Building Bridges Between Cultures with Food
Food writing of this kind not only has the potential of bringing Italian Americans closer, but also acts as a vessel of bringing individuals of various cultural backgrounds together, especially for immigrant groups in the United States. In Donna Gabaccia’s book entitled We Are What We Eat, she discusses the centrality of food in various minority cultures of the US, especially relating to immigrant groups, stating that “to abandon immigrant food traditions for the food of Americans was to abandon community, family, and religion, at least in the minds of many immigrants” (p.54). The association between food and cultural connectedness is not isolated to Italian Americans, as Gabaccia discusses the importance of traditional food preparations to groups such as Mexican Americans in the Southwest. Many Mexican American food preparations were highly time consuming, but the time spent preparing traditional foods is recognized as being an act of love itself, as “it was a given that the work took all day”, with no desire of switching to “American” prepared food options (We Are What We Eat, p. 44).
In this light, the tendency of many immigrant groups within the United States greatly stemmed from the difficulties experienced by these groups after immigrating. As Gilbert sheds light on through the story of her uncle’s name being changed, there were many aspects of immigrants’ lives that were not under their own control after immigrating, but what they ate was one aspect they could control. Gabaccia argues that “this feeling of mastery may have initially overwhelmed any normal, counterbalancing interest in the varied foods of their new homeland”, acting as an alternative reason for immigrant families sticking to familiar food preparations (We Are What We Eat, p.48).
This shared centrality of food both as a way of keeping tradition alive and as a way to hold onto something familiar in an unfamiliar way in immigrant groups creates a window for individuals of diverse backgrounds to find a sense of belonging between each other. This idea is highlighted beautifully in Luisa Giulianetti’s poem entitled Finding Home, a poem dedicated to her late friend Keith (Agrodolce p. 70-71). Luisa explains that her friendship with Keith, who came from an African American background, was largely built on their shared love of food and the ability to find common threads in African American and Italian American food preparations. This poem, and the messages that Luisa Giulianetti highlights within it demonstrates the duality of food in its ability to differentiate cultures from one another, but also tie cultures and the experiences of individuals from different cultures to one another. Overall, Italian American food writing allows individuals of Italian American backgrounds to reminisce on their experiences while also creating a platform for the experiences of various immigrant and minority groups to be heard and understood through the universal nature of food as an expression of love.