Interview w/ James

 

During this interview, I showed James my blog and all the aspects within it after interviewing him about his history of food and how it grew with him as a person that illustrates with his identity. While interviewing him I came to the conclusion that he agrees with my ideas and my thoughts on the inquiry of the class.

Some things he said were, “You show a lot of love and fondness for your culture’s food” and “I liked how you showed that being a food critic is inherently subjective and may be harmful to other cultures  that the critic is unfamiliar with.” And “Food is enticing to people” “I liked the discussion on organic foods and how they’re expensive and not necessarily the best choice either - also a topic I enjoy discussing is GMOs and how people are so strongly against them even though they are overall positive, and I like how you articulated this point.” Also, “Food is both a big driver of our culture and our economic and environmental production, and I like how you touched on ecological issues.” “Your point about processed foods being part of culture reminds me of how Pacific island nations were heavily impacted by colonization. By being stripped of their national resources and put under pressure by imperialist powers, they lost much of their ability to make their own food and were forced to buy from said powers, including products like Spam. The result is that such foods have become important to food culture there, but they are also contributing to health issues, which is a problem even beyond the original issues of imperialism. Just a connection!” “Food can be reflective of broader culture while also being a part of it.” “Food can also have negative aspects😋 and this shows that” 

Throughout the conversation, I learned a lot about James; about how one of his favorite foods is the tomato noodle soup his Mom makes. It is comforting for him because he has had them since he was little, and it is still something he enjoys to this day. His mom also makes it when he is sick, and it is very light and easy to eat when he is not feeling well.