Princeton University - Chew on this: Examining racial identity one literary bite at a time:
Spam — that shelf-stable "miracle meat" — made its way to Hawaii with the U.S. military as part of standard rations during World War II. The soldiers eventually left, but Spam entered the Hawaiian diet permanently. Spam musubi — made by wrapping nori, or seaweed, around a pan-seared piece of Spam on top of a small rectangle of sticky rice — is one of Hawaii's best-known foods.
Spam musubi also ended up as a final project for one group of Princeton students in the spring course "Food, Literature and the American Racial Diet" taught by Anne Cheng, a professor of Englishand African American studies. The class embarked on a comparative racial-ethnic literary journey, delving into works by Asian American, African American, Jewish American and Latino authors, journalists and film directors.
Assignments included writing analytical essays, experimenting with food writing, and conducting research into the history of food, which, noted Cheng, is often a history of imperialism and colonization. For their final project, students went food shopping, rolled up their sleeves and created dishes that illustrated some aspect of how food interacts with racial identity.
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