Chapter 19: The Vitality and Turmoil of Urban Life, 1877-1920





The following activities accompany the Legacy for a People and a Nation on "Ethnic Food" in Chapter 19. Refer to page 548 of Norton, A People and a Nation, Sixth Edition for the complete text of this Legacy. There are three parts to this web page: Questions to Consider, Investigation, and Further Exploration.




Questions to Consider
1. What factors account for the wide variety of foods in the American diet?

2. What evidence of immigrant influence on the American food industry can you cite?

3. How important is diet to American culture? How does this compare to other nations?

4. Have Americans lost or gained identity with multi-ethnic cuisine?

5. Are some ethnic American populations more loyal to their native diets than others are?

6. Does American religious toleration contribute to our acceptance of various foods? Explain.


Investigation
Think of the ethnic foods that are popular in your region. If you live near a major urban center you can check your ideas against what you find at the Citysearch web site. (You may enter your zip code, but you may have to choose one of the cities listed for a meaninful number of restaurants. After choosing your area, enter or select "restaurants" as your category.) What might account for their popularity? How important is the ethnic composition of the area (county) to the type of eating establishments in your area? You may check ethnic groups by county for White, Black, American Indian, Asians and Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics for 1999 using US Census Data. Are there any ethnic foods that probably would not be well received in your region? Do you find any correlation between popular ethnic foods in an area and the regional acceptance of this ethnic group? What, other than ethnic influence, might account for dietary differences?




Further Exploration
1. Some, perhaps most societies, place more value on food as culture than on food as nutrition. For an essay on the role of food in Chinese culture, read the essay, "Food in Chinese Culture," adapted from K.C. Chang's Food in Chinese Culture.

2. For information on the evolution of the African American diet, read Africana.com's article on "Food in African American Culture."

3. Learn about the diets around the world and read about religious ties to food on EatEthnic.com's website.

4. Visit the web site of Chef Boyardee and read International Home Foods' story of Hector Boyardi, the Italian immigrant who Americanized his food.