Does this look like America to you?
It’s true! Immigrants are taking over the food world! And now their influence has even spread to the grocery store. The WSJ reports today that Flushing, Queens, where the Asian population is growing, is experiencing food conflict because older residents are feeling marginalized. The one grocery store that catered to them has closed, and now they are forced to shop at New York Mart, a market that specializes in Asian food. (The WSJ calls it “”the Asian store,” which I think it wrong unless they are selling Asians.)
“All they have is is just one aisle of food for us,” says Rosa Febles. “We feel a little left out.” Non-Asians are also complaining about signage in Chinese and Korean. Wah!
OK, actually I get feeling bereft at not being able to find your favorite foods. When I lived in Ithaca for one horrible year in the 80s, the scarcity of decent salsa was a constant complaint amongst me and my fellow Californian ex-pats. But it is really interesting to me to see this playing out in Queens, on the same day that we talked about the way the food world is inclusive in some ways and exclusive in others. There are a lot of people who go to Queens just to shop at the Asian groceries and eat at the restaurants, but clearly some locals are (literally) not buying it.
This seems like the sort of thing a community pot luck could go a long way to generate good will. BYO Entenman’s and Pad Thai.
Entenman’s + Pad Thai = BEST DINNER EVER!
Leave out the egg on the Pad Thai and I am in on this dinner of peace.
I think it’s interesting. The market in Flushing is catering to what appears to the majority of the surrounding populace (immigrants), but this seems to exclude the surrounding minorities (old white people). It’s two fold in that these old white people aren’t going to be afluent and aren’t going to have a lot of pull with the population, so in the end their needs are marginalized. But since they’re old blue hairs it’s hard to sympathize with them, as they’ve not had this situation happen to them before (ie; they’ve always been the majority and have had pull with the rest of the people) and plenty of other people have.
I don’t think it is hard to sympathize with them. It’s comforting to have the foods you are used to. It is super interesting though to see their reaction to being marginalized–this piece doesn’t get into if there has been racial conflict but it kind of hints at it.
Someone posted today something on Twitter like “Those who are used to privilege will see equality as deprivation,” which is pretty apt here.
I like that the GM of New York Mart is willing to consider their request–after all, one of the reasons that New York Mart exists (and possibly thrives) is because it caters to the needs of what was once a niche market. Now that the tables are sort of turned, they could profit from re-? reverse–?? diversity.
Funny Entenmann’s was brought up, as it is now owned by a Mexican company, Grupo Bimbo, one of the Latin American biggest baked goods company. It seems to realize the importance of regional branding and correlating loyalty from the communities served, and thrives because of it.
It’s simple, just legislate all the white caterers of New York to donate all there left-over white food to these poor left out white folk of Flushing.
Somebody gotta take care of these old white people and hey it’s charity who the heck will complain about that?
Morris, are you related to Lucy and Linus Van Pelt?!