Good Food
Representation, the value of labor, and activism in the AAPI community
In response to the escalating violence against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, Karen Tongson guest hosts this week’s Good Food, asking several women to share their stories.
By Karen Tongson • • 56m ListenIn response to the escalating violence against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, Karen Tongson guest hosts this week’s Good Food, asking several women to share their stories. Tongson chairs the Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies at USC, where she teaches a Food Culture and Food Politics class.
Tongson leads a roundtable discussion with Chef Minh Phan and food writer Esther Tseng on AAPI representation, authenticity, and stereotypes within the hospitality industry. Restaurateur Lien Ta reflects on her childhood in her mother’s nail salons and the value of labor following the Atlanta shootings. Saehee Cho shares the story behind her grocery delivery initiative, Soon Mini, which blends her pursuits of food, the arts, and activism. Finally, Professor Dorinne Kay Kondo spotlights the ignorance of representing the AAPI community in cooking competition shows, something she refers to as “discomfort TV.”
In this episode
5 storiesDr. Karen Tongson sits in as guest host for Good Food
“This isn’t just a moment in the wake of terrible things happening like the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and the Atlanta shootings, the daily barrage of violence against people of color, women, and trans people.
Read the story6 minAddressing the issues of exoticizing Asian women and food
“In Hollywood, most of the time we don’t actually feel for Asian Americans. We see them in service of others,” writes Celine Parreñas Shimizu in a recent article for the Washington Post.
Read the story13 min‘That could have been my mom, my auntie’: Lien Ta after the Atlanta shootings
Lien Ta, the restaurateur behind All Day Baby and co-founder of Regarding Her , grew up in nail salons operated by her mother, who worked for tips.
Read the story12 minSoon Mini: Using food as a catalyst for social activism
“I think this is true of a lot of cultures: The table is where we commune. Where language lacks, where culture lacks, where common experience lacks — food bridges that gap,” says Saehee Cho .
Read the story11 minWhen comfort television gets uncomfortable
Cringe-inducing moments on reality cooking competitions have become commonplace. What is pure escapist television for many can have an undercurrent of racism and stupidity for others. That’s what Dorinne Kay Kondo calls “(dis)comfort TV.”
Read the story14 min
