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Research Note 
 
Food as Lens for Exploring Key Concepts in Cultural Differences: A Curriculum 
Project— Introduction to the Project 
By: Lucy M. Long 
 

Abstract: This essay presents a project using food to explore key concepts 
central to understanding cultural differences: identity, construction, culture, 
meaning, systems. Food is both universal and particular, so talking about it is an 
effective way to help students gain both intellectual and emotional 
understandings of some of the issues around cultural differences. The project 
was based on the author’s experiences in university classrooms as well as in 
public folklore. It was then adapted for K-12 teachers, first by a public folklorist 
and further developed by a project assistant completing a master’s degree in 
popular culture and education. The curriculum was shared with K-12 educators 
and is available to download for free on the website of the independent non-
profit Center for Food and Culture (www.foodandculture.org). This introduction 
to the project is followed by an essay discussing educational theories by the 
project assistant. The curriculum itself is also included. 
Keywords: identity, foodways, curriculum, cultural difference 

 
 

Introduction 
Food is a window into a culture’s histories, belief systems, geographies, traditional 
practices, and customs. As such, it is oftentimes used in the classroom and home to 
teach about specific cultures. It offers a way for students to learn facts in a visceral 
and experiential way, helping them remember those facts as well as understand 
how and why they might be significant. One educator states in the introduction to an 
online resource on “Introducing Cultures Through International Cuisines”: 

Children learn best about different people and languages through first-hand 
experience. They are sensory beings who learn through the experiences of 
touch, see, smell, hear and taste. It can be challenging to incorporate all five 
senses into a cultural lesson. Or is it? Not when you let children experience 
new cultures through cuisine. (Yeros and Tayloe, N.d.) 

 

Numerous other examples of using food in this way can easily be found on the 
internet, and many of these offer excellent ideas and accurate information.1 
Educators also frequently use food, particularly international or “ethnic” foods, to go 
beyond just the learning of information to creating appreciation and respect for 
other cultures. For example, the Dairy Farmers of Canada’s Registered Dietitians 
state in their introduction to suggestions of activities for children:  
 

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Food is an important part of culture and can provide a connection to a 
person’s family or country. As a teacher or early childhood educator, you can 
expose children to diverse food traditions. Celebrating food enjoyed by 
people around the world allows everyone to take part and feel included. It 
will also create a sense of community and foster connections. (Oct. 31, 2022)  
(https://dairyfarmersofcanada.ca/en/teachnutrition/maritimes/healthy-

kids/food-nutrition/discover-culture-through-food) 
 

Similarly, an article from the Salvation Army’s Caring Magazine, points out that  
Food functions as a universal language, illustrating the history and culture of 
the place it represents while opening minds, raising awareness and 
encouraging diversity. And in teaching kids about other countries, many turn 
to food, leading young minds on a path of empathy and tolerance.  (Lopez, 
2018) 

 
Using food to teach children respect for other cultures now seems to be 
widespread.2 It is also being incorporated into university settings where it is framed 
as a medium for learning cross-cultural competency or the more measurable skills 
for cultural intelligence, "a person's capability to adapt as she interacts with others 
from different cultural regions" (Earley 2003).  
 
One professor described using food in his global business education classes for this 
purpose: 

The inclusion of food in cultural teaching creates a tangible awareness of 
other cultures. The goal is to reduce the student’s ethnocentricity and 
increase cultural sensitivity. The use of food as an approach to understanding 
culture utilizes the cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions (Early & 
Ang, 2003). The students learn (cognitively) about food, become sensitive 
(affectively) to cultural differences through the experience, and hopefully 
enjoy the food (behavioral). (Sterkenburg 2013)  

 
Folklorists have long utilized food for these various purposes in public programs, 
museums, and educational settings (Bowman 2016; Hamer 1999; Long 1999; 
Higgins and Rogers 2018; Rahn 2006), and the field of folklore and education offers 
insightful theories and strategies.3 Folklorists also have explored how their folklore 
and education practices can work directly towards addressing social justice, both in 
promoting cultural understanding and in advocating for specific changes in 
institutions and society (Hamer  2000; Kodish 2011; Mills 2020; Rosenberg2019; 
Westerman 2006).4 In 2020, the Journal of Folklore and Education published a 
special issue on Teaching for Equity: The Role of Folklore in a Time of Crisis and 
Opportunity” (vol. 9). Guest editor, Selina Morales, issues a call to action that 
resonates with many working with food in education, both formal K-12 settings and 
community-based public programs:  

We must commit, in the world-building profession of teaching, to the hard 
and essential work of centering equity in our practice. Folklife is all around 

ttps://dairyfarmersofcanada.ca/en/teachnutrition/maritimes/healthy-kids/food-n
ttps://dairyfarmersofcanada.ca/en/teachnutrition/maritimes/healthy-kids/food-n


                                                       Digest: A Journal of Foodways and Culture 10:1 (2023) 81 
 

 

 

us, and it is one powerful, dynamic and multidimensional tool we can use to 
teach toward equity. (Morales 2020) 

 
The Project 
The curriculum project described here builds upon the work of folklorists and 
educators but takes it a specific direction, proposing that food be used to explore 
basic concepts central to cultural difference. A better understanding of those 
concepts is then transferred to issues and conflicts around those differences. Race 
and ethnicity tend to be highlighted as the bases for conflicts in the U.S., but 
educators will find themselves in settings in which other factors need to be 
addressed as well, including gender, class, religious or ethical beliefs, region, age, 
and even personality or tastes. The units in the curriculum, therefore, focus on 
concepts that are relevant to all types of differences, providing frameworks for 
understanding the complexity and nuances of cultural processes in general that can 
then be applied to specific groups and circumstances. 
 
This curriculum project grew out of my own experiences teaching “Introduction to 
Ethnic Studies” at a public state university in the eastern Midwest. I had long taught 
folklore, popular culture, American culture studies, and international studies to both 
undergraduate and graduate students. That had included courses on cultural 
pluralism, regional foodways, food and culture, and specific ethnic groups, and I had 
frequently included food as either subject or medium for exploring theories and 
methods. Also, as a folklorist, I did extensive research on ethnicity, particularly in 
relation to foodways traditions, and had worked in numerous public folklore 
contexts designing programs and giving presentations. When I was asked to teach 
an Introduction to Ethnic Studies class in the fall of 2014, I eagerly accepted. I 
thought it would be a good opportunity to brush up on the scholarship and also to 
engage with critical race theory. I discovered a whole new universe.  
 
Ethnic Studies is social science-oriented, focusing on groups that have historically 
been marginalized by the dominant Euro-centric (also, male and Protestant) culture 
of the United States. The interdisciplinary field has a strong applied vision to create 
a more democratic and inclusive society by presenting diverse narratives and by 
uncovering economic, political, and cultural structures that have enabled 
discrimination (Sleeter 2011). Folklore, or folkloristics, on the other hand, is a 
humanities discipline, exploring, in my own words, “the products and processes 
through which individuals create and affirm meaningful connections with their past, 
place, and other people” (Long 2015). These meanings are expressed through 
personal variations of traditional practices and are both community-based 
(collective) and dynamic (open to change). Folklore scholarship on ethnicity has 
tended to focus on how ethnic groups were defined and maintained through their 
expressive practices and how ethnicity is used as a resource for creativity, social 
interaction, and performance of self.5 Ethnic studies literature challenged me to 
actively address the role of power in shaping cultural practices and to acknowledge 
the inequalities that exist. 



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The ethnic studies textbooks6 were excellent, but there were certain foundational 
concepts that students struggled with, such as: the idea that race was a social 
construction; that identity was both a social role and a personal perception; that the 
word “culture” could refer to a variety of things; that meaning was fluid and 
malleable; and that racism was part of a system maintained, oftentimes 
unintentionally and unconsciously, by various institutional structures. These “key 
words” (Williams 1976) were used in much of the teaching materials as well as by 
society in general, and, as we explored these concepts in class, students were 
oftentimes confused about them.  
 
I found that reading scholarship on ethnicity and race through the lens of folklore 
offered ways to enable students to better understand those words, not just on an 
intellectual level, but at an emotive one as well. Furthermore, since my specialty is 
foodways, I started using food to illustrate these ideas. Food offers a universal 
subject for conversation since everyone has experienced it, and, whether they 
recognize it or not, they have emotional attachments to food on a personal level. 
When these emotional responses are elicited, they force individuals to recognize 
that identity and values are embedded in food, in the same way that our identities 
and values are tied to larger cultural and social issues. Differences in those 
experiences can oftentimes be ascribed to taste or to factors beyond one’s control, 
so that it is a relatively “safe” arena for exploration that allows for open discussion. 
 
I then began developing strategies for introducing these concepts in class. I drew 
from previous work I had done on using food to teach concepts of culture (2001) 
and folklore theories and methods (1999), but this application was new, partly 
because the subject matter tended to be sensitive as well as politically charged. I 
found that I oftentimes needed in class to begin with some of the terms being used. 
These could be thought of as “key words,” but they needed to be understood in the 
context of ethnic studies. I found that students were oftentimes hesitant to admit 
disagreement or lack of understanding, usually out of fear of being perceived as 
racist or insensitive.7 We then explored the concept through discussions of the 
nature of food, emphasizing the emotional reactions individuals might have. Once 
the concept seemed to be understood, I transferred it to back to race and ethnicity. 
Students seemed to find this approach useful, particularly appreciating the 
opportunity to express their own experiences and opinions as well as confusion 
about how to live in an inclusive way while also maintaining their own individuality.  
 
For example, race is oftentimes described as a “social construct.” Students (and 
many adults) find that nonsensical since they can see skin color and therefore 
assume that racial categories are visually objective. Food similarly seems to be an 
objective and self-evident category, yet definitions of what can be food differ across 
cultures. Approaching food as “matter considered appropriate for ingestion” enables 
us to see that it is a fluid and dynamic construction, shaped by history, culture, 
power, and personal experiences (Long 2015). That understanding can then be 



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applied to race, demonstrating how, why, and by whom the category was 
constructed—and exploring how and why it continues to be part of our worldviews.  
 
This strategy was successful in the ethnic studies classroom. Students responded 
positively to it, and seemed to gain understanding of the class materials. We also 
used the exercises as an occasional excuse to share food in class, something that was 
a welcome break in routine. I was also asked to present these keywords in 
workshops at the university and for community members. Again, audiences 
responded positively.   
 
With the assistance of K-12 educational professionals, I then adapted the ideas to 
younger students. A grant in 2017 from the American Folklore Society enabled 
folklorist and education specialist, Susan Eleuterio, to develop assignments and 
write core standards for selected concepts. This curriculum was then shared with 
educators and scholars through workshops and conferences. In the fall of 2019, 
Jerry Reed, a graduate student in folklore and popular culture with training in 
education, began developing additional activities. The final project focuses on 
selected keywords: culture, identity, construction, meaning, and system. 
Assignments and explanatory materials were created around each of these terms. 
An introduction for educators explains how to use the curriculum and suggests 
further reading. The full project with guidelines for teachers, assignment sheets, 
assessment tools, and lists of references and resources is available for free on the 
website of the nonprofit Center for Food and Culture (www.foodandculture.org). 
 
The Curriculum Units 
A. Culture—To understand cultural differences, we need to clarify what we mean 
by cultural. “Culture” can refer to several different ideas—a group of people; their 
way of life and beliefs, their traditions, their artistic expressions, and a “lens” for 
interpreting reality. Can we identify which definition is being used when we see 
differences? 
 
Food culture can have all the meanings that the word “culture” carries, but it most 
commonly refers to a group of people who share a way of eating. It includes the 
practices, attitudes, and beliefs as well as the networks and institutions surrounding 
the production, distribution, and consumption of food. 
 
Activity 1: Student Culture Chart—helps students see the range of activities, events, 
and institutions involved in their own culture. 
Activity 2: Students’ Food Culture—Introduces students to describing distinctive 
features of their own food culture. 
 
B. Construction—Race is frequently said to be a “social construct,” but what does 
that mean when skin color and other physical characteristics seem to be objective 
and visible? Such categories seem to be a natural reflection of the world, but they 
are not simply ways to describe people. They exist because they are useful to us in 

http://www.foodandculture.org/


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some way. The category of race, unfortunately, has been a way to justify 
mistreatment and exploitation of large groups of people. 
 
Food similarly seems to be an objective and self-evident category, yet definitions of 
what can be food differ across cultures. That’s because it is culturally, socially, and 
personally constructed as “matter considered appropriate for ingestion.” That 
construction is fluid and dynamic, shaped by history, culture, and personal 
experiences. 
 
Activity: Food Preferences—introduces students to the idea of construction and how 
they developed their own perceptions of what is food and which foods are tasty. 
 
C. Identity—The word “identity” in contexts of cultural differences frequently 
refers to individuals as members of a racial or ethnic group. What is the 
relationship, though, between who we are and our skin color or family background? 
How can we be both individuals and members of groups? Why does it matter so 
much how other people see us? 
 
A folklore approach to identity sees all of us as having multiple identities made up of 
our race, ethnicity, nationality, region, class, gender, age, religion, beliefs and values, 
occupations, personal interests, personality and our various social roles. We 
highlight different aspects of our identity in different situations, but some contexts 
do not let us choose which aspect we want. Food choices express our identity 
whether we intend to or not. 
 
Activity 1: Food Identity Collage Poster—Students describe their own identities and 
match those with the food they eat. 
Activity 2: Reading Identity Through Food (Sandwiches)—Students describe their 
favorite sandwich, then explore how those ingredients reflect or express their identity. 
 
 D. Meaning—What does it mean to recognize cultural differences? What do we 
mean by “meaning”? How do we communicate with each other so that each 
participant understands the other? How do we present our identities, our cultures 
so that they are understood in the way we want them to be? What is 
“understanding?” We frequently communicate meaning through symbols, rituals, 
and art. Symbols are as objects and actions that stand for something else. Rituals are 
recurring symbolic activities or events, frequently recognizing and celebrating 
significant beliefs and values. Art frequently expresses our emotions and feelings. 
All three are used to tell other people and ourselves what things mean. 
 
Food is oftentimes used as a symbol. It also frequently plays a significant role in 
rituals. It also can be the subject of art, but it can also be used to express creativity 
and imagination. 
 
Activity 1: Symbol: apples—Introduces the concept of symbol by exploring the variety 
of things an apple can stand for in American culture. 



                                                       Digest: A Journal of Foodways and Culture 10:1 (2023) 85 
 

 

 

Activity 2: Ritual: holidays, birthdays, school traditions—Introduces the definition of 
ritual and the different types of rituals that are possible by having students describe a 
common food symbol for birthdays—the birthday cake.   
Activity 3: Art: design in fruit displays, drawing fruit—Explores the idea of expressing 
creativity and imagination through arranging displays of fruit and by drawing fruit.  
 
E. Systems/Structures—Discussions of cultural differences frequently refer to 
systems and structures, as in “systemic racism” or “structural inequality.” What do 
those phrases mean? This unit explores those ideas through the idea of foodways, 
the network of processes, contexts, and conceptualizations around food and eating. 
Foodways illustrates how systems work: all the parts are connected, so that if one 
part is changed, it affects the others. That helps to explain why social change can be 
so difficult. Also, various external forces (structures) as well as internal ones 
(structures) keep the system going.  
 
Activity: The Foodways of a Meal—Introduces students to the idea of systems and 
structures by having them describe the foodways of one of their meals. This illustrates 
how all the parts work together as a system to create that meal and how various 
structures (external and internal forces, such as a parent) keep that system (the meal) 
going.  

 
There are obviously more concepts and key words that are relevant to 
understanding how and why groups of people are able or unable to co-exist 
equitably and peacefully. Each of those can also be explored through food, and each 
teacher may find that certain terms are more relevant to their situation. The 
assignments are meant to be flexible, allowing for selection and adaptations of each 
unit. There also are other approaches that may overlap and offer similar ideas for 
teaching about cultural difference (e.g. Loode 2011), but this curriculum is 
distinctive in that it incorporates humanities understandings of food that encourage 
teachers and students to recognize foodways as a dynamic and creative form of 
culture in which we all participate. 

 
The curriculum does not directly address issues around food security—dependable 
access to healthy food at affordable costs. These issues are tied directly to the 
histories of the place of particular groups in a society and frequently reflect larger 
systems of discrimination. Food activists have created more public awareness and 
have pushed for long-term, systemic changes that give communities a say in what 
foods are available to them and how they are distributed (Alkon 2012; Alkon and 
Agyeman, 2011). The concept of “food sovereignty” is very much in line with 
folkloristic approaches to social change that emphasize the importance of solutions 
coming from the people involved rather than “top-down” from experts who do not 
live in the community.  
 
This curriculum contributes to this work by helping us better understand the ways 
in which food connects us to our pasts, our places, and other people. There are times 



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when change is needed, but if those changes disrupt our sense of connectedness, the 
changes will probably not last. Food can help us get at our underlying beliefs and 
values and also help us identity how and why we feel emotional attachment to 
certain practices and products. Exploring these keywords through food will 
hopefully lay the groundwork for making much needed social change. 
 
A final word of caution: food has long been used to characterize individuals and 
groups in negative ways (Jones 2007). This is not merely a matter of insensitivity to 
people’s feelings. Food imagery actively creates an impression of a group that can 
then have devastating consequences. Postcards of African-American children 
happily eating watermelon in a field communicate the message that those children 
are little “savages” in need of civilizing influences by White American society. More 
dangerously, drawings, songs, and stories of African-American adults stealing 
watermelons establish the idea that African-American males are dishonest, lacking 
in self-discipline and character, and dangerous. In both cases, the impressions are 
then used to justify actions towards controlling those groups (Baron, Carson, and 
Bernard 2014; Garth and Reece 2020; Harris 2012; Tompkins 2012; Williams-
Forson 2006; Williams-Forson and Wilkerson, 2011; Zafar 2002).  
 
It is very important, then, for educators using this curriculum to be aware of these 
histories. Food ultimately is to be consumed, and comparing a group of people to 
food can objectify them, suggesting that they also exist for others to use and exploit. 
We must always be attuned to the power of food to divide and set apart people as 
well as to bring them together. Exploring the keywords involved in discussions 
around cultural differences can help us channel that power in positive ways.  

 
1 See for example, https://busyteacher.org/18131-how-to-teach-about-food-and-culture.html; 
https://www.primroseschools.com/blog/3-ways-to-celebrate-cultures through-cooking/; 
https://www.participatelearning.com/blog/sharing-culture-through-food/; 
https://dumplingschool.com/2021/05/14/how-to-understand-a-culture-through food/. 
2 See for example, Adcock 2019.  
3 See the Journal of Folklore and Education (https://jfepublications.org) as well as its prior 
incarnation as a newsletter, C.A.R.T.S for examples and discussions. Pioneers in folklore and 
education are the Philadelphia Folklore Project and CityLore, based in the New York City. The 
organization Local Learning now specializes in the field. An overview of the broader field of folklore 
and education is found in Pryor and Bowman, 2016. Also relevant is Hamer 2000. 
4 An excellent online resource not specific to folklore nor food, but incorporating folklorists’ input is 
“Talking About Race,” developed by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History 
and Culture (https://nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race). 
5 Foundational theories for folklore and ethnicity include Fredrik Barth (1969), Anya Royce (1982). 
Ethnic foodways have been a significant topic for folklorists (Brown and Mussell 1984; Lockwood 
and Lockwood 1991, 2000; Stern and Cicala 1991). 
6 The primary textbook used for most of the classes was Markus and Moya (2010). Cultural Pluralism 
classes taught through American Cultural Studies relied on the more history-based Takaki (2008). 
7 I used several strategies to enable students to speak freely and anonymously. I handed out note 
cards they could use to write questions or comments on. I would then read these and lead a 
discussion around them. Also, students had questions based on the readings that they were to write 
responses to on-line. These were not shared with the class, so students were able to express their 
own opinions—and emotions—on these. I realize they were aware of my potential approval or 
disapproval that might affect their grade. 

https://busyteacher.org/18131-how-to-teach-about-food-and-culture.html
https://www.primroseschools.com/blog/3-ways-to-celebrate-cultures-through-cooking/
https://www.participatelearning.com/blog/sharing-culture-through-food/
https://dumplingschool.com/2021/05/14/how-to-understand-a-culture-through
https://jfepublications.org/


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Cuisine. Globe Trottin’ Kids. (https://www.globetrottinkids.com/introducing-
cultures-through-international-cuisines/). 
 
Zafar, Rafia. 2002. The Signifying Dish: Autobiography and History in Two Black 
Women’s Cookbooks. In Food in the USA: A Reader, ed. Carole M. Counihan, . New 
York: Routledge. 
  

https://www.globetrottinkids.com/introducing-cultures-through-international-cuisines/
https://www.globetrottinkids.com/introducing-cultures-through-international-cuisines/


                                                       Digest: A Journal of Foodways and Culture 10:1 (2023) 91 
 

 

 

 
 

Key Concepts 
Exploring Cultural Differences Through the Lens of Food 

K-12 Curriculum Guide 
 

Center for Food And Culture 
Lucy M. Long, Susan Eleuterio, and Jerry Reed 

(Partially funded by American Folklore Society) 
 

TABLE OF CONTEXTS 
Introduction 

Unit I: Culture 
Unit 2: Construction 

Unit 3: Identity 
Unit 4: Meaning 

Unit 5:  
Systems/Structure 

Appendix 
 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

  
 

Image by Lucy M. Long 


	Introduction
	Food is a window into a culture’s histories, belief systems, geographies, traditional practices, and customs. As such, it is oftentimes used in the classroom and home to teach about specific cultures. It offers a way for students to learn facts in a v...
	Numerous other examples of using food in this way can easily be found on the internet, and many of these offer excellent ideas and accurate information.  Educators also frequently use food, particularly international or “ethnic” foods, to go beyond ju...
	Food is an important part of culture and can provide a connection to a person’s family or country. As a teacher or early childhood educator, you can expose children to diverse food traditions. Celebrating food enjoyed by people around the world allows...
	One professor described using food in his global business education classes for this purpose:

