“Understanding Contemporary Asia through Food”

By Eriberto P. Lozada

Winter 2011

• Key terms: foodways, cultural studies, global issues, cultural transmission, environmental issues, globalization, anthropology, sociology
• Best for: high school, postsecondary
• Article type: research, pedagogy, curriculum, instruction

Exploring Asian foodways in the classroom offers a valuable lens through which to consider the history and patterns of contemporary societies. The author, an anthropologist, notes that “The eating habits and culinary practices of Asian societies are both local and global, revealing the historical impact of past events and the everyday tensions of contemporary Asian societies. This essay offers an overview of “big-picture” issues that provide high-interest topics for a wide range of classroom levels. Following a compelling, research-based rationale for teaching about Asia through food, the essay is divided into subsections discuss food as a marker of identity, food production, globalization and genetically modified food production, food and global futures. 

“Tasting Soy Sauce, Teaching Culture: A Case for Experiential Learning”

By Willa Zhen

Fall 2017

• Key terms: China, United States, foodways, cultural transmission, globalization, cultural diversity, diaspora, case studies
• Best for: middle school, high school, post-secondary
• Article type: pedagogy, curriculum, instruction

This article details a curriculum unit offered at the Culinary Institute of America that explored Chinese foodways through soy sauces. The goal of the unit was to challenge students’ generalizations of China as a monolithic culture that shared a single tradition of food production and consumption based on rice seasoned with soy sauce. The unit revolved around a set of experiential tasks involving soy sauce tasting as a way of connecting students with the diversity of China’s geography, regionality, foodways, and culture. The unit also explored Chinese diaspora and the global transmission of Chinese food-related ideas and inventions. While the described course focuses primarily on the PRC and the United States, the author notes strategies for adapting or broadening the unit to address other Asian countries, diasporas, or intra-regional considerations.

“Pizza In Japan”

By Rossella Ceccarini

Winter 2011

• Key terms: Japan, cultural transmission, foodways, globalization, case studies
• Best for: middle school, high school
• Article type: research, curriculum

The popularity and diversity of pizza in Japan makes this food item a potent case study in exploring the globalization of cuisines. The article offers a brief history of the Italian pizza, its transmission to and hybridization in Japan, and examples of trends in Japan’s pizza cuisine in the early 2000s. The author notes, “The rise of pizza’s popularity around the world gives students an excellent chance to learn that globalization is not a new phenomenon and may help them understand some of the ways that diffusion of a particular cuisine can impact different cultures.”

“Culinary Controversies: Shark Fin Soup and Sea Creatures in the Asian Studies Curriculum”

By Tami Blumenfield

Winter 2011

• Key terms: China, foodways, controversial issues, maritime Asia, geography, environment, environmental resources, globalization, case studies.
• Best for: high school, post-secondary
• Article type: research, instruction

Shark fins are a delicacy in Asian cuisines, particularly in Chinese cooking, which has led to significant mutilation of live sharks in the wild. The author, a cultural anthropologist, discusses a successful college-level classroom debate activity for exploring the controversies raised through the practice of harvesting shark fins from living animals. The debate, which was part of a course entitled Globalization and Asian Identity, is structured around opposing viewpoints. On one side are environmentalists and animal rights activists. On the other are advocates of certain consumption habits as valued culinary tradition. The essay discusses the cultural context for shark fin soup, environmental controversies and responsibilities, useful resources, and instructional strategies, concluding with relevant excerpts from the author’s classroom activity.

“Using Art to Teach Culture: Rice in Asia”

By Roy Hamilton

Winter 2004

Key terms: art history, agriculture, foodways, cultural studies, cultural transmission, anthropology, religion
Best for: high school, post-secondary
Article type: research, curriculum

Throughout Asia, basic cultural ideas, religions, and rice agriculture are intrinsically linked. As practiced in Asian cultures, multiple religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Roman Catholicism, Taoism and Shinto) all reflect related ideas about the sacred nature of rice, its divine origin, and its special place in human life. Such comparable ideas indicate that rice culture probably predated the religious diversity that later came to characterize the region. Research around this theme resulted in an art exhibition entitled “Art and Rice: Spirit and Sustenance in Asia,” which is the subject of this article. This exhibit curator offers several art examples from the exhibition and describes how the exhibition used them to illustrate rice as a sacred grain in the cultures, religions, and histories of this region. Although the exhibit is no longer available, the background on these pieces, and the images of the art pieces, make it possible to incorporate aspects of this exhibit into classroom discussion of Asian religions.

“More Than a Meal: School Lunch in Japan”

By Alexis Agliano Sanburn

Spring 2017

• Key terms: Japan, environment, cultural studies, education, foodways, case studies
• Best for: middle school, high school
• Article type: Research, curriculum

The subject of school lunches in Japan has been touted as a high-interest hook for student engagement. The author argues that, far more than a hook, this topic is a vehicle for deep exploration of Japanese history and more. It constitutes a veritable microcosm of modern Japanese systems and institutions. This comprehensive essay provides educators with essential background to understand and teach school lunches moving beyond superficial exploration. The essay ties the school lunch to Japanese culture; social, economic, and educational history, the complex relationship between society and the government, science, nutrition, globalization and more.  As the author concludes, the Japanese school lunch is a “complex program, borrowing from the past, adapting to the times, and continuing to innovate its systems, models, and flavors. For students, school lunch provides the means by which to connect the home to the nation. For outside observers, it is a system both uniquely Japanese and a model prime for international expansion and growth.”

“What Is Teachable about Japanese Tea Practice?”

By Melinda Landeck

Spring 2013

• Key terms: Japan, cultural studies, material culture, visual art, performing art, foodways, case studies, social history
• Best for: middle school, high school
• Article type: Research, pedagogy, instruction

With growing popularity and accessibility of matcha (powdered green tea) products, Japanese tea ceremony has become an attractive, experiential window into teaching and learning about Japanese culture. Historian Melinda Landeck writes, As “a key site of social interaction, a window into Japanese history, and an organizing framework for the examination of art objects, the academic exploration of chadō provides educators with an opportunity to guide students toward a deep and multilayered appreciation of Japanese history and culture.” Landeck focuses on three strategies for approaching tea as a case study of Japanese culture in a humanities classroom: the social history of tea, seasonality, and material culture. For each approach, she identifies curricular and other resources, as well as strategies for best using these resources.

“Butter Diplomacy: Food and Drink as a Social Lubricant in Dutch East India Company Trade with Japan”

By Michael Laver

Spring 2012

• Key terms: Japan, trade, economics, cultural transmission, international exchange, international relations, foodways, case studies
• Best for: high school, college
• Article type: research

Food played critical functions in economic transactions and relationship-building for both the Dutch East India Company and Japanese officials whose duty it was to regulate the Dutch presence in Japan on the island of Deshima during the Tokugawa period. This was particularly true because food in early modern Japanese society was value laden and symbolic, playing an important role in establishing status within Japan’s ruling classes. This article offers insights into ways in which specific foods and drinks served to facilitate the forming and maintaining of the relationships that were crucial as the Dutch operated under close supervision in Japan. The author draws upon rich accounts in Dutch merchant journals for his examples, shedding light on daily interactions as well as more formal, celebratory ones and highlighting the symbolism, cultural context, and role of food as social and economic currency in both Dutch and Japanese culture.

“Using Food to Teach about Chinese Culture”

By Kandice Hauf

Winter 2011

• Key terms: foodways, China, diaspora, cultural studies, anthropology, geography, experiential learning, case studies, globalization
• Best for: middle school, high school, college
• Article type: research, pedagogy, instruction

In this practical article, Chinese historian Kandice Hauf shares experiences, approaches, sample topics, and materials to assist other educators in incorporating food study in their college, high school, and middle school courses on China or world history. The article offers suggestions of topics and strategies in subsections on early China and its geographical setting, philosophers and food, Chinatowns as sites to study food, portrayals of food and culture in Chinese film, food and globalization, and the multicultural classroom as an experiential learning setting using family oral histories.

“Cuisine and Identity in Contemporary Japan”

By Theodore C. Bestor, Victoria Lyon Bestor

Winter 2011

• Key terms: Japan, anthropology, cultural studies, foodways, globalization, economics, international relations, cultural transmission
• Best for: secondary, post-secondary
• Article type: research

In their introduction, Theodore and Victoria Lyons Bestor establish the premise for their in-depth article: “Food is intrinsically embedded in social, cultural, or historical schemas and frameworks. In Japan shoku bunka (food culture) is a key concept for understanding the day-to-day foodways of Japanese society. Today in Japan, foodstuffs and cuisine attract constant attention. Culinary choices and their connections to lifestyle and identity are trumpeted in advertising, in the mass media, and in restaurants and supermarkets across the country. Japan’s modern relationship with itself and the world—the juxtaposition of Japan’s self-constructed sense of cultural uniqueness and its simultaneous, almost constant incorporation and innovation of things foreign— is clearly visible through food and foodways.” In subsections entitled “Imagining Japanese Cuisine,” “Domesticating Foreign Cuisines,” and “Branding of Cool Japan, the Bestors offer the reader detailed analysis of trends in Japanese cuisine. They also introduce themes and frameworks for using this information to teach about Japanese history, cultural identity, trade, global interaction, popular culture and more. Although this essay does not provide instructional strategies, per se, each discussion section offers classroom instructors a wealth of detail, anecdotes, and themes to enrich their own teaching about Japan through culture. For those teaching Japanese or world histories, the section of “Domesticating Foreign Cuisines” will be especially valuable. For those teaching contemporary Japan or Global studies, the final section on “Cool Japan” provides a foundation for looking at Japan as a global cultural influencer and soft power.

“Rice as Self: Japanese Identities Through Time”

By Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney

Winter 2004

Key terms: Japan, geography, religion, cultural identity, symbolism
Best for: high school, post-secondary
Article type: research

Author Ohnuki-Tierney argues that, far more than a staple food, rice is a powerful and evocative symbol of the collective self of Japan as a culture and a people. Through historical analysis of documents and material culture, she ties the significance of rice to Japan’s foundational myths, its economic foundations dating back to the ancient Yamato state, the beliefs and rituals of Shinto, and the ideological authority and symbolism of the emperor. For more modern times, Ohnuki-Tierney considers the uses of rice as an identifier of status within Japanese society, and rice as a means of differentiating Japan and Japanese from the “other,” whether that be China, the West, or other Asian cultures. The essay ends with a discussion of late 20^th-century conflicts over importation of foreign rice into Japan and its significance within and beyond economic considerations. 

“Exploring Indian Culture through Food”

By Tulasi Srinivas

Winter 2011

• Key terms: Foodways, cultural studies, anthropology, ethnic diversity, diaspora, cultural transmission, rituals and holidays, globalization.
• Best for: high school, post-secondary
• Article type: research

Educators seeking to teach about India through food will find useful detail in this article. India’s regional diversity and large number of ethnic groups make any simple study, exploration, or generalizations about “Indian food” misleading. As the author notes, “Generally, there is no ‘Indian’ food but rather an enormous number of local, regional, caste-based ingredients and methods of preparation. These varieties of foods and their preparation have only been classified as ‘regional’ and ‘local’ cuisines since Indian independence in 1947 yet have enjoyed domestic and foreign patronage throughout most of India’s history. Because of this diversity and its celebration, most Indians appreciate a wide array of flavors and textures and are traditionally discerning consumers who eat seasonally, locally, and, to a large extent, sustainably.” Also because of this diversity, food in India can be seen as an identity marker, reflecting caste, class, kinship, ethnic identity, religion, and even secular group identification. The essay delves into this complex topic through sections on “food and identity,” “history and the culinary imagination,” “the Indian meal,” “Gastronomic Calendars, Rituals, and Seasonality,” and “globalization of Indian food.”

“Poha—Krishna’s Favorite”

By Aparna Heroor

Winter 2011

• Key terms: India, Hinduism, Foodways, case studies
• Best for: elementary school, middle school, high school
• Article type: research, instruction

This article provides useful background for educators who may want to introduce the dish Poha in the classroom. The author evokes her own memories of this popular Indian breakfast to set the context for a description of this meal and its significance in Indian culture, Hinduism, and the legend of Krishna.

“Making Sense of Vietnamese Cuisine”

By Nir Avieli

Winter 2011

• Key terms: Vietnam, foodways, material culture, cultural studies
• Best for: high school, post-secondary
• Article type: research, pedagogy, instruction

The author argues that the most effective way to create a learning experience around Vietnamese food is by posing and exploring a common question asked by both tourists and students when facing unfamiliar food: “What is this?” Avieli shares categories she developed to deal with this question and familiarize her college students with Vietnamese cuisine and its historical and cultural context.  The author contextualizes her discussion of five categories with a preliminary discussion she uses in her instruction of food as both a physiological necessity and a cultural artifact. She then presents categories or analysis and discussion that, taken together, promote a comprehensive analysis: “Basic Ingredients,” “Cooking Techniques,” “Meal Structures,” “Strange Foods,” and “Foreign Influences.” While the article focuses on Vietnamese food, the categories offer a useful framework for contextualizing and appreciating cuisine and foodways in other cultures as well.

“Globalizing Asian Cuisines: From Eating for Strength to Culinary Cosmopolitanism —A Long History of Culinary Globalization”

By James Farrar

Winter 2011

• Key terms: foodways, case studies, globalization, localization, cultural engagement, cultural transmission, Goa, Philippines, Japan, China. urban history
• Best for: high school, post-secondary
• Article type: research; instruction

This essay considers four Asian cities that offer a history of culinary globalization in Asia and its implications. Each city offers a different case study for understanding how Asian people eat and exploring the changing nature of Asia’s “culinary engagement” with the world. Using the lens of food, the author illustrates processes of globalization through growing connections and exchanges between distant places. At the same time, he notes the concurrent processes of localization–ways in which imported foods and cuisines are incorporated into local cultures—often defined by the term glocalization. The four cities are Goa—early example of culinary globalization; Manila—hybrid cuisine as national symbol, Shanghai—food of a global city; and Tokyo—eating the “other” for strength. For each case study, Farrar provides a rich history of the city and its foodways.

“Chinese Tea in World History”

By Marc Jason Gilbert

Fall 2008

• Key terms: China, transmission, exchange, globalization, case studies, world history, foodways, economics
• Best for: middle school, high school, post-secondary
• Article type: research, curriculum, instruction

Four Chinese teas are processed from the Camilla sinensis plant—green, white, black, and oolong. This resource essay contends that these four tea types have played a role in world history more reflective of the global human experience than any other commodity. He develops this thesis through a thoughtful analysis of research, then discusses opportunities to study the ancient and early modern world and Asian history and economies through tea. Among the avenues for classroom exploration are the role of food and foodways in society (the “tea ceremony” in Japan as one example); the function of “commodity currencies;” the place of “coffee houses” in the establishment of global trading and insurance networks; the spread of plantation economies; and the influence of both diet and disease on the Industrial Revolution in the West and in Japan. The author provides suggestions for classroom activities and student research including the integration of visual and tactile explorations of the culture and economy of tea and experiential learning through hands-on study of tea in its various forms. The article includes recommended resource links.

“Harvesting Insights from Rice in East Asian Studies”

By Bruce R. Dalgaard, Katherine Tegtmeyer Pak

Winter 2004

• Key terms: case studies, world history, geography, economics
• Best for: post-secondary
• Article type: research, curriculum, instruction

The authors, an economist and a political scientist, discuss a sophomore-level course on “Rice and Society in East Asia” that they have team taught at St. Olaf’s College. The course considers the centrality of rice to economic, social, and political development in the region by “exploring the transitions from agrarian to industrial societies and how changes in eating and attitudes towards food mirror larger societal shifts.” The essay is particularly useful in its detail, outlining the sequence of the course, goals and learning objectives, readings, and the rationale and design of student activities and projects. Although designed as part of a series of courses taken in sequence at the college, the authors offer suggestions for adapting segments for other courses and audiences, including high school world history or geography, and then provide sufficient detail and discussion to do so.

“Golden Arches East: McDonald’s in East Asia: Food and Culture in the Classroom”

By John Carroll, Sheila Onuska

Spring 2003

Key terms: Japan, United States, foodways, cultural transmission, cultural studies, anthropology, case studies, globalization, Westernization
Best for: high school, post-secondary
Article type: Curriculum, instruction

This article offers practical suggestions for integrating the classic collection of essays, Golden Arches East: McDonald’s in East Asia (1997) in both college courses and secondary teacher professional development programs. As the essay authors note, “the overwhelming familiarity of McDonald’s in students’ and teachers’ daily experience gives everyone in the classroom a common platform from which to begin talking about and thinking about bigger questions. The authors of Golden Arch­es East have used scholarly techniques usually applied to exotic practices and faraway places to investigate some of the choices of ordinary people around the world.” Carroll and Onuska discuss their own experiences using this publication as an assigned reading. Herein lies the strength and continuing relevance of this article. In their strategies and guiding questions for classroom discussion, Carroll and Onuska identify key themes and fundamental questions to apply to the consideration of the Golden Arches essays but also to any case study or consideration of cultural transmission and hybridization of food products or industries.  These include discussion of the diversity of Asian experiences; the significance of cultural adaptations in menu, food ingredients, sales structure, and advertising; Westernization and globalization as value-laden processes, and the impact of an industry such as McDonald’s on cultural values.