Food Culture Among New Immigrants in the U.S.

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By: Natasha Paz

Abstract Aim: To investigate how food culture differs among new immigrants in their first year of living in the US and what factors drive their food choice, including influences, past practices, availability of certain foods and health factors. Methods: This qualitative study used in-depth interviews with 4 females from various regions in the world who recently moved to the US within the past year (One from Vietnam, One from Germany, One from England, and One from Israel). Each interview last approximately 30 minutes each and analyzed various aspects of food culture such as purchasing, preparing and eating food from their home land, and comparing it to their newly adapted diet. I also inquired about any major differences in their health since moving, and if they noticed any changes. A code matrix was then used to select common threads among all four participants and organize the different influences among their answers. Results: Three common differences emerged in this study: The purchasing of food, the preparation of food and eating styles affected the food choice and dietary patterns of women from all four cultures. Conclusions: When traditional food choices are altered there are social, cultural and emotional reasons behind it. Migrating to a different culture requires adaptation to new customs and traditions and has different impacts on health and taste preference. Introduction People who immigrate to the United States face many different forms of culture shock, including a drastic change in diet and food selection due to the absence of their traditional dishes and foods. This can have an effect on how people of an ethnic minority make food choices for themselves while living in a different culture, and may have different impacts on their health. Different cultural and social influences often determine what foods minority

groups consume and why they choose these selections. Research has shown that food is important in maintaining connections to home and play a significant role in keeping ethnic identity when introduced to a new culture (Vallianatos and Raine, 2008). However, many times new opportunities to try different foods arise, and when new foods are introduced it can lead to the practices of new food habits. This is shown to be common when being completely immersed in a new culture. The change of eating patterns can be traced to different aspects of food culture such as purchasing, preparing, and meal pattern styles. Lack of ingredients and materials needed to make their traditional dishes effects what food they can prepare, and many times specialty stores that carry certain ingredients or imported goods are expensive and overpriced (Patil, Hadley and Nahayo, 2008). Many people have difficulty finding specialized stores and imported products from their home, especially in rural areas that are not exposed to so much cultural variety, so individuals often substitute their traditional meals with more local cuisine. This leads to an increased consumption in take-away and eating-out patterns that are adopted with living in a westernized culture. This may have a bigger health implication on people who are not accustomed to eating these new foods. Another similarity to the literature shows a change in meal patterns and portions of food consumed. Often times newly adopted schedules can alter the times, location, and the amount eaten, which differs from patterns they practice while in their native country. This can also take a toll on their health. Epidemiological studies focusing on immigrant health have found links between acculturation, weight gain, and disease risk (Lindbergh and Stevens, 2009). Another factor is whether or not they have been more exposed to other cuisines previously and if they have developed a taste for them. This can influence their selection and therefore they might choose a food for their favorite meal which is not traditionally consumed or pick a cuisine of a different culture. Another driving factor to food choice that is predominant in the literature is religious restrictions and beliefs concerning foods. This is a key factor in food selection and can have moral strain on people if they struggle to find foods to consume in their new environment.

Studies have analyzed customs and traditions individuals attempt to keep the same, and differences they experience when moving to a westernized culture, and what influences these selections (Vallianatos and Raine, 2008). The many different factors that drive food selection and the motivation for consuming these items will therefore be examined within a small sample of female immigrants in order to further investigate personal food choices upon moving the United States.

Methods The study population included 4 female informants ranging from ages 18-28 from various parts of the world, with the criteria that (1) They have good foundational knowledge of their home cuisine and cooking/food purchasing practices back home, and (2) They arrived to the United States no longer than one year ago. This was to ensure the transition of their previous food practices and current practices are fresh in their memory. The first informant was an 18 year old female, who had recently moved to the Bay Area, from Ha Long, Vietnam last summer in June. She has a very good understanding of native Vietnamese cuisine from cooking with her mother and her grandmother back in her hometown. The second informant is 21 years old and moved from Hamburg Germany this last January 2013. She is currently a student and is studying abroad for university. She said that she has previously visited the United States before, but this is the first time that she lived here. As a child her parents moved around Germany quite frequently so she is educated in many different areas of the country and various food customs they practice there. The third informant is a 25 year old female who moved here from Israel 8 months ago. She lived in the US before when she was very young, but grew up in the North of Israel, but recently came back to work and live with her husband. Back home she was responsible for preparing dinners and shopping for food, so she is familiar with many food customs. The last informant is a 20 year old female from Liverpool, England. She arrived to the US on August 10th 2012 to attend a semester abroad. She said that she has some favorite home cooked meals, and then some favorite restaurants that she felt are traditional to her culture.

Each participant was asked about their background and eating habits through qualitative interviews. Each interview took place over approximately 30 minutes each, and during this interview they were asked about buying food, preparing foods, staple foods in their culture, and about their eating patterns/meal style (see Table 1). Table 1. Qualitative Interview Guide Questions 1. What foods or dishes do you commonly consume back home? Can you find these foods or ingredients to make them where you currently live? 2. How is food prepared and eaten where youre from? Do the women primarily cook? Do you eat as a family? 3. How do you shop for food back home? Is it common to eat out? 4. What aspects of American food culture are similar to back home? 5. What is the biggest difference in cuisine from America to your native home? 6. Tell me about some difficulties you have faced since changing or altering your diet. 7. Have you experienced any health changes since coming to America such as weight gain, trouble exercising, irregular sleep, or mood changes?

Each interview was in person, in the location of the participants choice, to make them the most comfortable. The first one was on March 19 th at 11:29AM in a residential kitchen. The second occurred on March 25th, at 7:43 PM. The conversation took place in a comfortable living room at her residence , over coffee. The third was held on April 1rst, 2013 at 5:47PM at the informants house. We spoke at her desk so we would have a quiet area to speak and so I could hear her. The last one occurred on Tuesday April 2nd at 12:26 PM in an outdoor area on a University Campus, sitting outside at a picnic table. There were a few distractions, but not overly loud to the point where the responses couldnt be heard. During each of the interviews extensive field notes were taken, and immediately following a full detailed report was written. After completing each of the interviews the reports were analyzed Edge coding was used to identify similar threads and subjects that were common among all four of the responses. This method is common in to find different themes or

concepts. From the coding three main themes were identified and put into a code matrix to recognize how frequent similar answers were given (See Figure 2 for more details of Code Matrix). These three themes were also the main factors drive their food choice since being in America. From the coding there three main categories, with subgroups for each: 1. Home Food Culture, with subgroups of Buying Food, Preparing Food, Staple Foods, and Eating Food; 2. New Food Culture, with subgroups Similarities, and Differences to back home; 3. Health Changes, with subgroups weight gain, Physical Activity, other health related issues. Figure 2. Code Matrix
Participant 1 (FV) Home Food Culture Buying Food Supermarkets Small markets, specialty stores Fresh produce Fresh Bread Preparing Food Cook with Mother Mother cooks all the time Special Spices or Sauce Men dont cook Staple Foods Fresh Bread Stews and meat Fresh vegetables Fresh Fruit Potatoes Eating Food Restaurant frequently Family sit down dinner Fast Food New Food Culture Similarities Fast Food Consumption Variety of Food choices Differences Taste Participant 2 (FG) Participant 3 (FI) Participant 4 (FE)

Health Portion Size Health Changes Menstruation Absence or irregular Mood/irritability Weight Gain Gain Gain then lose No Gain Increased Physical Activity Skin Breakouts

Results and Discussion The four most common themes that are identified from each participants answers were how they bought food, prepared food, and ate foods back home. These play a huge factor in making food choices in a new place because they are not accustomed to new practices and they are unfamiliar with different ways of doing what they are used to. Buying Food Each of the informants mentioned that they were not used to the large grocery store settings when they first arrived in America. It was overwhelming for me to go into a grocery store and see twenty varieties of the same product; back home we only have one type of each thing, Participant 4 said. This can prove to be a barrier for many who come to the United States and are bombarded with so much selection. A common theme within all four of the participants was the use of small markets and specialty stores back home. Participant 2 said Back home if we want meat we go to a butcher, if we want bread we go to a baker; its more logical that way and you know its fresh. Similar responses made it clear that they were concerned with freshness and quality of many of the foods in America, and when they were asked to compare items such as produce; each informant said there was no comparison and they didnt think highly of the quality of the produce in America.

Another common thread was the lack of availability of their native foods and the need to adapt or substitute different ingredients in order to try and keep some traditional dishes in their regular diet. This is similar to an idea in the article Unpacking Dietary Acculturation Among New Americans, when they discussed how the lack of ingredients and materials needed to make their traditional dishes effects what food they can prepare (Patil, Hadley and Nahayo, 2008). Not only are the ingredients difficult to find, the prices can be a big barrier to why they cannot purchase their traditional foods. Produce was brought up again in this light because it is very pricey at many local super markets, so some of the participants cannot afford the same fruits or vegetables they are used to consuming back home. Along with the differences of purchasing foods, another thread that came up was the substitution of certain staple foods that they were used to back home. Below is a chart to show some traditional purchasing habits that the participants previously practiced on a regular basis, and no longer do because of lack of presence, price, or other factors (see figure 3).

Figure 3.

Food Purchasing Back Home

Small Market Bakery Butcher Produce Stands

Preparing Food When discussing food preparation practices, most of the participants have had a history cooking and preparing food with their mother or grandmother and learning skills and techniques to help them cook their favorite recipes, but the majority of them felt like they didnt experience the same thing in the United States. Participant 3 said In America the girls are spoiled and they get served their whole lifemost girls dont know how to cook a dinner without a recipe in front of them. They also talked about how its tradition to learn family recipes and even though the mother will cook for the whole family, it is expected that the girls learn certain dishes and recipes. Another very similar thread that identified was the use of spices and sauces that arent used in American cooking. Participant 1 claimed American food is bland and tasteless; they only use salt to flavor their foods. This was mentioned by many of the informants as being a limitation to making their traditional dishes. Even if the spices are available, they are not the same quality and way overpriced, said Participant 3. They have had to make some adjustments and learn to use new spices and new flavors. One of the participants enrolled in a cooking class to help with some ideas and techniques to cook new foods since she is interested in making a fusion of her traditional dishes with an American twist. They also mentioned how unhealthy they feel American cooking is. Participants 1 and 3 claimed that they were not used to not eating vegetables with every meal, and were shocked to see how few vegetable choices were offered when they arrived. They also discussed the quality of nutrition and how they felt that the cuisine back home was better for you and less fattening. One thing that was interesting is a comment made by Participant 2; she talked to me about how she was surprised when she arrived in the US because she thought that everyone ate at McDonalds and drank soda, but she was shocked to see that not everyone eats like that. She also talked to me about her perception that people eat in very extreme ways; meaning they eat either super healthy and organic, or super unhealthy and fattening. This was an interesting point to hear, and reveals a stereotype that foreigners have about the American diet.

Eating Food Out of all of the subjects the most commonly identified difference was eating patterns among all four participants. The first thing each of the noticed was the amount Americans eat out, and how each of them have somewhat adopted this habit. Almost all of them identified that back home they very infrequently eat at restaurants unless it is a special occasion; however they find themselves eating out a lot more since moving to America. According to the study Factors Influencing Food Choice among Ethnic Minority Adolescents, there is a lot of anxiety that is expressed concerning the impact of the use of take-away foods (fast foods) on new immigrant womens health. They also state that eating out can act as a social activity and be an outlet or meeting point for many while trying to adjust to a new lifestyle (Sheikh and Thomas, 2008). This is also true for eating for emotional reasons. Participant 1 said sometimes I snack because I am bored, or sometimes because I am homesick, but I would never eat that much at home, so coping with homesickness and culture shock can be another prominent reason to eat food. Some of the participants linked certain foods to comfort foods. The consumption of a certain type of food such as sweets or pastries is attached to a feeling they might associate with someone close to home that they miss. This is not at all uncommon when individuals feel homesick, and was mentioned by a few of the participants. Below is a graph (Figure 4) to depict common reasons to eat out, and forces behind them.

Reasons for Eating Out

Availability/convenience

Socialize Reasons for Eating Out Boredom

Homesick 0 1 2 3 4 5

All three of the participants also made a statement about the portion sizes in America compared to back home. They said that they eat much more because the portions are so much bigger. Everything is bigger in America, Everyone knows that, said Participant 1, she continued by stating even the plates are bigger than back home. Many of them stated since they didnt regularly eat out, they would eat everything on their plate since it was a treat, but the portions were so much smaller that they wouldnt be overeating. However, since they have the same mentality now, many of the girls find themselves trying to force themselves to finish since most of them said that they are not used to American size portions. Some of the participants also mentioned tricks they have learned when eating out to try and eat less, such as sharing with a friend, or taking leftovers to eat later. Back home I would never take my half eaten food home with me, but there is so much food I can eat it for two or three meals, said Participant 3.

Health Changes and Impacts From the information gathered from all of the participants there were no major commonalities in drastic health decline within the first year of moving to the States, however each of the girls experienced differences in their health. There was a wide fluctuation when it came to weight. One participant gained weight and then lost it quickly, another gained a few pounds and was unable to lose it, and the others claimed that they try to control their weight by balancing diet and exercise as best they can. One of the participants noted a change in her skin and frequent breakouts. This could be due to an increase in oil consumption and perhaps even a change in water, which has been known to cause a change in skin PH (Buchez, WebMD). There was also a report about loss or irregular menstruation in of the participants. This would be a good area to investigate and potentially relate back to diet, but further research is needed. All four of the participants did in fact note an increase in physical activity. Each girl has made a conscious effort to engage in more physical activity than they previously did at home. When asked why, the common response was to not get fat. Each of the participants also

agreed that if they did not exercise, they would most likely gain weight because of the increase in food consumption. This could be considered a positive result of their moving, but may be just to balance out their new diets.

Conclusion and Recommendations From the results it was clear that buying, preparing and eating foods all play big roles in how people of an ethnic minority make food choices for themselves while living in a different culture, and have different impacts on their health. We have looked at how purchasing food can be drastically different and have an effect on why certain foods are selected. We also see how many of the staple foods that are consumed on a regular basis might be absent from their new diets and that can have an emotional and physical strain on them. It is also clear that different cultural and social influences often determine what foods minority groups consume and why they choose these selections, and also how they change when put in a different environment. This information could be useful to other researchers who are studying similar patterns and new information was discovered that was not in previous literature similar to the topic. There were definitely some limitations to the study. The informants were also only taken from certain parts of Europe and Asia and could have been biased to certain areas that they are from whether it was rural or urban; this could have an effect on their answers. The questions asked were also not diverse enough to get a broader outlook on the topic, and if the interviews could be re-done, or followed-up more questions would be asked to get more in depth answers. These questions would be more evoking and researched more in order to get a deeper response. Perhaps if more research were done on the individuals prior to the interview the questions could have been guided to get more specific responses. Even though a substantial amount of information was gathered from the informants who participated in the study, the information isnt very reliable since the sample study was so small.

If further research is to be done it is a good idea to identify some of the following limitations and ask some additional questions such as:

1. When asking about the quality of American food compared to home foods use a ranking scale to get a better understanding of what the individual feels and to get a statistical reading of similarity or difference. 2. Frequency of shopping, and how often they shop back home compared to newly developed shopping habits. 3. How frequently they ate out now compared to back home (numerical amount). 4. To better understand portion sizes, get an example to show with hand or objects for portion size difference 5. It would also be interesting to incorporate their environment and climate to see if that would have any relation to food choices and availability.

These are all possible questions that could have more precise and definitive results and help hone in on more specific aspects of the common themes. It would also be important to expand to more diverse groups and include more female participants from multiple continents and cultures such as African women, or South American women, or Australian women, or even women from more Northern parts of North America such as Canada. This would give us a better understanding and have more threads

References Lerner, J. V., Lerner, R. M., & Finkelstein, J. (2001). Adolescence in America : An Encyclopedia. NUMBER 5. SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER. 1994. Pages 29-35. ABC-CLIO. References

Lindberg, N. M., & Stevens, V. J. (2011). Immigration and weight gain: Mexican-American women's perspectives. Journal Of Immigrant And Minority Health, 13(1), 155-160. doi:10.1007/s10903-009-9298-8

Patil, C., Hadley, C., & Nahayo, P. (2009). Unpacking dietary acculturation among new Americans: results from formative research with African refugees. Journal Of Immigrant And Minority Health / Center For Minority Public Health, 11(5), 342-358. doi:10.1007/s10903-0089120-z

Vallianatos, H., & Raine, K. (2008). Consuming Food and Constructing Identities among Arabic and South Asian Immigrant Women. Food, Culture & Society, 11(3), 355-373. doi:10.2752/175174408X347900