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Asian Americans and the Metro Detroit Food Justice Movement
By Frances Kai-Hwa Wang, MIAsian
As food justice activism and urban farming make
strides in metro-Detroit, Asian Americans are often
mistaken for not having food insecurity issues.
They face challenges in sourcing culturally relevant
foods, chronic health issues exacerbated by poor
diet, and cultural appropriation.
Bernardo talked of the challenges he faced recently
when making kare-kare, a traditional peanut oxtail
stew from the Philippines with eggplants, long
beans, and bok choi. After going to several different
retailers, grocery stores, and the farmers market,
he was unable to find the ingredients needed to
make this one dish. He finally located the ingredi-
ents at an Asian supermarket outside of the area.
“We need these foods to maintain our sense of self
and to preserve our sense of culture and tradition,”
said Bernardo. “Because they feed us in ways that
ordinary food can’t. There’s an aspect around being
nourished by one’s own cultural traditions and food
ways.”
Bernardo came to understand the importance of
being able to access culturally relevant foods while
working in his family’s grocery store on Detroit’s
west side.
“We sold a lot of culturally relevant food that gener-
ally was not available in stores around us,” said
Bernardo. “We catered to the Philippine diasporic
community that worked at Grace Hospital. I came
to find out a lot of staples we held closely as cul-
tural traditions were also shared by other people
in that part of Northwest Detroit, including the
African-Caribbean community and West African
community.”
Once communities begin to make connections with
other communities, food justice issues begin relat-
ing to other issues.
“You start to see the interconnections between food
and other systemic issues, including regulating
immigration policy, the over policing of communi-
ties of color, pollution, water shut offs, [and] access
to health care,” Bernardo said.
Another food justice issue particularly important for
Asian Americans is the prevalence of chronic health
NEHA SHAH
“Before it was even called urban gardening, my
parents kept a garden in the backyard since I was
a kid,” said Shane Bernardo, a life-long Detroit
resident and a consultant, facilitator and speaker
actively involved in food justice. “So I learned at a
very early age how strongly my family identified
with our cultural roots and our traditional foods,
and that informed how we identify as people in the
diaspora.”
MELISSA JONES, FOODTALKSDC
While the food justice movement includes issues
surrounding food insecurity, food sovereignty, and
ethical growing, a particularly important challenge
for Asian Americans in the metro-Detroit area is
sourcing culturally relevant food.
Shane Bernardo
diseases like diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascu-
lar disease, especially among Filipino and Indian
American communities. These health problems are
often exacerbated by consuming processed foods,
often from gas stations and party stores, as well
as younger generations moving away from cultural
and traditional foods.
Another important food justice issue is the appro-
priation of Asian American food by trendy restau-
rateurs which contributes to the gentrification of
Detroit, driving up the costs to live in that commu-
nity and eat that food.
Other Asian Americans in the food justice move-
ment are innovating to combine local food sourcing
and sustainable growing practices with foods from
or inspired by their Asian heritage such as Dorothy
Hernandez of Sarap Detroit, Meiko Krishok of
Guerilla Food Detroit, the Bengali American women
of Bandhu Gardens, and Andy Chae of Fisheye
Farm.
At the individual level, people celebrate their culture
by eating traditional foods grown in their own back-
yard and urban gardens.
“I used to live in Hamtramck and I would often be
awestruck by how many Bengali and South Asian
homes would have these trellises for bitter melon
and other vegetables that were synonymous with
their cultures,” said Bernardo. “I also used to volun-
teer for Detroit Asian Youth (DAY) Project and a lot
of our youth member homes would have fairly size-
able gardens. I remember one student had daikons
and ducks.”
Community gardens are also a way to bring young-
er generations into the food justice movement.
At the Ann Arbor Public Schools, Neha Shah has
planted a school learning garden, using it to engage
students to learn about healthy eating, food justice,
ecology, art, protecting the environment, problem
Ann Arbor Public School students at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School King Learning Garden
solving and teamwork. The garden also provides
produce that is shared with the school community.
“After lessons taught in my classroom and in
our school garden, you see that students care
about our environment more than they realize,”
said Shah. “They feel connected to the earth and
responsible for the environment around them. All
students deserve equal access to healthy foods
regardless of their class, social status, and race.
Those connections are vital to understanding food.”
The garden also gives students opportunities to
access the rich agricultural heritage and histories
of cultures around the world, including their own
heritage and history.
“There are many cultural traditions and rich history
that Asian Americans give to the world,” said Shah.
“There is an agricultural history that needs to be
told. Traditional food and farming knowledge can
be accessed and passed down from generation to
generation keeping the traditions and stories alive.
Sharing that with people is important. Food sover-
eignty and land loss exist everywhere and affect
people of all colors.”
The sustainable garden is a microcosm of what
is possible as more people bring their different
backgrounds and approaches to the food justice
movement.
“The industrialization of our food system is harm-
ing our bodies, our land and environment, and our
communities. Everyone has the right to healthy and
culturally appropriate food produced through eco-
logically sound and sustainable methods. People
need to have a say in where their food comes from,
how it is produced, and how the systems in place
are practiced,” said Shah. “The diversity of people
planting the seeds and harvesting the foods to
keep alive cultural traditions and nourish communi-
ties around the country is growing. Preserving that
is what will provide a true change in our current
food system.”
Shah encourages Asian Americans to get involved,
“There are hundreds of community-oriented proj-
ects across the greater-Detroit area. You can vol-
unteer on farms, community gardens, and school
gardens. There are wonderful organizations like
Food Corps, Edible Schoolyard, Slow Food USA or
our local chapter Slow Food Huron Valley, USDA,
Michigan Farm to School, and so much more. There
are wonderful classes at any level of higher educa-
tion institutions. There are conferences and work-
shops. There are the local food summit and com-
munity forums and coalitions. U of M has a Food
Literacy for All course available for free for the pub-
lic currently this semester. There are many options.
Just get involved! Don't talk about it. Do it!”
About this series
New Michigan Media (NMM) is the collaboration of
the five leading minority media outlets in the region.
The New Michigan Media Newspapers have a com-
bined estimated reach of over 140,000 weekly, and
include The Latino Press, The Michigan Chronicle,
The Jewish News, The Michigan Korean Weekly,
and The Arab American News. For the past 3
years, NMM has also been a member of the Detroit
Journalism Cooperative (DJC), the unique collabora-
tion between some of the leading media outlets of
the region, which includes The Center for Michigan’s
Bridge Magazine, Detroit Public Television, Michigan
Public Radio, and WDET. Funded by the John S. and
James L. Knight Foundation, the DJC aims to report
about and create community engagement opportu-
nities in Detroit and the region. The article you are
reading is part of the DJC project of this year, and
will appear in all the NMM member newspapers, as
well as with the DJC partners.