Students at Oberlin College Bellyaching about 'Inauthentic' Ethnic Food

Campus crazy season continues!

Apparently at Oberlin college the intersection of foodie culture and PC culture and the campus crybullies have collided to create a protest over how the ethnic foods are being prepared.

Students at an ultra-liberal Ohio college are in an uproar over the fried chicken, sushi and Vietnamese sandwiches served in the school cafeterias, complaining the dishes are “insensitive” and “culturally inappropriate.”

Gastronomically correct students at Oberlin College — alma mater of Lena Dunham — are filling the school newspaper with complaints and demanding meetings with campus dining officials and even the college president.

I guess we have a new PC term here - gastronomically correct. I wonder if these kids have ever heard of the culinary term - fusion cuisine? You could call whatever happens when you favorite foods from home meet the dining hall campus fusion. It's not really always pretty.

But some of the complaints make me laugh.

General Tso’s chicken was made with steamed chicken instead of fried — which is not authentically Chinese, and simply “weird,” one student bellyached in the Oberlin Review.

or

Worse, the sushi rice was undercooked in a way that was, according to one student, “disrespectful” of her culture. Tomoyo Joshi, a junior from Japan, was highly offended by this flagrant violation of her rice. “I f people not from that heritage take food, modify it and serve it as ‘authentic,’ it is appropriative,” she said.

So if you attempt to make sushi rice and displease Tomoyo Joshi, you are being culturally appropriative ... even IF you happen to like your version. Let that be a lesson to all of us who enjoy experimenting with and cooking our own versions of various world cuisines.

Oberlin’s black student union joined in the fray this month by staging a protest outside Afrikan Heritage House, an on-campus dorm.

The cafeteria there wasn’t serving enough vegan and vegetarian options and had failed to make fried chicken a permanent feature on the Sunday night menu, the school newspaper reported.

This one was also especially rich considering we have that long thread about the private school that had fried chicken for Black History Month. I guess Oberlin's students had never heard of that one or they don't care or they totally are down with that stereotype.

Those students started a petition that also recommends the reduction of cream used in dishes, because “black American food doesn’t have much cream in it,” according to the Review.

This one at least makes some sense since African-Americans and others of African descent tend to be lactose intolerant at higher levels than Europeans.

I suppose I'd be a little weirded out if I was in Japan and they served me a hamburger on pita bread, but I don't think I'd make a federal case out of it and start making demands right and left. But then the kids don't really care whether their chicken is steamed or fried -- at least from the standpoint that it tastes different. They are pretending to be offended that their culture has been insulted.

But really when it gets down to the majority of complaints being all about the food not being about what mama or grandma used to make, and you start complaining that your entire national culture has been insulted because of it, it just makes you start to look like maybe you need to learn how to cook so you can do it right. It is not a politically correct issue at all but more your problem.

Perhaps Oberlin should scrap all their attempts at ethnic food and simply serve boiled meat and potatoes with meatloaf on the weekend.

After reading the Oberlin Review, it appears that these kids are protesting the overall quality of the food. I don't think it's about being PC and sensitive. I think it's about getting what is advertised and what you pay for.

a reply to: ketsuko
If those kitchens went in for "British cuisine" days, that would be another minefield.
E.g. every Cornishman knows that a genuine Cornish pasty needs to have a twist of pastry at each end, because that's where the tin-miners held their pasty with dusty black fingers as they took their breaks in the depths of the earth.
And always remember to add suet to the pastry of a steak-and-kidney pudding.
Otherwise it would not be authentic.

When I was an undergraduate...eating in the cafeteria. We had grade "d" but edible steaks, made the university news.

Per semester, $1080.00 for all I can eat, all day. (1986 dollars)

Did I expect "great food?"..no. Was it to be "cultural sound?"...no. I had better food in the Navy, no one complained and understood.

Food is at this level is crap! at the cafeteria level of colleges/universities even more so...we all know that. Complaining is "after the effect"

Mc Donalds...try to complain, Churches, KFC, Pizza Hut, General Cho's, Happy Lamp, Panda...et.al. Complain like that? They will tell you to go "F" yourself. They will take your food away, not deliver.

I suggest, these complaining folks drop the meal program and do it alone.

MG

originally posted by: introvert
After reading the Oberlin Review, it appears that these kids are protesting the overall quality of the food. I don't think it's about being PC and sensitive. I think it's about getting what is advertised and what you pay for.

In a sense they are, but they are using the language of cultural incorrectness to define their dislike.

How else do you explain the Japanese girl complaining that the sushi rice was cultural appropriation because of how it was screwed up? She just can't say it sucks, no it is an offense to her culture!

originally posted by: missed_gear
When I was an undergraduate...eating in the cafeteria. We had grade "d" but edible steaks, made the university news.

Per semester, $1080.00 for all I can eat, all day. (1986 dollars)

Did I expect "great food?"..no. Was it to be "cultural sound?"...no. I had better food in the Navy, no one complained and understood.

Food is at this level is crap! at the cafeteria level of colleges/universities even more so...we all know that. Complaining is "after the effect"

Mc Donalds...try to complain, Churches, KFC, Pizza Hut, General Cho's, Happy Lamp, Panda...et.al. Complain like that? They will tell you to go "F" yourself. They will take your food away, not deliver.

I suggest, these complaining folks drop the meal program and do it alone.

MG

Best solution for the poor souls! Refund their remaining food balance and tell em to eat where ever they choose off campus.

People in the world are starving and they are complaining about food not being authentic??? I sure as hell hope we don't have another war where a draft is initiated. Oh what will they do? Worse, what will this country do with so many cry babies not mature enough to defend their country......

a reply to: ketsuko

they are using the language of cultural incorrectness to define their dislike.

I believe you are interpreting it that way and injecting political correctness in to it.

My take from this is that these people are pissed that the food service company in charge of meals are not even making an effort to add some authenticity to the ethnic dishes they serve.

Wouldn't you be upset if you ordered a burger and got a turkey burger? You'd expect a beef burger, would you not?

That is how I believe this should be interpreted.

i live 1 city away from oberlin. like 10 minutes away.

they can always go to the fev. it is right there on the corner by the college square. they can get tater tots and falafels.
then about 2 doors down from that there is a restaurant called alladins.
its a lebanese/american joint.
there is a couple chinese restaurants right there.

people in that town have an attitude.
all the people there are trying to be trendy, hipsters that are different from everyone that they all look the same.

all the guys wear cords that are super tight. all wear deck shows. all have big guages in their ears and thick framed glasses. all have their hemp messenger bag.
all the chicks wear shirt dresses over leggings or jeans. they all have the same thick rimmed glasses as the guys. they have pink or blue strips in their hair.

this dont really have anything to do with the subject i just wanted to weigh in.

i guess the point is there is ethnic food to be had literally across the street from the square.

People in the world are starving and they are complaining about food not being authentic???

But, but, these snowflakes are offended ! Don't you know we're supposed to cry for them? Poor souls have to eat steamed chicken and the rice is not properly prepared!

Here's some advice kids....Don't like it? Go eat somewhere else. Better yet, go on a hunger strike. Let's see how long it takes you to eat that "culturally offensive" food.

Sounds like satire to me.

Oberlin’s black student union joined in the fray this month by staging a protest outside Afrikan Heritage House, an on-campus dorm.The cafeteria there wasn’t serving enough vegan and vegetarian options and had failed to make fried chicken a permanent feature on the Sunday night menu, the school newspaper reported.

Can it get any more stereotypical? This is reminds me of a Dave Chappelle skit.



But it seems this is for real.

Lol.

a reply to: introvert

Some kids are upset because the cooking method for the chicken in their General Tso's is different, not because they ordered General Tso's and got beef or pork instead of chicken.

Oh, and I'm guessing that change from frying the chicken to steaming it? I'll bet that was done in an effort to make the food healthier for the little darlings.

I get the impression that if I were to take a cross section of these campus students out to a swanky Italian restaurant, they'd ALL complain.

The Jewish guy would complain the Pork Loins were not Kosher.
The Indian guy would complain there was no spicy curry.
The "African" American would complain there was no fried chicken.
The Korean student would ask where the dog is on the menu.
etc....etc.....

While the rest of us privileged whities would just get on and enjoy the feast.

i think they are in pretty good shape as far as there being ethnic restaurants around.
the area is not exactly the best place for diversity in restaurants.

oberlin is a small town too so i think they have good choices for the size of the town

a reply to: TinySickTears

That's something I find hilarious. They all claim to be "different" by looking exactly alike.
"See how much of a rebel I am!? I put a streak in my hair!!....just like her's and her's and her's and.......
I've just never understood the idea of being different, by following a trend.

originally posted by: DAVID64
a reply to: TinySickTears

That's something I find hilarious. They all claim to be "different" by looking exactly alike.
"See how much of a rebel I am!? I put a streak in my hair!!....just like her's and her's and her's and.......
I've just never understood the idea of being different, by following a trend.

dude thats exactly how it is.
they all look the same.
its the first thing we notice when we go to oberlin.
they all look the same down the the color/fabric type of their messenger bags.

a reply to: ketsuko

So, they're bellyaching about their food and you're bellyaching about their bellyaching, using the opportunity to rag on all things "left". At least they have to eat the food. You... you don't. Nor do you have to attend the school or even talk to the "crybullies".

It is not a politically correct issue at all but more your problem.

Exactly. Who really cares enough to complain about what students at Oberlin think about their cafeteria food? Oh, yeah...

a reply to: ketsuko

Cooking methods have an affect on quality and texture. It does make a difference.

If they steam the chicken for a General Tso's dish, then it is not General Tso's chicken and shouldn't be called such.

I think you're looking way too far in to this. It's a bunch of kids complaining about the food, not a political statement.

originally posted by: introvert
It's a bunch of kids complaining about the food, not a political statement.

Oh, but it can be USED to make a political statement! Don't want to miss that opportunity!

In my day, if you didn't like what the cafeteria had you brought your own.

Wait, are these kids in grade school or college?

By their behavior, I can't tell anymore.

a reply to: introvert

Did you read the OP at all?

I said this is what happens when food like your mother or grandmother cooks meets the campus dining hall.

If these kids want that kind of food, then the solution is for them to learn to cook it for themselves, not to complain about it. Not everything in life will cater to them. Certainly, the proper language is not to accuse the dining services of deep crimes against their culture for not frying the chicken in the General Tso's or for getting the sushi rice wrong.

Generally, in my day, we simply said the food sucked.

And then, of course, there is the deeply hilarious irony of the African-Americans WANTING fried chicken all the time which the rest of us would be accused of racism for pointing out.