Cultural Competence A-Z: F is for Food!

​I LOVE food!

No seriously. I understand that it's necessary for sustaining life and all that jazz, but for me it's not about that. Some people eat to live, some people live to eat. I'm the latter.

Nom nom nom!

I feel that food is about so much more than what you eat. It's about coming together and sharing experiences with people. Think about the top 3 traditions with your friends and family. How many of those involve food and sharing it with others? How many are centered around a big meal? Is there a certain dish that just has to be present or else the day isn't quite the same? Even if one of your favorite traditions is Friday night movie and pizza that still involves food.

There are so many ways to incorporate food into learning about other people. The thing I love about it is that your kids can be a big part of the process. All kids have opinions about food (sometimes very strong opinions) and involving them may increase their willingness to try new foods. Even if you don't cook, there are still a great number of ways to use food to learn about other people. Here are a few options:

• Try a new restaurant: Go to a restaurant that serves food that you've never tried before.  Pick out 3 options, look at the menus together, and have your child pick what they want. If you regularly go to lots of different types of restaurants, pick a new dish or have your server suggest something and share it with everyone. Talk to your server about the preparation, the history of the food, etc. Most people are more than happy to share information about their passion. Keep in mind, you don't have to try a totally different cuisine to start. Start small and build from there. Like Italian? Try Greek! Love Chinese? Try Japanese or Vietnamese! Take baby steps and before you know it, you'll have a toddler asking for sushi as their birthday dinner!
• Cook a new dish together: Look for new recipes online (a great way to use the computer) and try one! Again, let your child pick one that sounds good to them and help you make it. The same suggestions for restaurants apply here - start small and give your child a lot of control. Have fun creating in the kitchen together!
• Explore the function of food: Talk to others or look up how food is used in different cultures. How is it used in certain religious rituals and traditions? Why do some cultures not eat certain foods? How do people from other countries and cultures eat differently from you (i.e., hands, utensils, time of day, etc)?

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What type of cookies are these? Greek? American? Korean? Or just yummy?

To get started, here are some of my favorite sites related to food. You can find tips for how to involve kids in the kitchen, look up new recipes, and learn fascinating food trivia:

Getting Kids Involved in the Kitchen
Sweet Peas & ABCs
Epicurious

Recipes Around the World
Cuban
Irish
Thai
Kenyan

Food Trivia
Fun Food Facts
Common Food Myths

What will you try first? What is most interesting to you? Do you like eating new foods with your kids? Leave a comment below.

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