wouldn't work either. Apparently there was one person who complained, so they shut it down.

That is unbelievable.  In what context is it culturally insensitive?  I'd continue to do it, wait for a ban or arrest and let some pro bono rights activist lawyer take it to the supreme court.  I imagine one news cycle of outrage and embarrassment would cause an immediate reversal in that boneheaded decision.

 

I don't know, the article didn't say. The article was basically an attempt to embarrass the university for caving in to one person's complaint.

 

edit: here's the link

 

http://www.ottawasun.com/2015/11/20/free-ottawa-yoga-class-scrapped-over-cultural-issues

[kelownabomberfan]

 

Student leaders have pulled the mat out from 60 University of Ottawa students, ending a free on-campus yoga class over fears the teachings could be seen as a form of "cultural appropriation."

 

That's the second time today I've read/heard the term "cultural appropriation".  I'd never heard of it until now.  This is really getting out of hand.  Time to turn back the tide of insanity.

[The Unknown Poster]

I guess we will be shutting down all the karate schools in town.

 

Better close down the taco stands.

 

Fish & chips?  Not on my watch.  Shut em down.

 

Folklarama?  Never again.

[kelownabomberfan]

From what I can find on this subject, this whole "cultural appropriation" movement started with the concept that it was insulting for people who weren't black to wear blackface or people who weren't First Nations to dress up on Halloween as Native Americans.  I honestly get that, and agree with the concept that this can be very disrespectful and just plain wrong, just like dressing up like a Nazi to go to a Bar Mitzvah probably isn't a great idea either.  But as with everything in the Social Justice movement, what started as a good idea has been corrupted and usurped and made into a total industry of its own.  What a surprise.  I define social justice as "The stubborn application of unworkable solutions to imaginary problems" and "cultural appropriation" as an issue seems to fit that definition completely.  This particular abomination seems extremely Orwellian in nature too.

[Rod Black]

The author has made the mistake of providing a meaning to the word authentic that does not exist. Authentic is of origin. Origin is a benchmark by which others are measured.

authentic Chorizo is not to my tastes. Domestic Chorizo, not so bad.

[bigg jay]

I guess we will be shutting down all the karate schools in town.

Better close down the taco stands.

Fish & chips? Not on my watch. Shut em down.

Folklarama? Never again.

Somebody better tell Obby to find a new line of work!

[Atomic]

Cultural appropriation is the dumbest concept. It's so left wing that is has come all the way around to being totally racist. "You can't do what I do unless your skin looks like my skin."

[kelownabomberfan]

When you label almost everything "racist" then the word itself loses all meaning.  Kind of like pointing at almost everything and labeling it a "human right".

[Logan007]

Someone tell Kuo she can kiss my authentic ass.

[bigg jay]

Someone tell Kuo she can kiss my authentic ass.

As long as she doesn't act like it's her first time.

[WildPath]

It's easy to criticize something when a few quotes have been pulled out of a book in a blatant attempt to demonize a social justice movement. I know it's obviously just an opinion, not an actual review of the book, but its comical to me how it has been used to inflame people against a certain point of view. I don't really see anything wrong with the actual quotes from the book, though I doubt I'd agree with the whole book had a read it.

 

To think of a food from another culture as weird cause it doesn't fit with our experiences does seem disrespectful to me. I think it can be viewed as different or unappealing though. I wouldn't be surprised if someone saw it strange to consume lactations of a mammary gland of other animals, though it is largely a staple of my diet. Or eat food that is filled with ingredients that we don't even know, created through I process that we don't understand, but I do love my jalapeno cheddar cheetos.

 

What I'm basically trying to say is just to make sure its understood this is from a conservative opinion piece from a company who has endorsed both Bush presidents (W twice) and feature Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin as guest authors.

[basslicker]

Just the latest step in the war to control your every action....your very thoughts.

The only way to win is to say whatever is on your mind.

Take the time to offend someone today.

[basslicker]

It's easy to criticize something when a few quotes have been pulled out of a book in a blatant attempt to demonize a social justice movement. I know it's obviously just an opinion, not an actual review of the book, but its comical to me how it has been used to inflame people against a certain point of view. I don't really see anything wrong with the actual quotes from the book, though I doubt I'd agree with the whole book had a read it.

To think of a food from another culture as weird cause it doesn't fit with our experiences does seem disrespectful to me. I think it can be viewed as different or unappealing though. I wouldn't be surprised if someone saw it strange to consume lactations of a mammary gland of other animals, though it is largely a staple of my diet. Or eat food that is filled with ingredients that we don't even know, created through I process that we don't understand, but I do love my jalapeno cheddar cheetos.

What I'm basically trying to say is just to make sure its understood this is from a conservative opinion piece from a company who has endorsed both Bush presidents (W twice) and feature Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin as guest authors.

Real Chinese food is disgusting.....that goes for a lot of SE Asian foods.....fish heads are gross too......go ahead and call the thought police or the incredibly misguided wastes of skin people call SJW's

Me and my Filipino buddy always joked about him eating fish heads and me (being white ) eating potatoes.......oh the humanity! The racism!!!!!!

[Taynted_Fayth]

next up, a ban on the character 

 

 

for being insensitive with his fire and flame

[bigg jay]

Street Fighter is safe... it doesn't claim to be authentic!

[Logan007]

Street Fighter is safe... it doesn't claim to be authentic!

Isn't it an authentic video game?

[Rod Black]

It's easy to criticize something when a few quotes have been pulled out of a book in a blatant attempt to demonize a social justice movement. I know it's obviously just an opinion, not an actual review of the book, but its comical to me how it has been used to inflame people against a certain point of view. I don't really see anything wrong with the actual quotes from the book, though I doubt I'd agree with the whole book had a read it.

To think of a food from another culture as weird cause it doesn't fit with our experiences does seem disrespectful to me. I think it can be viewed as different or unappealing though. I wouldn't be surprised if someone saw it strange to consume lactations of a mammary gland of other animals, though it is largely a staple of my diet. Or eat food that is filled with ingredients that we don't even know, created through I process that we don't understand, but I do love my jalapeno cheddar cheetos.

What I'm basically trying to say is just to make sure its understood this is from a conservative opinion piece from a company who has endorsed both Bush presidents (W twice) and feature Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin as guest authors.

Real Chinese food is disgusting.....that goes for a lot ofor SE Asian foods.....fish heads are groas too......go ahead and call the thought police or the incredibly misguided wastes of skin people call SJW's

Me and my Filipino buddy always joked about him eating fish heads and me (being white ) eating potatoes.......oh the humanity! The racism!!!!!!

Of the many ethnic dishes that I have tried through many travels in foreign land, fruits, vegetables and starches have pretty much all been enjoyable, except for the texture of some fungi. It's the attempts to utilize animal proteins that make the odd dish of cultures particularly inedible. Insects, entrails and small beasts served as squab for example are well beyond any desire for regular consumption in my diet. Clearly, if you'd see what some of the protein consumes before slaughter, you'd not put your mouth there even if your concerned about offending a host.

[kelownabomberfan]

 

What I'm basically trying to say is just to make sure its understood this is from a conservative opinion piece from a company who has endorsed both Bush presidents (W twice) and feature Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin as guest authors.

 

Sure, attack the source (we see that a lot here), and yes, I admit it was an attack piece to some extent, and I also admitted that there is some real cultural insensitivity out there like dressing up in black face etc. that needs to be frowned upon in our society, but what got me worked up wasn't the lunatic lady with the food issues, it was the yoga story (I notice you didn't mention that one).  That is a ridiculous use of the term "cultural appropriation" to ban yoga from a school campus, but no surprise that it is being banned at one of our uber-hip and uber-PC universities, and of course, at the extreme PC University of Ottawa, one of the worst campuses in Canada for jumping on whatever stupid politically correct trend is fashionable.

 

Here's part of the yoga story:

 

People are just looking for a reason to be offended by anything they can find," said Scharf.

"There's a real divide between reasonable people and those people just looking to jump on a bandwagon. And unfortunately, it ends up with good people getting punished for doing good things."

There were about 60 students who participated in the free program.

Acting student federation president Romeo Ahimakin denied the decision resulted from a complaint.

Ahimakin said the student federation put the yoga session on hiatus while they consult with students "to make it better, more accessible and more inclusive to certain groups of people that feel left out in yoga-like spaces. ... We are trying to have those sessions done in a way in which students are aware of where the spiritual and cultural aspects come from, so that these sessions are done in a respectful manner."

 

 

The verbal diarrhea coming out of that student federation president's mouth sounds extremely Orwellian, in that it makes no sense whatsoever.  "Yoga-like spaces" - ???  Just ridiculous.

 

[StevetheClub]

It's easy to criticize something when a few quotes have been pulled out of a book in a blatant attempt to demonize a social justice movement. I know it's obviously just an opinion, not an actual review of the book, but its comical to me how it has been used to inflame people against a certain point of view. I don't really see anything wrong with the actual quotes from the book, though I doubt I'd agree with the whole book had a read it.

 

To think of a food from another culture as weird cause it doesn't fit with our experiences does seem disrespectful to me. I think it can be viewed as different or unappealing though. I wouldn't be surprised if someone saw it strange to consume lactations of a mammary gland of other animals, though it is largely a staple of my diet. Or eat food that is filled with ingredients that we don't even know, created through I process that we don't understand, but I do love my jalapeno cheddar cheetos.

 

What I'm basically trying to say is just to make sure its understood this is from a conservative opinion piece from a company who has endorsed both Bush presidents (W twice) and feature Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin as guest authors.

 

And I find it offensive that I'm not able to feel that some things are weird. Perhaps if we both learned to manage our own emotions better we'd be more ok with those of others.

 

I don't mean for this to sound like an attack on you, I'm just using your post as an example. While I do think that there are lines out there that should not be crossed and I recognize that those lines are often blurry and hard to pin down, there are many, many situations in which people just need to learn to tolerate and accept their own feelings rather than deny or attack someone else for theirs.

[WildPath]

 

 

What I'm basically trying to say is just to make sure its understood this is from a conservative opinion piece from a company who has endorsed both Bush presidents (W twice) and feature Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin as guest authors.

 

Sure, attack the source (we see that a lot here), and yes, I admit it was an attack piece to some extent, and I also admitted that there is some real cultural insensitivity out there like dressing up in black face etc. that needs to be frowned upon in our society, but what got me worked up wasn't the lunatic lady with the food issues, it was the yoga story (I notice you didn't mention that one).  That is a ridiculous use of the term "cultural appropriation" to ban yoga from a school campus, but no surprise that it is being banned at one of our uber-hip and uber-PC universities, and of course, at the extreme PC University of Ottawa, one of the worst campuses in Canada for jumping on whatever stupid politically correct trend is fashionable.

 

Here's part of the yoga story:

 

People are just looking for a reason to be offended by anything they can find," said Scharf.

"There's a real divide between reasonable people and those people just looking to jump on a bandwagon. And unfortunately, it ends up with good people getting punished for doing good things."

There were about 60 students who participated in the free program.

Acting student federation president Romeo Ahimakin denied the decision resulted from a complaint.

Ahimakin said the student federation put the yoga session on hiatus while they consult with students "to make it better, more accessible and more inclusive to certain groups of people that feel left out in yoga-like spaces. ... We are trying to have those sessions done in a way in which students are aware of where the spiritual and cultural aspects come from, so that these sessions are done in a respectful manner."

 

 

The verbal diarrhea coming out of that student federation president's mouth sounds extremely Orwellian, in that it makes no sense whatsoever.  "Yoga-like spaces" - ???  Just ridiculous.

 

 

 

I didn't comment on the yoga story because a) I don't much about it and that wasn't what the topic was about. I was just trying to point out that some seemed to be jumping on board with the posted article that was blatantly biased. The author of the article may have a point, but so might the actual book being commented upon. I am not familiar with it other than what has been quoted in the article you posted, but I am supposing that is also true of many if not everyone else commenting.

 

The yoga story does seem strange to me, I have no clue why it would be cancelled, but again, I haven't taken the time to check the source. And I probably won't.