Opinion: A bad appetite for cultural food shaming

with an unfamiliar dish and publicizes having to eat traditional cultural foods as a punishment. The plates are also prepared in ways that seem intentionally unappetizing and are insensitive to the food and its cultural background.

"Ew,that looks so gross!" “I can’t believe you eat that!” These microaggressions were not uncommon to hear in the lunchroom at school as a child of immigrant parents in the United States. Lunchbox shaming is can make children feel ashamed about their cultural foods they bring to school.

Hearing racist insults about traditional food is normalized, and it is an experience many ethnic minorities in America go through. Food shaming is defined as when someone intentionally or unintentionally judges what another person eats. It is not only observed in cafeterias and during school lunches but also broadcast on various media platforms.

An example was on “The Late Late Show with James Corden” during a segment called “Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts.” This segment is a more extreme version of the game “Truth or Dare,” where Corden and his celebrity guests take turns choosing between answering an uncomfortable, personal question or eating one of several “disgusting” foods.

The foods range from dishes specific to various cuisines to plates with no apparent cultural significance. These featured cultural foods, such as balut, chicken feet, and cow tongue, are all traditional dishes that many Asian people routinely eat but were deemed horrifying to the public by Corden and his guests, who displayed no respect for these foods. This insensitivity is unacceptable as it perpetuates the idea that Asian foods are disgusting just because a public figure is approached

Many negative attitudes toward cultural foods in the media and public cause immigrant families to hide how they feed themselves. It shouldn’t be hard to be culturally considerate when encountering foods from different cultures since they are often deeply rooted in tradition. When white people who are not a part of these cultures only favor foods more acceptable to Western taste, avoiding unfamiliar foods because they are viewed as “gross,” it causes harm to people of color in the form of shame.

Although food shaming is still prevalent, there has been a rise in more ethnically based chain restaurants in recent years. According to QSR Magazine, Taco Bell earns the fourth most United States systemwide sales out of all the fast food chains, with Chipotle at 12th place and Panda Express at 19th place. This is a positive start as more people are willing to try new flavors at popular chains. A Technomic poll revealed that two-thirds of consumers occasionally enjoy trying new flavors at chain restaurants. More than half stated they were more interested in trying ethnic flavors than one year ago.

Consumers are starting to be more comfortable around various cuisines. However, immigrant food restaurants are sometimes knock-offs and treated like discount tourism where people can feel exposed to the world in the comfort of their community. Cultural dishes can’t be treated as a way for big corporations to earn profit but should be explored to expand the diversity of America’s palette. They shouldn’t be seen as disgusting but as an opportunity to try something new with a rich background and identity.