# Should food be considered "cultural appropriation"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 24, 2017, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-food-be-considered-cultural-appropriation/789755 "2017-06-24T14:36:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-food-be-considered-cultural-appropriation/789755/1 "2017-06-24T14:36:47Z")
As [this article](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/food/wp/2017/05/26/should-white-chefs-sell-burritos-a-portland-restaurants-revealing-controversy/?utm_term=.535ba060dfc1) discusses, the white owners of a burrito cart were shamed into closing their doors here in Portland because of accusations of cultural appropriation. For me, this is carrying sensitivities way too far. Why should anyone pass up a good meal to eat shit food just because it’s prepared by someone of a particular culture? Does this mean that the excellent Italian place down the street should close its doors because the owner is Chicago Polish and his chef is Asian? Portland is a great place to live, but this sort of nonsense really annoys me. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-food-be-considered-cultural-appropriation/789755/2 "2017-06-24T14:43:54Z")
Yes it should. And cultural appropriation is a great thing that should be celebrated. Bullshit like this is why the racist assholes are taking control of the country. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-food-be-considered-cultural-appropriation/789755/3 "2017-06-24T14:49:02Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > As [this article](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/food/wp/2017/05/26/should-white-chefs-sell-burritos-a-portland-restaurants-revealing-controversy/?utm_term=.535ba060dfc1) discusses, the white owners of a burrito cart were shamed into closing their doors here in Portland because of accusations of cultural appropriation. > > For me, this is carrying sensitivities way too far. Why should anyone pass up a good meal to eat shit food just because it’s prepared by someone of a particular culture? Does this mean that the excellent Italian place down the street should close its doors because the owner is Chicago Polish and his chef is Asian? Portland is a great place to live, but this sort of nonsense really annoys me. Having read all the coverage, it’s pretty clear that this didn’t happen just because they were white people selling burritos. White people sell burritos all the time. First, I think there was definitely some sexism involved in the reaction to these women. But mainly I believe the outrage was because in promoting their business, they gave interviews in which they talked about harassing and hounding impoverished Mexican women and spying on them to steal their cooking secrets and they told their story like it was some big adventure. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-food-be-considered-cultural-appropriation/789755/4 "2017-06-24T14:51:17Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Having read all the coverage, it’s pretty clear that this didn’t happen just because they were white people selling burritos. White people sell burritos all the time. > > First, I think there was definitely some sexism involved in the reaction to these women. > > But mainly I believe the outrage was because in promoting their business, they gave interviews in which they talked about harassing and hounding impoverished Mexican women and spying on them to steal their cooking secrets and they told their story like it was some big adventure. I can’t read the article because of my adblocker. Does the article say the reason is cultural appropriation? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-food-be-considered-cultural-appropriation/789755/5 "2017-06-24T14:59:40Z")
Calling food adaptation ‘cultural appropriation’ shows a massive ignorance of history and humanity on the part of the idiot saying it. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-food-be-considered-cultural-appropriation/789755/6 "2017-06-24T15:05:23Z")
Wherever you live, look at a local recipe book from 70-100 years ago. Most of those are dishes whoch are unknown and even known dishes have different styles and ingredients. For instance here is a[vlogbrothers video of trying some American 1940’s era foods.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9WzC2baIW4) ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-food-be-considered-cultural-appropriation/789755/7 "2017-06-24T15:20:31Z")
Calling food all by itself “cultural appropration” is crazy. But that doesn’t mean that the [business of food](http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33994947) is immune from such criticism. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-food-be-considered-cultural-appropriation/789755/8 "2017-06-24T15:57:41Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I can’t read the article because of my adblocker. Does the article say the reason is cultural appropriation? It’s what they were accused of. There are other local chefs who have had the same sorts of accusations directed at them, including the James Beard Award winner Rick Bayless, who serves Mexican food, and Andy Ricker, whose Thai restaurant has been featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, and whose chicken wings draw customers from all over the country. This city would be a foodie wasteland if non-ethnic owned restaurants were to shut down over some notion that cuisine is proprietary. That said, if the women in question were being underhanded and bragging about it, I can understand some outrage. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-food-be-considered-cultural-appropriation/789755/9 "2017-06-24T15:59:43Z")
For much more on the food issue see the “wtf is cultural appropriation” thread. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-food-be-considered-cultural-appropriation/789755/10 "2017-06-24T16:10:34Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > But mainly I believe the outrage was because in promoting their business, they gave interviews in which they talked about harassing and hounding impoverished Mexican women and spying on them to steal their cooking secrets and they told their story like it was some big adventure. This is what caused all the flap. If they’d kept their fool mouths shut and just served up burritos, they’d still be in business. I made nachos for a friend who happens to be Mexican. The dish was invented by a Mexican for white people. Who is most guilty, and why? Show you work. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-food-be-considered-cultural-appropriation/789755/11 "2017-06-24T16:44:02Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > For much more on the food issue see the “wtf is cultural appropriation” thread. Missed that. I don’t usually venture into GD. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-food-be-considered-cultural-appropriation/789755/12 "2017-06-24T20:00:40Z")
No, it should not, it’s ridiculous, and society has gotten too uptight and much too overly sensitive. What about dance? What about all the other wonderful aspects of different cultures? Should each culture just bottle them up? One of the amazing things about different cultures is being able to share those aspects with others and letting them learn from and enjoy them imo. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-food-be-considered-cultural-appropriation/789755/13 "2017-06-24T20:06:46Z")
> [@Patx2](#): > > No, it should not, it’s ridiculous, and society has gotten too uptight and much too overly sensitive. What about dance? What about all the other wonderful aspects of different cultures? Should each culture just bottle them up? One of the amazing things about different cultures is being able to share those aspects with others and letting them learn from and enjoy them imo. There are certain things that I think are genuinely off limits. Fashion models wearing feathers in their hair Indian style as part of the wardrobe comes to mind (which I’ve seen). There are aspects of Alaska Native arts that are actually legally off limits to any non-Native, such as selling ivory of any kind. ---
**Author:** ![igor\_frankensteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/839c29/32.png) [@igor\_frankensteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/igor_frankensteen)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-food-be-considered-cultural-appropriation/789755/14 "2017-06-24T20:48:17Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > There are certain things that I think are genuinely off limits. Fashion models wearing feathers in their hair Indian style as part of the wardrobe comes to mind (which I’ve seen). There are aspects of Alaska Native arts that are actually legally off limits to any non-Native, such as selling ivory of any kind. Well, but that last is entirely different. The reason certain uses of whale ivory are off limits to non-natives, isn’t to prevent “cultural appropriation,” it’s because modern people wanted to make it off limits to EVERYONE, as a part of defending the Whales, and the native peoples objected on historic/cultural grounds, and won an exception for themselves. For absolutely ANY “wrong thing” you can think of, there are exceptions to be dealt with. Exceptions to real concerns, do NOT invalidate ALL cases of claimed wrongs, but the vile people who want to continue to commit wrongful acts, will try to say the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-food-be-considered-cultural-appropriation/789755/15 "2017-06-24T21:06:38Z")
All I know is I’m making bangers and mash for dinner, and there are about two dozen guys with bowler hats and umbrellas picketing in front of my house. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-food-be-considered-cultural-appropriation/789755/16 "2017-06-24T21:12:57Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > All I know is I’m making bangers and mash for dinner, and there are about two dozen guys with bowler hats and umbrellas picketing in front of my house. You tell them those potatoes came from the new world and THEY are the real cultural appropriators! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-food-be-considered-cultural-appropriation/789755/17 "2017-06-24T22:04:10Z")
> [@Patx2](#): > > No, it should not, it’s ridiculous, and society has gotten too uptight and much too overly sensitive. Society is just starting to recognize that being sensitive to impacts on people with less societal power is a good thing. It’s nowhere near being “overly” sensitive. ---
**Author:** ![Reddy\_Mercury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@Reddy\_Mercury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reddy_Mercury)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-food-be-considered-cultural-appropriation/789755/18 "2017-06-24T22:10:11Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Society is just starting to recognize that being sensitive to impacts on people with less societal power is a good thing. It’s nowhere near being “overly” sensitive. Should a white person legally only be allowed to eat “white food” only? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-food-be-considered-cultural-appropriation/789755/19 "2017-06-24T22:20:06Z")
There goes my plan of cooking a pizza for dinner! ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-food-be-considered-cultural-appropriation/789755/20 "2017-06-24T22:46:55Z")
> [@Reddy\_Mercury](#): > > Should a white person legally only be allowed to eat “white food” only? This doesn’t look like a serious response to what I said. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-food-be-considered-cultural-appropriation/789755.md?page=2)