Students at Oberlin College Bellyaching about 'Inauthentic' Ethnic Food

originally posted by: Benevolent Heretic

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!

Of course. Did you happen to read the NYpost piece? It is written to appeal to the Right Wingers that knee-jerk over PC'ness and liberals. Lots of snarky key words and phrases to get the blood boiling, but in the end this is just conservative political correctness being oversensitive over a bunch of kids that want their chicken crispy and rice properly cooked.

a reply to: introvert

So do you or do you not think it is a crime against the Japanese culture to botch the sushi rice?

a reply to: ketsuko

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.

They are paying for it. They have every right to complain.

Not everything in life will cater to them.

They are paying to be catered to. That is the entire point. We are talking about a food service "caterer".

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.

What deep crimes were they accused of? So far they have only been accused of being inauthentic and having poor quality food.

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.

Who cares?

These kids have every right to complain or ask for certain things. This is a campus eatery with a very large, captive, built-in customer base and if they want to keep their contract with the school they will listen to their customers.

Free market.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: introvert

So do you or do you not think it is a crime against the Japanese culture to botch the sushi rice?

Silly question. Of course it's not a crime.

By the way, if you read the NYpost piece, you would notice my "beef/turkey burger" analogy was appropriate.

The Nevada-based Universal Society of Hinduism joined the food fight last week after students discovered that the traditional Indian dish, tandoori, contained beef.

“Consuming beef was considered sacrilegious among Hindus,” blasted society president Rajan Zed, the Chronical-Telegram reported.

They should just start serving minimal nutritional requirements in the most basic forms possible.

Prison food, in other words. Schools represent correctional facilities in just about every other way, why not serve them just enough to keep them alive and able to concentrate on their NWO arithmetic and Marxist "liberal arts"?

I mean hell, if they're successfully indoctrinated into the state's program, they'll be sharing rice and beans with everyone else and they'll like it, dammit.

MRE black market at recess everyone! Don't tell teach.

oh for f-sakes, they should just be happy they have a chance to get, well what they pass off as higher education.

a reply to: introvert

Weren't you the one complaining about the cost of college in the other thread?

To be offered even this array of dishes is a reflection of the money sunk into college, but when you mass produce food, you can only go so far to cater to the specific dietary preferences of each individual. No one is going to get what mom or grandma makes exactly as those dishes are. In order to run a mass production food service, compromises have to be made.

And yes, I saw the Hindu complaints. It was part of my remark that some of the complaints made sense even though I did not cite it specifically since it came directly under the African-American cream complaint. However you replied to the my comments on General Tso's, so it made no sense. You did not cite the Hindu complaints when you brought it up.

So, is it a crime against the Chinese culture not to fry the chicken in General Tso's? And that would be even more funny considering that General Tso's is an American dish to begin with created by a Chinese immigrant.

a reply to: ketsuko

Weren't you the one complaining about the cost of college in the other thread?

No, but what does that have to do with the topic at hand?

To be offered even this array of dishes is a reflection of the money sunk into college, but when you mass produce food, you can only go so far to cater to the specific dietary preferences of each individual. No one is going to get what mom or grandma makes exactly as those dishes are. In order to run a mass production food service, compromises have to be made.

Irrelevant.

So, is it a crime against the Chinese culture not to fry the chicken in General Tso's?

Again, no it's not. No one has suggested anyone should be charged with a crime.

a reply to: introvert

You're just going to dismiss every valid point she's making?

The cost of college is very relevant to this discussion. How much do you think it would cost to hire a Jewish kitchen staff, a Muslim staff, a Mormon staff, a Buddhist staff, etc. etc.?

Or at the very least one universal staff that is well-trained in worldwide cuisine.

How much do you think that will cost? You want world-class chefs in every college?

a reply to: ketsuko

I cannot believe the horror that these children must endure. Having steamed chicken instead of fried?

I hope the Justice Department has been called.

This is, of course, due to global warming. Damn you, conservatives. . . . . DAMN YOU!

a reply to: NthOther

How did we go from these kids complaining about food quality and such to hiring world-class chefs?

You guys are taking this to an absurd level.

a reply to: introvert

We're absurd for pointing out how absurd it is to be bitching about chicken at school?

If you say so.

originally posted by: NthOther
a reply to: introvert

We're absurd for pointing out how absurd it is to be bitching about chicken at school?

If you say so.

They have every right to complain. The school requires every student to pay for a meal plan.

We're not talking free public school lunches provided by the government. This is a private university.

This rivals the tragedy at Kent State.

Why can't we just, give peas a chance!

The entire situation is hilarious. First of all, campus dining hall food isn't really considered top-notch cuisine by anyone's standard, especially considering that ramen noodles has been a main stay of collegiate life.

Stick to the limp salad bar, little fish and consider this a rite of passage.

originally posted by: introvert

They have every right to complain. The school requires every student to pay for a meal plan.

If I was required to purchase a meal plan that conflicted with my religion or other cultural requirements...

...I wouldn't go to that school (public or private). I wouldn't expect the school to change everything to accommodate my IBS.

Because I wasn't raised to consider myself the center of the universe.

a reply to: NthOther

I wouldn't go to that school (public or private). I wouldn't expect the school to change everything to accommodate my IBS.

Because I wasn't raised to consider myself the center of the universe.

They are not asking them to change everything, nor do they consider themselves the center of the universe. They simply what their food to be of decent quality and to get what they pay for.

You guys are being oversensitive snowflakes. They have every right to complain if the food sucks and it's sad that we have to make it a political issue.

It's ignorant.

Oberlin is well known for its collection of special snowflakes who are often paralyzed with political correctness. The highly entertaining oneupsmanship games that they play with each other is a real hoot. Each gripe must be bested by one of more importance. I especially enjoy the Chinese food gripe. Virtually nothing found outside of China is "authentic" and in their haze of higher education, they fail to realize that...and many other things. The administration is generally spineless and regularly rolls over for the little darlings so I expect that General Tsao will soon be speaking at the campus on proper chicken preparation unless he is shouted down by the English cuisine group as an anti-boiler. I'm waiting for the Afrika house to demand watermelon for the authentic Kwanzaa feast.

The chickens are our future! Think of the chickens!

IF I am remembering my college days correctly, well...
it seems that it was debatable if the food they were giving us was really food even...
it certainly wasn't what they said it was....

public school meals were worse.
and today they are complaining that they aren't "authentic" enough??? heck we were griping that they made the kids living in the dorms prepay for the crap even if we didn't want to eat it!
be happy if it's edible people!