Slowly Accepting Ethnic Food

In his article, “Food Fights and American Values,” Gabaccia exposes an America that actively rejected ethnic food. Perhaps this is surprising in today’s context, but in a historical perspective, it is not truly curious. During the end of the 19th century and the early half of the 20th century, the U.S. had a rather xenophobic immigration policy and anti-immigrant sentiment was not particularly rare. Therefore, it isn’t terribly shocking that Americans tried to reject ethnic foods. However, we generally believe that today’s Americans have embraced ethnic foods, especially in New York City. Yet, the question of whether we have accepted ethnic foods or just Americanized ethnic foods arises. Gabaccia writes that in accepting ethnic foods, American intellectuals saw these foods as “alternative routes to old cultural ends,” suggesting that there was still an lingering “American” sentiment in the acceptance of ethnic cuisine. Nevertheless, the idea that American have embraced ethnic foods for what they are is one that can be well-argued.