For the class project I propose that we focus on the topic of food in NYC. Food plays a huge role in our everyday lives and contributes to the various cultures in NYC. For the project, we can examine the different types of food consumed by certain groups or neighborhoods and discuss their significance. We can identify the staple foods that certain groups eat everyday and more-so the exotic foods that people may not have known about or have not tried.
For the project, we can distinguish between the immigrants of the past and now, discussing the changes in diets. We can research the foods available to immigrants during the waves of immigration and see how different their diets were from their home countries. To find such information, we can research it on the internet, visit restaurants and maybe ask if their menus have changed, or even ask friends or families about their past experiences as immigrants. After finding out about their diets in the past, we can then compare it to today. We can see how much things have changed, whether or not their diets have now diversified or have stayed relatively the same due to culture, tradition, religion, etc. We can also visit restaurants and see if the ethnic groups that visit them have diversified or not.
For the website, we can put up pictures of the many different cultural foods. We can compare visually how much more diverse diets have become by place comparison pictures of foods available then and now. We can describe and talk about the foods and their importance in certain communities, whether it is eaten on certain days, holidays, etc. We can also explain why certain cultures eat certain foods and how they came about especially when pertaining to the more unique and exotic foods.
Food is a huge topic. Not only is it a necessity, it can also be a luxury. There are many things that we can talk about when it comes to food. Through food, we can understand each other and share with each other our identities.
