Food for Thought: A Conversation about Food and Cultural Identity Prompts Collaborative Efforts

Last Tuesday, members of the Smith community had the opportunity to explore the intersections among food, culture and belonging. During a panel entitled “Oh Comfort Food, How I Miss You! The Reality of Cultural Transitions for Women of Color at Smith,” sponsored by the Wurtele Center for Work and Life, the panel discussed how dining affects student of color and impacts their transition into the Smith community.

Panel organizers Emma Scarpa AC ’13, Yenisleidy Simon AC ’13 and Melissa Mutter ’13 began exploring the question of cultural transition in their Society, Psychology and Health seminar when Professor Benita Jackson proposed that the students mobilize around a health issue on campus. Simon had a unique perspective to share that stemmed from her personal transition into Smith as a transfer student who had found it hard to adjust to the unfamiliar foods offered at Smith. Not only did this experience harm Simon’s physical health, but it also affected how she was able to acclimate to the part of Smith culture that hinges on dining hall interactions.  

When the three students recognized that Simon’s experience was not unique, they began to investigate further. “The project was a collective of [Simon’s] personal experience and the experiences of her friends. It wasn’t just happening to [her],” said Scarpa.  

After collaborating independently with Dining Services, the trio wanted to involve more student voices in the discussion and the idea of the panel was born. On Tuesday, Feb. 5, panelists Dannia Guzman ’15, Gloria Lee ’15 and Imogene

Last Tuesday, members of the Smith community had the opportunity to explore the intersections between food, culture and belonging. During a panel entitled “Oh Comfort Food, How I Miss You! The Reality of Cultural Transitions for Women of Color at Smith,” sponsored by the Wurtele Center for Work and Life, the panel discussed how dining affects student of color and impacts their transition into the Smith community.

Panel organizers Emma Scarpa AC ’13, Yenisleidy Simon AC ’13 and Melissa Mutter ’13 began exploring the question of cultural transition in their Society, Psychology and Health seminar when Professor Benita Jackson proposed that the students mobilize around a health issue on campus. Simon had a particularly unique perspective to share that stemmed from her personal transition into Smith as a transfer student who had found it hard to adjust to the unfamiliar foods offered at Smith. Not only did this experience harm Simon’s physical health, but it also affected how she was able to acclimate to the part of Smith culture that hinges on dining hall interactions. 

When the three students recognized that Simon’s experience was not unique, they began to investigate further. “The project was a collective of [Simon’s] personal experience and the experiences of her friends. It wasn’t just happening to [her],” said Scarpa. 

After collaborating independently with Dining Services, the trio wanted to involve more student voices in the discussion and the idea of the panel was born. On Tuesday, Feb. 5, panelists Dannia Guzman ’15, Gloria Lee ’15 and Imogene Williams ’13 gave the audience a snapshot of the kinds of issues women of color face when adjusting to dining at Smith.

All three of the panelists brought with them complex and individual understandings of food to campus. While the food served in dining halls seemed to serve its purpose in the beginning, each student eventually began to experience problems.

“The variety was good, but the transition was rough. I was lifted from where I was so comfortable,” said Lee. Coming from home, where food was about connection to culture and family meal times, Williams also mentioned the “disconnect to the food” she began to feel.

One of the core issues centered around the lack of diversity in the food at Smith. Guzman reminisced about how excited she was to experience new foods during her first year at Smith. However, she soon began to feel physically unhealthy. “I realized I wasn’t feeling right after eating pasta and bread all the time. The food was great, but not what I needed,” said Guzman. The principle takeaway from the event was simple: what we eat, how we eat, and what we are used to eating influences our wellbeing and should be addressed from a collaborative and critical health perspective.

The panel also sparked discussion about the problematic portrayal of “ethnic” food on campus. During the open discussion, students in the audience noted that there not only needed to be greater diversity in terms of food choice but also more attention paid to how ethnic foods are prepared. The incorrect preparation of naan, the stereotypical portrayal of “soul food” and a call to recognize tofu as a traditionally Asian food were all issues raised by audience members. “Given that the demographics of Smith are changing, I appreciated the discussion of how to not trivialize ethnic food that’s being prepared with stereotypical notions in mind,” said audience member Yasmine Evans ’13. Her point seemed to resonate with the majority of the crowd, many of whom felt the same way and had experienced problems that the event addressed.