international food essay

14.4 The Globalization of Food

Learning outcomes.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Describe the impacts of globalization on food and food diversity.
• Define food deserts and food oases.

Globalization of Food

Most people, when they think about food, consider it a local, individual choice based on personal preferences and economic possibilities. But food is a global commodity marketed by transnational corporations, health institutes, advertising campaigns, and subtle and not-so-subtle cultural messaging through global media such as movies, television, and online video. Most often, what people choose to eat is based on underlying structures that determine availability and cost. While there are now hothouse businesses growing year-round fruits and vegetables, affordability often prohibits everyone from having access to fresh, ripe foods. Instead, mainstream grocery stores most often stock foods imported across long distances. Most fruits and vegetables sold in the grocery store were harvested unripe (and often tasteless) so that they would last the days and weeks between harvesting and purchase.

In her work on food and globalization, anthropologist and food studies specialist Lynne Phillips points out the “crooked pathways” (2006, 38) that food takes to become a global commodity. Increasingly affected by transnational corporations, food today is marketed for endlessly higher profits. Food no longer goes simply from producer to consumer. There are many turns along the way.

Food globalization has numerous effects on our daily lives:

• The food chains from producers to consumers are increasingly fragile as a small number of transnational corporations provide the basic foods that we eat daily. Failures in this food chain might come from contamination during production or breaks in the supply chain due to climate crises, tariffs, or trade negotiations between countries. Our dependence on global food chains makes the food supply to our communities more vulnerable to disruption and scarcity.
• Our food cultures are less diverse and tend to revolve around a limited number of mass-produced meats or grains. With the loss of diversity, there is an accompanying loss not only of food knowledge but also of nutrition.
• As foods become more globalized, we are increasingly dependent on food additives to enhance the appearance and taste of foods and to ensure their preservation during the long journey from factory farm to table. We are also increasingly exposed to steroids, antibiotics, and other medicines in the meat we eat. This exposure poses health risks to large numbers of people.
• As plants and animals are subjected to ever more sophisticated forms of genetic engineering, there is an increasing monopoly on basic food items, allowing transnational companies to affect regulatory controls on food safety. As corporate laboratories develop patented seeds (such as the Monsanto Corporation’s genetically engineered corn) that are super-producers and able to withstand challenges such as harsh climate conditions and disease, growers become dependent on the seed sold by these corporations. No longer able to save seed from year to year, growers have little choice but to pay whatever price these corporations choose to charge for their genetic material.
• Factory farming of all types, but especially large-scale animal farms, are major contributors to global warming. Not only do they produce large amounts of water and air pollution and contribute to worldwide deforestation, but as more and more forest is turned into pasture, the sheer number of livestock contributes significant levels of greenhouse gases that lead to global warming. Worldwide, livestock account for around 14.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions (Quinton 2019).

Food has long been an international commodity, even during the 17th and 18th centuries, when traders sought spice and trade routes connecting Europe and Asia. Today, however, food has become transnational, with production sometimes spanning many different countries and fresh and processed foods moving long distances from their original harvest or production. Because these migrating foods must be harvested early or packaged with preservatives that we may not know or even be able to pronounce, there has been a parallel development in local food movements, organic food movements, and farm-to-table establishments as people see the dangers of food globalization. In the very popular The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (2006), American author and food journalist Michael Pollan advocates that people should know the identity of the foods they eat and should make every effort to eat locally sourced products. Shortly after the book’s publication, chef and author Jessica Prentice coined the term locavore to refer to those who eat locally and know the origins of their foods. In 2007, locavore was chosen as the New Oxford American Dictionary word of the year.

Food Deserts and Oases

Worldwide, access to nutritious and affordable foods is growing increasingly unequal. Areas with inadequate or unreliable access to nutritious foods are sometimes called food deserts . Food deserts present serious challenges to health and wellness in multiple ways and have been linked to eating disorders, obesity, and malnutrition. In Western nations, food deserts frequently correspond to other areas of social inequality, such as low-income and minority communities. Reduced availability of healthy and economical food often exacerbates many of the challenges these communities face.

As the world population continues to grow ( currently at around 7.9 billion people ), climate change accelerates, and food production becomes more and more concentrated in the hands of a few corporations, access to food will become increasingly critical to our survival. The story of progress embraced by Western society tells us that globalization and agricultural developments have stabilized and secured our food chains, but anthropological studies of foragers suggest otherwise. Agricultural production is tied to access to arable land, clean water, stable climate, and a reliable workforce. Periodically, crops (and animals) fail due to disease, drought, and even disruption from warfare and extreme weather, leading to scarcity and famine in many parts of the world. In addition, as families and communities produce less and less of their own food and become more and more dependent on intermediaries to gain access to food, their vulnerabilities increase. While there are many differences between state societies and foragers, there are valuable lessons we can learn from them. Foragers, facing the same unstable conditions that we all face worldwide, have a more varied and flexible diet and are able to adjust their needs seasonally based on local availability. They eat locally, and they adjust their needs to what is available.

There are also food oases , areas that have high access to supermarkets and fresh foods, and these are growing in number. Some are in urban or suburban areas, and some are in rural areas where sustainable farming supports a local community or restaurant. In Harrodsburg, Kentucky, the Trustees’ Table serves food from the nearby Pleasant Hill Shaker gardens. Visitors to the Shaker site, a historic cloistered religious community, learn about the Shaker seed industry, plant varieties, and sustainable gardening techniques at Shaker Farm, then walk down to the Trustees’ Table to have a farm-to-table meal. The seasonal menu features local Kentucky dishes that would have been common fare during the period of Shaker occupation (1805–1910), such as garlic potatoes, warm or cold salads, vegetable pot pies, and apple pie. By utilizing the foods raised in the nearby gardens, the Trustees’ Table serves as a legacy restaurant that helps preserve and sustain Shaker research and farming on-site.

In Richmond, Virginia, an organization called Real Local RVA was founded in 2014 as a grassroots local food movement to support businesses and residential areas in the downtown area of the city. It expresses its core value as “collaboration over competition.” The group sponsors monthly meetings, local farm tours, and community events highlighting businesses and prominent figures in the local food movement. The participants are all farmers, independent grocers, or local restaurants that source local ingredients and products as part of their mission. Besides advocating for small farms and independent businesses, Real Local RVA also sponsors workshops and education on sustainable farming, does joint marketing and “storytelling” about its partnership and the values of local food networks, and provide a recognizable brand to identify participating members for the wider urban community.

Although local food movements are increasingly popular, most still primarily operate in more affluent areas. As we develop more of these healthy initiatives, we also must expand the zones in which they operate, especially in cities, to include all of our neighbors and neighborhoods. Food and sociality go hand in hand. As Michael Pollan writes, “The shared meal elevates eating from a mechanical process of fueling the body to a ritual of family and community, from mere animal biology to an act of culture” (2008, 192).

The study of food in anthropology is important for many reasons. Food reveals cultural identities and physical vulnerabilities, and it helps build social networks and mark important life events. How often eating is prescribed, what foods are considered appropriate, who cooks, who serves whom, and what foods are most and least valued all vary across cultures. As anthropologists seek to understand human cultures, food is often a centerpiece ingredient in knowing who we are.

Mini-Fieldwork Activity

Food memories.

Food plays an important role in long-term memory, as it is linked to smell, taste, and texture and often is a central feature of social functions, whether they be family dinners or holiday feasts. In this project, you will interview two individuals who are likely to have different food memories than you; they may be older, they may be living in a different part of the country (or world), or they may have lived part of their lives in a specific environment (rural or urban) that is different from yours. Ask each person to share with you stories about special holiday meals prepared and served as part of their family life, whether as a child or an adult. What foods do they most identify with specific holidays? How did they prepare and consume those foods? Were there specific gender roles during the preparation and holiday meals? After collecting and writing up what you have learned, what conclusions can you make about the role of food in human social and cultural life?

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Connecting Students to the World Through Food Studies

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Editor’s Note: Sarah Anderson is fieldwork and place-based education coordinator at the Cottonwood School of Civics and Science in Portland, Ore., and author of Bringing School to Life: Place-Based Education Across the Curriculum . The school incorporates a local approach while also linking students to global issues.

For middle school students, who are in the midst of growth spurts and identity-building, one of the best hooks for global concepts is to start close to home ... on their dinner plates. Food offers a wealth of opportunities for multidisciplinary education. In social studies, students can learn about the history of global trade and colonization in addition to the basics of economics. Looking at how food is grown and issues around small-scale versus large-scale agriculture is just one of many links to science education. Sourcing ingredients provides options for mapping and geographic learning. And sharing personal food cultures allows students to better understand and appreciate the diversity of their own classroom.

This winter, the 7th and 8th grade students at the Cottonwood School of Civics and Science explored the question: “What can we learn about the world by looking at our food?” These explorations allowed students to learn about globalization through all of the disciplines mentioned above, leaning heavily upon personal and local connections. Emily Conner, the 7th/8th grade humanities teacher (and creator of most of the activities below), pulled in guest speakers, books, and other resources to create an interdisciplinary unit that additionally incorporated language arts, technology, visual art, and career skills. Below are elements of the unit, any of which can be led in a classroom as a stand-alone activity.

Making Personal Placemats

This activity was shared by Jasmine Love and George Zaninovich during the Traverse Conference at Catlin Gabel School in Portland, June 2018 .

Students each receive an 11 x 17 piece of paper. They are asked to think of it as a placemat and draw a meal that has personal significance to them and/or their family. They add dishes, utensils, and food to the page with colored pencils. In Conner’s classroom, students created their placemats on a large piece of butcher paper that covered the entire table. Their placemat then became their assigned seat at the table for activities over the next few class sessions. Using the placemats as a jumping-off point for discussion, students can talk with others about their meals and why they chose them. It is interesting to note not only the range of food and food origins, but also the different ways food is eaten: Some food requires a fork, others use chopsticks or skewers, and others only need fingers. With proper scaffolding, such as intentionally creating a safe environment for sharing and active listening, this activity can be a great platform for exploring and celebrating cultural diversity within a classroom. It can also be a useful activity to introduce a larger study about food or as a lead-in to the following writing activity.

Narrative Writing: The Personal Meaning of Food

Students compose a short piece of writing (350-500 words) that explores how a food/dish is significant to them. Within this piece, students are encouraged to describe the particular food or dish in detail while sharing the importance to their life, their family, and/or their experience. Questions to help students brainstorm:

• What is a memory you have that includes this food/dish?
• Who usually prepares this food/dish? How do they prepare it?
• What/who does the food/dish remind you of?
• What do you like most about the food/dish?
• What is something that no one else would know about the food/dish?

In addition to standard writing elements, students are especially evaluated on their use of sensory details and action verbs. To accompany their written piece, students can create a culinary portrait.

Because the topic is meaningful, our students took care with both their written pieces and portraits, resulting in some beautiful work. Dishes honored included a roast-duck recipe from Slovakia, grandma’s cookies, ramen soup, macaroni and cheese, and challah.

Research Paper: How What I Love to Eat Got to My Plate

Students compose a research paper about three or more of the raw ingredients in the food that they chose for their food narrative. For this essay, students find out where the food was originally grown or cultivated, the significance to that culture, and how and when the food got to North America (if applicable). For extra credit, students can research and write about where the actual dish originated. Evaluation focuses on research skills and content that accurately explains the histories of the three ingredients. Uncovered stories can connect students to the Silk Road (cinnamon), the Age of Exploration (tomatoes), or ancient cultures such as the Aztecs (chocolate).

Our students needed to use at least two reliable sources, and one of them had to be an actual book. On a trip to the local library, each student checked out a book about food and food origins and brought it back to the classroom, creating a topic-focused research library for everyone to use. For some students, it was a challenging learning experience to use a book as a source!

Mapping Foods: Discovering Food Geographies

Students choose a food that has a label: something packaged or processed. They then work to become “food detectives” by identifying and mapping where the food is sourced. This can either be done by looking at individual ingredients and making educated guesses (using research) about where each ingredient came from or by mapping the place where the product was manufactured. The second option can open up discussion about food factories and the impact the industrial system has on the Earth, as well as on human health. This activity also provides a visual that demonstrates how we are all interconnected through national and international trade.

Podcasts: Investigating Local Connections

For a more involved, hands-on exploration of local-global culinary ties, students can craft their own questions, survey classmates, and conduct interviews with local business owners. Our 7th/8th graders were tasked with creating a short podcast (3-12 minutes) about a food topic of their choice. Because they were also required to interview people in person, the assignment was naturally grounded in our local community. Students worked in groups of four to investigate questions such as: “What’s better: local, small-batch ice cream or ice cream from a large producer?” “What are the global connections of a local coffee shop?” and “What are the environmental impacts of candy consumption?”

Throughout the project, guest speakers visited the classroom to talk about either their experience in the food industry (e.g., a coffee roaster came in and set up a Skype meeting with a class of students in a coffee-producing town in Uganda) or their experience with podcasting (e.g., a podcaster came in to talk about the “dos” and “don’ts” of good production). Students also had the opportunity to visit a local grocery store to talk to the manager about sourcing decisions and to travel to a pod of Latin American-themed food carts for lunch and interviews. Using the city and school as the context, students were able to make meaningful connections between the food they eat every day and a larger interconnected system. They also gained confidence and competence as collaborators, technical producers, and public speakers. For the culminating project, students submitted their final podcasts to the NPR Student Podcasting Challenge, which also served as a motivator for creating quality products for a real-world audience. You can listen to three of the student podcasts, as well as hear them interviewed on a Portland radio station here.

The common thread woven through all of these activities is that they originate somehow with student experience. By highlighting the personal and local connections of a global story, we make the learning more relevant and, therefore, more lasting.

• Bigelow, Bill and Bob Peterson. 2002. Rethinking Globalization: Teaching for Justice in an Unjust World , Rethinking Schools Press, Milwaukee.

Coblyn, Sara. 2001. French Fries and the Food System: A Year-Round Curriculum Connecting Youth with Farming and Food . The Food Project.

• Pollan, Michael. 2015. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: Young Readers Edition . Dial Books.
• Schlosser, Eric and Charles Wilson. 2007. Chew on This: Everything You Don’t Want to Know About Fast Food . Houghton Mifflin.

Online Resources:

• Asia Society’s Follow the Food provides lesson plans for global cooking with youths. A quick sheet gives additional example learning units.

Cultural Exchange Through Gardening , by Kristin Stayer, provides global project ideas for gardening with youths. Asia Socity’s related quick sheet provides additional learning units.

In Defense of Food , from PBS LearningMedia, provides interactive resources on healthy eating for youth.

• Nutrition Detectives , from the Yale-Griffin Prevention Resource Center, helps elementary students make healthy choices.

Connect with Heather and the Center for Global Education on Twitter.

Image of student work taken by author and used with permission.

The opinions expressed in Global Learning are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

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Foreign Food: IELTS Sample Essay

Posted by David S. Wills | Sep 12, 2020 | Model Essays | 0

Hey folks. Today, I would like to share with you a sample band 9 answer that I have written. It is all about the topic of foreign food vs local food, which is an issue that is sometimes raised during the IELTS exam.

Rather than just give you the question and answer like most teachers, I prefer to show you how I wrote this answer and why this answer would score band 9.

For more discussion on the IELTS topic of food, see here . Alternatively, you might like this YouTube video:

The Question: Foreign (or Imported) Food

Here is the question that we will answer today:

In many countries, more and more people choose to buy imported food rather than food produced locally. Why do people buy imported food? What could be done to encourage people to buy local food?

This is a two-part question , meaning that you should try to answer both parts clearly. For this type of question, I almost always recommend the following structure:

So what is the main issue here and how can we analyse it properly?

The broad topic is imported food vs locally-sourced food. Another way to say this is foreign food vs local food, but please note the difference between “foreign” and “imported.”

Basically, these words can mean the same thing but “foreign food” could be a foreign style of dish that is made with local ingredients. For example, pizza is an Italian food but I could make it with all local ingredients. It is therefore both foreign and local.

On the other hand, “imported food” must have been shipped in from another country.

Essentially, this question asks us two things: Why this happens and what we can do to change people’s mind.

Note: It does not ask you whether it is a good or bad thing, so please do not give an opinion! You should not say “I think we should eat more imported food!” This is not a valid answer here.

Thinking of Answers

Sometimes it can be difficult to brainstorm answers for IELTS writing. Questions like this might inspire some people… but others might draw a blank . (This phrase means “unable to think of something.”)

You can start by noting down various ideas but remember this one really important point:

It is better to fully develop one strong idea than to list many weak ones.

For my essays, I usually try to pick just one big idea and then use that for a whole paragraph. I might add another in the final sentence just to emphasise the fact that there are more ideas supporting mine, but IELTS examiners want to see that you can develop your paragraphs fully.

The Introduction

Your IELTS introduction should have 2-4 sentences. The first sentence should be very general and will introduce the topic:

In the twentieth century, it became common for people to consume food and buy goods that were produced in other countries, rather than being locally sourced.

Here, I have provided a brief history of the issue to introduce it. This is often a good idea. Just remember to pay attention to the introductory phrase and how that affects your verb tenses. Many IELTS candidates write things like “In recent years, people are going…” However, “In recent years” would require the use of the present perfect tense.

Next, I will focus my introduction on the specific issue:

Nowadays, even a single product may contain ingredients that come from dozens of different places around the world.

I have set up the main argument: imported food vs local food.

Notice that I have not given an opinion. This is because none was required. I have also not given an essay overview. I usually do, but today I wanted to show you something different. 🤪

Body Paragraph #1

The first body paragraph should answer the first question:

Why do people buy imported food?

You should begin with a topic sentence that tells your reader what this paragraph is about:

There are a few reasons why people buy imported food, but the main factor is cost.

Next, you need to make sure that each sentence further develops this idea by explaining it or giving an example of it. My next sentence would further explain what I mean by “the main factor is cost”:

While it may seem counterintuitive, food from far away can actually cost less than food grown locally.

I have written this because many people would think of imported food as expensive, so I need to make it abundantly clear to my reader that this is not always the case. I will offer another sentence to further clarify my idea:

This is because certain areas specialise in certain kinds of product, and trade networks allow it to be shipped quickly and cheaply to other countries.

Now that my idea is fully developed, I will give an example to make it even more obvious to the reader:

Take bananas, for example. To grow bananas in the UK would be incredibly expensive because they require heat and humidity, which would mean constructing a special type of greenhouse. However, they grow easily in the tropics and can be shipped to the UK, where they are sold in supermarkets for very low prices.

These three sentences build up my example and tie it very specifically to the question. I have introduced the example (bananas) and then explained why and how they are grown, and what this means for places like the UK. The final sentence acts like a sort of summary of the paragraph, bringing it back to my main idea of cost .

Body Paragraph #2

Next, we should answer the second question:

What could be done to encourage people to buy local food?

Again, we need a topic sentence to introduce our paragraph and make it clear to the reader what they will find out.

Some people think that we ought to use more local products because even though it may be cheap to ship things around the world, it is bad for the environment.

Is this really a good topic sentence? It doesn’t really answer the question…

Actually, I am setting up the main idea by leading the reader from my first paragraph into the second. This sentence functions as a link between the two paragraphs. I will then introduce my suggestion:

By educating people about this problem, many of them would switch to using locally-sourced products.

Here we have the topic sentence. It suggests my answer to the question, which is: EDUCATION!

I will develop this further with an example:

In fact, in many western countries, people are willing to pay more for such things.

This example shows that the idea is not completely ridiculous. It has already worked in some places.

I will give more detail:

Supermarkets usually promote meat and vegetables from local farms, and restaurants proudly use local ingredients.

This extends my example with more specific ideas.

Of course, this isn’t really talking that much about education, so why did I mention it? Well, it leads into the final sentence that ties these issues together:

However, the average person needs to want these goods in his life, so education is important in making a bigger changer.

It’s important not to provide a very long conclusion. Just summarise your main idea and then refer back to a couple of supporting points.

My first concluding sentence would summarise body paragraph #1:

In conclusion, the vast trade networks created during the twentieth century have brought the world to the point where most people can get food that has been imported from another country.

Then the second sentence would deal with body paragraph #2:

If this is to be changed, people will need to appreciate local suppliers.

The Full Sample Answer

In the twentieth century, it became common for people to consume food and buy goods that were produced in other countries, rather than being locally sourced. Nowadays, even a single product may contain ingredients that come from dozens of different places around the world.

There are a few reasons why people buy imported food, but the main factor is cost. While it may seem counterintuitive, food from far away can actually cost less than food grown locally. This is because certain areas specialise in certain kinds of product, and trade networks allow it to be shipped quickly and cheaply to other countries. Take bananas, for example. To grow bananas in the UK would be incredibly expensive because they require heat and humidity, which would mean constructing a special type of greenhouse. However, they grow easily in the tropics and can be shipped to the UK, where they are sold in supermarkets for very low prices.

Some people think that we ought to use more local products because even though it may be cheap to ship things around the world, it is bad for the environment. By educating people about this problem, many of them would switch to using locally-sourced products. In fact, in many western countries, people are willing to pay more for such things. Supermarkets usually promote meat and vegetables from local farms, and restaurants proudly use local ingredients. However, the average person needs to want these goods in his life, so education is important in making a bigger changer.

In conclusion, the vast trade networks created during the twentieth century have brought the world to the point where most people can get food that has been imported from another country. If this is to be changed, people will need to appreciate local suppliers.

This answer was perhaps slightly advanced because I used some unusual techniques, but it nonetheless follows a simple structure and uses pretty simple language. Remember: Accuracy is more important than so-called advanced vocabulary.

My body paragraphs each presented one idea. These were developed in different ways but I did not fall into the trap of just adding lots of ideas. That is not really supporting your topic sentence and would make it less likely for you to score highly in Coherence and Cohesion.

If you want to get better at IELTS writing, check out my writing correction service .

About The Author

David S. Wills

David S. Wills is the author of Scientologist! William S. Burroughs and the 'Weird Cult' and the founder/editor of Beatdom literary journal. He lives and works in rural Cambodia and loves to travel. He has worked as an IELTS tutor since 2010, has completed both TEFL and CELTA courses, and has a certificate from Cambridge for Teaching Writing. David has worked in many different countries, and for several years designed a writing course for the University of Worcester. In 2018, he wrote the popular IELTS handbook, Grammar for IELTS Writing and he has since written two other books about IELTS. His other IELTS website is called IELTS Teaching.

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A global food crisis

Conflict, economic shocks, climate extremes and soaring fertilizer prices are combining to create a food crisis of unprecedented proportions. As many as 783 million people are facing chronic hunger. We have a choice: act now to save lives and invest in solutions that secure food security, stability and peace for all, or see people around the world facing rising hunger. 

2023: Another year of extreme jeopardy for those struggling to feed their families

The scale of the current global hunger and malnutrition crisis is enormous. WFP estimates – from 78 of the countries where it works (and where data is available) – that more than 333 million people are facing acute levels of food insecurity in 2023, and do not know where their next meal is coming from.  This constitutes a staggering rise of almost 200 million people compared to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. 

At least 129,000 people are expected to experience famine in Burkina Faso, Mali, Somalia and South Sudan. Furthermore, any fragile progress already made in reducing numbers risks being lost, due to funding gaps and resulting cuts in assistance.  The global community must not fail on its promise to end hunger and malnutrition by 2030.   

WFP is facing multiple challenges – the number of acutely hungry people continues to increase at a pace that funding is unlikely to match , while the  cost of delivering food assistance is at an all-time high  because food and fuel prices have increased.  

Unmet needs heighten the risk of hunger and malnutrition. Unless the necessary resources are made available,  lost lives and the reversal of hard-earned development gains  will be the price to pay. 

The causes of hunger and famine

But why is the world  hungrier than ever? 

This seismic hunger crisis has been caused by a deadly combination of factors. 

Conflict is still the biggest driver of hunger, with 70 percent of the world's hungry people living in areas afflicted by war  and violence. Events in Ukraine are further proof of how conflict feeds hunger – forcing people out of their homes, wiping out their sources of income and wrecking countries’ economies. 

The climate crisis is one of the leading causes of the steep rise in global hunger.  Climate shocks destroy lives, crops and livelihoods, and undermine people’s ability to feed themselves.  Hunger will spiral out of control if the world fails to take immediate climate action. 

Global fertilizer prices have climbed even faster than food prices, which remain at a ten-year high themselves. The effects of the war in Ukraine, including higher natural gas prices, have further disrupted global fertilizer production and exports – reducing supplies, raising prices and threatening to reduce harvests.  High fertilizer prices could turn the current food affordability crisis into a food availability crisis, with production of maize, rice, soybean and wheat all falling in 2022. 

On top of increased operational costs , WFP is facing a major drop in funding in 2023 compared to the previous year, reflecting the new and more challenging financial landscape that the entire humanitarian sector is navigating. As a result, assistance levels are well below those of 2022. Almost half of WFP country operations have already been forced to cut the size and scope of food, cash and nutrition assistance by up to 50 percent.

WFP Annual Review 2022

Publication | 23 June 2023

WFP and FAO sound the alarm as global food crisis tightens its grip on hunger hotspots

Story | 21 September 2022

WFP scales up support to most vulnerable in global food crisis

Publication | 14 July 2022

Hunger hotspots

From the Central American Dry Corridor and Haiti, through the Sahel, Central African Republic, South Sudan and then eastwards to the Horn of Africa, Syria, Yemen and all the way to Afghanistan,  conflict and climate shocks are driving millions of people to the brink of starvation. 

Last year, the world rallied extraordinary resources – a record-breaking US$14.1 billion for WFP alone – to tackle the unprecedented global food crisis. In countries like Somalia, which has been  teetering on the brink of famine,  the international community came together and managed to pull people back. But it is not sufficient to only keep people alive. We need to go further, and  this can only be achieved by addressing the underlying causes of hunger. 

The consequences of not investing in resilience activities will reverberate across borders. If communities are not empowered to withstand shocks and stresses, this could result in  increased migration and possible destabilization and conflict.  Recent history has shown us this: when WFP ran out of funds to feed Syrian refugees in 2015, they had no choice but to leave the camps and seek help elsewhere, causing one of the  greatest refugee crises in recent European history.  

Let's stop hunger now

WFP’s changing lives work helps to build human capital, support governments in strengthening social protection programmes, stabilize communities in particularly precarious places, and help them to better survive sudden shocks without losing all their assets. 

In just four years of the  Sahel Resilience Scale-up, WFP and local communities turned 158,000 hectares of barren fields in the Sahel region of five African countries into farm and grazing land.  Over 2.5 million people benefited from integrated activities.  Evidence shows that people are better equipped to withstand seasonal shocks and have improved access to vital natural resources like land they can work.  Families and their homes, belongings and fields are better protected against climate hazards.  Support serves as a buffer to instability by bringing people together, creating social safety nets, keeping lands productive and offering job opportunities – all of which help to break the cycle of hunger. 

As a further example, WFP’s flagship microinsurance programme – the R4 Rural Resilience initiative –  protects around 360,000 farming and pastoralist families from climate hazards that threaten crops and livelihoods  in 14 countries including Bangladesh, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Guatemala, Kenya, Madagascar and Zimbabwe. 

At the same time, WFP is working with governments in 83 countries to boost or build  national safety nets and nutrition-sensitive social protection, allowing us to reach more people than we can with emergency food assistance.  

Humanitarian assistance alone is not enough though. A  coordinated effort across governments, financial institutions, the private sector and partners is the only way to mitigate an even more severe crisis in 2023.  Good governance is a golden thread that holds society together, allowing human capital to grow, economies to develop and people to thrive.  

The world also needs deeper political engagement to reach zero hunger.  Only political will can end conflict in places like Yemen, Ethiopia and South Sudan, and without a firm political commitment to contain global warming as stipulated in the  Paris Agreement , the main drivers of hunger will continue unabated. 

In 2023, hunger levels are higher than ever before

Help families facing unprecedented hunger

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Local vs. International Foods, Essay Example

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Promoting Local Food Network to Improve National Health and Economic Status of the Nation

  Introduction

Food is considered to be one of the most basic needs of humans for survival. It could be analyzed that food, above all is one of today’s most vital concern especially for those living in urban areas where most food sources are processed through food factories or at some point are promoted to be easily prepared so as to fit the fast paced life of humans living in the said areas. Even though the importance of food in human survival is inevitable, it could be observed how much it is currently being neglected by the human society as they intend to give attention to the supposedly more important thing in their lives such as that of work. This immense consideration on earning money has become a general matter that humans give attention to at present. This is the primary reason why even food is becoming a highly compromised element that humans tend to control so as to be able to contend with the economic dilemmas that the society is living with at present.

One of the effects of such increasing problem is the emergence of food shortage. The field of international trade and the way it has opened both the export and import proceedings between nations have specifically changed the pattern by which food exchange is being handled in the world today. Countries began exchanging food sources as a sense of compromise and camaraderie in response to the current status of global commercial brotherhood evolving in the world’s economy at present. Some of the drastic results of such condition specifically involve the course by which local food producers become robbed of from their market because of the many choices that international food networks provide. In exchange of this, the more the people would want to spend on internationally processed food, the less income the local producers receive hence making the flow of economic sustenance directed outwards. In this case, it could be noted how such system weakens the capacity of a nation to sustain the economic competence of the local industries that specifically produce food for local public consumption.

In the discussion that follows, a considerable foundation of reestablishing the strength of the local network of food production is specifically presented so as to make sure that the resolution to possible food shortage and economic downfall intensified by the emergence of economic globalization. Through establishing the power of local food network, it is expected that re-empowering the capability of the nation to produce its own food from local farms and other agricultural industries would create a definite form of indication that would help increase the capacity of the country to not only support its food-based needs, but also reestablish the economic assistance it hopes to provide the local food producers with.

Defining Local Food Network

Coming from the term “local”, this network is expected to remain in a defined status that would specifically provide the local communities with food from local areas and procedures of food development. In the United States, there are some territories of the country that are connected with agriculture that are now being slowly transformed into industrial zones due to the fact that they are not being used effectively anymore. With the entrant of new food products from other countries, the agricultural industry of the country has weakened hence making it harder for the food producers from the said sector to make considerable adjustments as to how they would improve the manner by which they make considerable produce that would supposedly suffice the need of the society that they aim to serve. As a result, the communities that used to depend on such local industries begin to shift their attention to what the international market has to offer; further pushing down the economic capacity of the local industries to make extensive economic developments that are needed for progressive conditions that are dedicated to support national development as well.

It is deemed that through the considerable process by which food networks are established, the capacity of the nation to progress alongside all its different sectors of industrial development becomes strongly refined. Bringing back the people the right capacity by which they can respond to their own needs would of course empower the entire nation to reconstruct its national reputation in the face of economic competition in the international trade and even within the local sectors of development.

Local food networks usually involve the effective utilization of food resources that are produced directly from the territories of the nation. Understandably, these food resources include agriculturally processed resources involving crops and freshly sourced out food from both land and water in a more natural manner. The consistency of such process depends on how much the government would pay attention on developing the said procedures hence empowering the workers to make better and higher amount of produce which would be ready for local consumption.

Enhancing agricultural processes at present may involve the need to implicate the utilization of highly technological facilities that are designed to increase food production. Respectively though, there are some instances when the farmers as well as the fishermen could research on traditional ways of agricultural procedures that are best able to produce more food source and crops not only during a particular season or a particular span of time, but within the whole year round.

How the Network Works

As mentioned in the previous section, the network depends on the collaborative involvement of both the workers and the government that supports them. In the United States, it is also essential that the network operates in a sustainable system that would enhance food production that would suffice the nation’s needs for a whole-year round affair. One way of doing so is the capacity of the farmers to adapt on effective procedures of crop rotation.

Although it is already considered as an olden-time approach to farming, it is still deemed to be strongly effective especially when seasons and crop compatibility is given particular attention to. True, it is hard to assess crop rotation procedures effectively especially that it involves climate leveling, soil assessment and water availability valuation. These elements of agricultural development are expected to impact the manner by which chosen crops are to be rotated within a particular area within the year. The capacity of the farmers to produce as much crops from their lands repeatedly is again not an easy task, nevertheless, it is not deemed impossible either. In fact, there are areas in Southern America that are already following this particular pattern of operation and are seemingly getting good results from it.

The relative adjustments that they have made especially on the manner by which they tend to their available resources for agriculture have consistently given them good results and have considerably increased their economic capacity to sustain living in their own communities. In a way, they have also contributed well in defining their role in contributing to national GDP development as they have already established their own status in the field of agricultural development.

This however is only one part of the network. Local food network specifically refers to the local exchange of food resources between the regions in the country. Given that each region has its own product to share, these regions are expected to share in the process of increasing the capacity of the local network to sustain the needs and demands of the local market. The idea herein is to develop a process that would be able to turn the attention of the market back to the food that is locally produced in the country and somehow give more options to the market compared to what the international food sources are providing them with. To contend with this desire, continuous and effective production is expected to be established.

Cooperation among regions is essential in considering this process. It is expected that the approach would become more effective especially if the regions of the country would all join in the campaign hence attracting the market to appreciate what the industry has to offer them with. Setting the difference of freshly grown and sourced out local foods from internationally transported products would further increase the competence of the industry and the trust that the market would be able to provide them.

Improving Health

One of the benefits of supporting local food networks is the establishment of an improved health status in the country. Given that food would cost lower because it has been produced and transported locally, more would be able to consume them and more would be able to benefit from the vitamins they provide. In a way, it could be analyzed that with such an immense procedure of development, the members of the nation would have a chance to consume food at its best condition.

It could not be denied that at least 45% of the food sources coming from the field of international trade are processed and canned. Notably, the procedures used to supposedly enhance the life-span of the food that has been packed in plastics and cans reduce the vitamin content of the food. Besides that, due to the said process and the shipping or transport fee incurred to be able to obtain those food supplies are expensive, the cost of such food choices would be more expensive than local food choices as well.

The local food networks would be able to contend with such challenge through better yielding corps that is freshly released in the market for consumption. Due to the fact that the products are to be locally exchanged between regions, it is expected that the prices would be much lower than that of the other food supplies in the market. In this case, the choice of consuming locally produced food products would not only benefit the farmers and other workers in the field of agriculture but would also benefit the health of the local residents of the country.

Empowering Local Economy

The more that this system of food production and distribution is supported; the more established the economic standing of local communities would be. It is learned that the integrity of local communities in depending upon their own sources of economic confidence directly strengthens the capacity of the nation to establish strong economy that could withstand international financial challenges. This way, the country’s regular supply of foods do not need to depend on what the international market could provide hence lowering the possibility of food shortages especially during times of increased prices in the international market due to value fluctuations.

The people, having confidence in their own system of operation in the food industry would of course become more satisfied hence making it easier for them to decide to stay in their own original areas of residence and contribute to the progress of their own states and regions. This would empower the country to rise as one nation of fully competent producers and not as dependent growers who sternly define their integrity based on the international market’s capacity to provide them with the important resource they need to survive, food.

True, self-sustainability is the idea being suggested alongside the establishment of strong local food networks in the country. The need to sustain food requirements of the people does not only respond to problems of food scarcity but also redefine the process by which local communities redefine their capacity to stand within an economically established consideration upon the process by which they are able to sustain their need for employment that allows them to remain satisfied not only with their suffice food supplies but also with the employment opportunities that are left open for them to fill.

The option of establishing local food networks is specifically an inviting course of economic and social development for both developed and underdeveloped nations. This does not aim to remove the said nations from the connection they have with international commercial systems but instead aims to make their stand stronger through internal operations. Nevertheless, it is the cooperation of the parties involved that counts so much in refining the application of such procedure in the face of extensive global development.

As of today, the market has already been accustomed to living in a fully diversified source of food that provides them the desires of their taste buds. Most often than not, food choices that are available in super markets come from international food producers. Empowering the local food networks to produce more and entice the taste buds and even the pockets of the modern market would likely improve the capacity of the local industries to respond more effectively to the needs and demands of the local market. Relatively, it is through this manner that a nation such as the United States would be able to contend with international challenges of price-hike increases and the impending problems that it comes along with through the use of empowering its internal forces in the field of agricultural industries.

Sangar, S., Vasudev, S. and Abrol , I. P., 2008. Combating land degradation for sustainable agriculture – Is conservation agriculture the way forward for India? . Meeting Report, Current Science (Professional Alliance for Conservation Agriculture , India), 95 (6), 25 September 2008 p711-712.

Steptoe, A., Pollard, T. M., and Wardle J., 1995. Development of a Measure of the Motives Underlying the Selection of Food: the Food Choice Questionnaire . Appetite, 25, 267-284.

Selfa, T., Jussaume Jr, R. A., and Winter, M., 2008. Envisioning agricultural sustainability from field to plate: Comparing producer and consumer attitudes and practices toward ‘environmentally friendly’ food and farming in Washington State , USA . Journal of Rural Studies, 24, 262–276.

Vos, T., 2000. Visions of the middle landscape: Organic farming and the politics of nature. Agriculture and Human Values, 17, 245–256.

Croall, Jonathan. 1997. LETS Act Locally. Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

Lang, Peter (1994). LETS Work: Rebuilding the Local Economy. Grover Books.

Wells, B. L., and Gradwell, S., 2001 . Gender and resource management: Community supported agriculture as caring practice . Agriculture and Human Values, 18, 107–119.

McWilliams, James.2010. Just Food: Where Locavores Get It Wrong and How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

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My Favorite Food Essay

500 words essay on my favorite food.

In order to perform well in life, our body needs energy. We get this energy from the food we eat. Without food, there will be no life. In today’s world, there are so many dishes available worldwide. Food comes in a wide variety all around the world. Dosa, Paneer, Naan, Chapati, Biryani, and more Indian delicacies are available. We are also offered western cuisines such as noodles, pasta, burgers, fries, pizzas and more dominating the food industry. In my favourite food essay, I will tell you about the food I like eating the most.

My Favorite Food

As the world is advancing day by day, it is becoming easier to get access to many kinds of food at our doorstep. Every day, we all want to consume great and delicious cuisine. There are many different varieties of food accessible all throughout the world. We all like different foods, however, my personal favourite is burgers. I have eaten many cuisines but my favourite food is definitely a burger. I cannot resist myself when it comes to burgers.

Burgers are one of the most convenient and easiest foods to eat on the fly when we’re in a hurry. We can have a burger at any time of day, whether it’s breakfast, lunch, or supper, and maybe some fries and a Coke to go with it. Many restaurants are well-known for making their speciality burgers in a particular style. Preparation changes from one establishment to the next. But what exactly makes a burger taste so good? They will taste vary depending on where you go, but they are all built the same. It is made up of a bun, a ground meat patty, and various toppings like cheese, onion slices, lettuce, and other sauces.

They are so soft yet crunchy, fresh and juicy that I love eating them. Even though there are many kinds of burgers, my favourite one is a chicken burger. The chicken patty gives the burger a juicy taste and it tingles my taste buds every time I eat it. I can already smell and taste it in my mouth as soon as I walked inside McDonald’s or any other restaurant that serves chicken burgers. As soon as I take a huge mouthful of it, I forget about any problems or troubles that are going on in the outer world and concentrate my entire concentration just on my chicken burger.

I love eating a burger which is filled with cheese and vegetables . The more vegetables you add, the better it tastes. My personal favourite is lettuce. It gives the burger the right amount of freshness and crunchiness.

I always eat my burger with ketchup. Most importantly, the thing I love about eating burgers is that I get to eat French fries along with them. They work as a great side to the dish and also make my stomach full.

Even though I liked eating a burger from a famous fast food joint, nothing beats the chicken burger my mother makes at home. She prepares everything from scratch, even the burger. Thus, it is extremely fresh and healthy too.

I know and feel that burgers have the great flavour and taste that would make anyone’s stomach pleased after a long day of work. I can tell by the reactions on people’s faces when they order their preferred burger variant. Overall, I don’t believe any other fast food will taste as good as a chicken burger. It’s just difficult to think that something will triumph in the future. As a result, I consider my favourite dish to be the best ever created.

A Great Variety

Perhaps the great thing about burgers is the great variety they offer. It has options for all people, who prefer vegetarian, non-vegetarian and even vegans. Thus, you can select the patty of your burger and dive right in.

There are a large number of burger joints being started in every corner of the city, each serving a variety of their own specialised and self-curated recipes. Burgers that are health-friendly and a go-to with a diet are also being introduced by these newly upcoming burger places. There are a lot many burger cafes that give their customers the choice to create their own burgers by providing them with a choice between patties, fillings, veggies, sauces as well as the number of burger layers they want.

Even though my personal favourite is a chicken burger, I also enjoy eating cheeseburgers and vegetable burgers. For me, all burgers taste delicious. Whenever we go out to eat with friends , I always order a burger.

My friends who do not eat non-vegetarian also eat burgers thanks to the great variety it offers. When we order food at home, we make sure to offer all kinds of burgers from cheeseburgers to chicken burgers, so that we get a taste of everything in our meal. Thus, I love burgers and their great variety makes it better.

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Conclusion of My Favorite Food Essay

Even though my favourite food is a burger, I enjoy other foods as well like Pizza and Pasta. However, I feel when it comes to eating daily, nothing beats homemade food. The food we eat daily is what helps us gain energy. We cannot eat our favourite food daily as it will become boring then, but our staple food is something we enjoy eating on an everyday basis.

FAQ of My Favorite Food Essay

Question 1: Why do we need food?

Answer 1: We need food because it provides nutrients, energy for activity, growth. Similarly, all functions of the body like breathing, digesting food, and keeping warm are made possible because of food. It also helps in keeping our immune system healthy.

Question 2: Should you eat your favourite food all the time?

Answer 2: No, never. Favourite foods are meant to be enjoyed when there is any special occasion, or when you are tired of your regular homemade food. Eating too much of your favourite food will make your taste buds adjust to it and eventually, it will not remain our favourite. Excess of anything is bad and the same goes for our favourite food. Thus, we must eat it occasionally so that it remains our favourite.

Question 3: Is fast food healthy? Should we not consume fast food at all?

Answer 3: Fast food is often high in calories, sodium, and harmful fat, with one meal frequently providing enough for a whole day. It is also deficient in nutrients and nearly devoid of fruit, vegetables, and fibre. That doesn’t mean you should completely avoid fast food. It is feasible to eat fast food without jeopardising your healthy diet. Take advantage of the nutritious side dishes available at many fast-food places. Look for meals that include lean proteins, vegetables, and fibre, and avoid anything that is supersized.

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Ielts essay # 579 - traditional foods are being replaced by international fast foods, ielts writing task 2/ ielts essay:, in many countries, traditional foods are being replaced by international fast foods. this is having a negative effect on both families and societies., to what extent do you agree or disagree.

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Photo Essay: EMU’s 9th Annual International Food Festival

Rain did not stop the International Food Festival from drawing in crowds on Friday, Mar. 24, 2023. Students, faculty, staff, and community members gathered in Eastern Mennonite University’s Hall of Nations for an evening of international cuisine, music, dancing, and fun.

Each attendee was given several white tickets for food and one red ticket for voting. The winners, who were decided by the number of red tickets, were as follows:

• 1st place: Black Student Alliance (BSA) representing African American culture with fried chicken wings, mac and cheese, and sweet tea
• 2nd place: Mohammad Khatiri , representing Saudi Arabia with cheesecake and fettuccine
• 3rd place: Wendell Shank, with Mexican-style chicken tamales and posole

BSA won several years in a row before the festival took a two-year hiatus due to COVID. When the food festival returned last year, BSA did not compete. This year, BSA picked their winning streak back up. Members of the team included Sha’Dymon Blanton, Nia Boyd, Kylik Bradshaw, Donesha George, Nardos Haile, Royale Parker, Brii Redfearn, Rachael Saeli, Merry Yirga, and advisor Celeste Thomas .

“We’re proud of our team. It was a long day of cooking and a collaborative effort filled with lots of fun and laughter,” said Haile (middle). “We’re happy to bring African American cuisine to a wide range of people,” added Yirga (left). “We’re very proud of each other, and we love our team.”

“In Saudi Arabia, we admire food so much that we try anything new. If we don’t like it, we add and change ingredients so it tastes better to us,” said 2nd place winner Mohammad Khatiri (left). “We love changing recipes and trying new ones, which is why there are a lot of small businesses in Saudi Arabia selling food in food trucks, in small restaurants, or even on Instagram.”

Khatiri gave crowds a taste of his cheesecake and encourages anyone who did not get to try it or who wants more to order from his Instagram, @Khatir_khakes.

EMU language and literature professor Wendell Shank (far right), 3rd place winner, made Mexican-style tamales and posole. “EMU is an international community, and this festival is a wonderful way to have people come out and show food that they’re proud of, that they’ve experienced and enjoyed around the world, and that brings them pride and joy,” Shank said.

Hebron Mekuria (left) and Noel Abeje (right) of Ethiopia made tibs, kitfo, and siga wot. Aman Seyoum and Ruth Seyoum , also representing Ethiopia, made tibs, tikil gomen, and shiro, which is what they “would eat at home.”

“EMU is kind of my second home now because we’re international students,” Aman said.

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What It Means To Be Asian in America

The lived experiences and perspectives of asian americans in their own words.

Asians are the fastest growing racial and ethnic group in the United States. More than 24 million Americans in the U.S. trace their roots to more than 20 countries in East and Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

The majority of Asian Americans are immigrants, coming to understand what they left behind and building their lives in the United States. At the same time, there is a fast growing, U.S.-born generation of Asian Americans who are navigating their own connections to familial heritage and their own experiences growing up in the U.S.

In a new Pew Research Center analysis based on dozens of focus groups, Asian American participants described the challenges of navigating their own identity in a nation where the label “Asian” brings expectations about their origins, behavior and physical self. Read on to see, in their own words, what it means to be Asian in America.

Table of Contents

Introduction, this is how i view my identity, this is how others see and treat me, this is what it means to be home in america, about this project, methodological note, acknowledgments.

No single experience defines what it means to be Asian in the United States today. Instead, Asian Americans’ lived experiences are in part shaped by where they were born, how connected they are to their family’s ethnic origins, and how others – both Asians and non-Asians – see and engage with them in their daily lives. Yet despite diverse experiences, backgrounds and origins, shared experiences and common themes emerged when we asked: “What does it mean to be Asian in America?”

In the fall of 2021, Pew Research Center undertook the largest focus group study it had ever conducted – 66 focus groups with 264 total participants – to hear Asian Americans talk about their lived experiences in America. The focus groups were organized into 18 distinct Asian ethnic origin groups, fielded in 18 languages and moderated by members of their own ethnic groups. Because of the pandemic, the focus groups were conducted virtually, allowing us to recruit participants from all parts of the United States. This approach allowed us to hear a diverse set of voices – especially from less populous Asian ethnic groups whose views, attitudes and opinions are seldom presented in traditional polling. The approach also allowed us to explore the reasons behind people’s opinions and choices about what it means to belong in America, beyond the preset response options of a traditional survey.

The terms “Asian,” “Asians living in the United States” and “Asian American” are used interchangeably throughout this essay to refer to U.S. adults who self-identify as Asian, either alone or in combination with other races or Hispanic identity.

“The United States” and “the U.S.” are used interchangeably with “America” for variations in the writing.

Multiracial participants are those who indicate they are of two or more racial backgrounds (one of which is Asian). Multiethnic participants are those who indicate they are of two or more ethnicities, including those identified as Asian with Hispanic background.

U.S. born refers to people born in the 50 U.S. states or the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or other U.S. territories.

Immigrant refers to people who were not U.S. citizens at birth – in other words, those born outside the U.S., Puerto Rico or other U.S. territories to parents who were not U.S. citizens. The terms “immigrant,” “first generation” and “foreign born” are used interchangeably in this report.  

Second generation refers to people born in the 50 states or the District of Columbia with at least one first-generation, or immigrant, parent.

The pan-ethnic term “Asian American” describes the population of about 22 million people living in the United States who trace their roots to more than 20 countries in East and Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. The term was popularized by U.S. student activists in the 1960s and was eventually adopted by the U.S. Census Bureau. However, the “Asian” label masks the diverse demographics and wide economic disparities across the largest national origin groups (such as Chinese, Indian, Filipino) and the less populous ones (such as Bhutanese, Hmong and Nepalese) living in America. It also hides the varied circumstances of groups immigrated to the U.S. and how they started their lives there. The population’s diversity often presents challenges . Conventional survey methods typically reflect the voices of larger groups without fully capturing the broad range of views, attitudes, life starting points and perspectives experienced by Asian Americans. They can also limit understanding of the shared experiences across this diverse population.

Across all focus groups, some common findings emerged. Participants highlighted how the pan-ethnic “Asian” label used in the U.S. represented only one part of how they think of themselves. For example, recently arrived Asian immigrant participants told us they are drawn more to their ethnic identity than to the more general, U.S.-created pan-ethnic Asian American identity. Meanwhile, U.S.-born Asian participants shared how they identified, at times, as Asian but also, at other times, by their ethnic origin and as Americans.

Another common finding among focus group participants is the disconnect they noted between how they see themselves and how others view them. Sometimes this led to maltreatment of them or their families, especially at heightened moments in American history such as during Japanese incarceration during World War II, the aftermath of 9/11 and, more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond these specific moments, many in the focus groups offered their own experiences that had revealed other people’s assumptions or misconceptions about their identity.

Another shared finding is the multiple ways in which participants take and express pride in their cultural and ethnic backgrounds while also feeling at home in America, celebrating and blending their unique cultural traditions and practices with those of other Americans.

This focus group project is part of a broader research agenda about Asians living in the United States. The findings presented here offer a small glimpse of what participants told us, in their own words, about how they identify themselves, how others see and treat them, and more generally, what it means to be Asian in America.

Illustrations by Jing Li

Publications from the Being Asian in America project

• Read the data essay: What It Means to Be Asian in America
• Watch the documentary: Being Asian in America
• Explore the interactive: In Their Own Words: The Diverse Perspectives of Being Asian in America
• View expanded interviews: Extended Interviews: Being Asian in America
• About this research project: More on the Being Asian in America project
• Q&A: Why and how Pew Research Center conducted 66 focus groups with Asian Americans

One of the topics covered in each focus group was how participants viewed their own racial or ethnic identity. Moderators asked them how they viewed themselves, and what experiences informed their views about their identity. These discussions not only highlighted differences in how participants thought about their own racial or ethnic background, but they also revealed how different settings can influence how they would choose to identify themselves. Across all focus groups, the general theme emerged that being Asian was only one part of how participants viewed themselves.

The pan-ethnic label ‘Asian’ is often used more in formal settings

“I think when I think of the Asian Americans, I think that we’re all unique and different. We come from different cultures and backgrounds. We come from unique stories, not just as a group, but just as individual humans.” Mali , documentary participant

Many participants described a complicated relationship with the pan-ethnic labels “Asian” or “Asian American.” For some, using the term was less of an active choice and more of an imposed one, with participants discussing the disconnect between how they would like to identify themselves and the available choices often found in formal settings. For example, an immigrant Pakistani woman remarked how she typically sees “Asian American” on forms, but not more specific options. Similarly, an immigrant Burmese woman described her experience of applying for jobs and having to identify as “Asian,” as opposed to identifying by her ethnic background, because no other options were available. These experiences highlight the challenges organizations like government agencies and employers have in developing surveys or forms that ask respondents about their identity. A common sentiment is one like this:

“I guess … I feel like I just kind of check off ‘Asian’ [for] an application or the test forms. That’s the only time I would identify as Asian. But Asian is too broad. Asia is a big continent. Yeah, I feel like it’s just too broad. To specify things, you’re Taiwanese American, that’s exactly where you came from.”

–U.S.-born woman of Taiwanese origin in early 20s

Smaller ethnic groups default to ‘Asian’ since their groups are less recognizable

Other participants shared how their experiences in explaining the geographic location and culture of their origin country led them to prefer “Asian” when talking about themselves with others. This theme was especially prominent among those belonging to smaller origin groups such as Bangladeshis and Bhutanese. A Lao participant remarked she would initially say “Asian American” because people might not be familiar with “Lao.”

“​​[When I fill out] forms, I select ‘Asian American,’ and that’s why I consider myself as an Asian American. [It is difficult to identify as] Nepali American [since] there are no such options in forms. That’s why, Asian American is fine to me.”

–Immigrant woman of Nepalese origin in late 20s

“Coming to a big country like [the United States], when people ask where we are from … there are some people who have no idea about Bhutan, so we end up introducing ourselves as being Asian.”

–Immigrant woman of Bhutanese origin in late 40s

But for many, ‘Asian’ as a label or identity just doesn’t fit

Many participants felt that neither “Asian” nor “Asian American” truly captures how they view themselves and their identity. They argue that these labels are too broad or too ambiguous, as there are so many different groups included within these labels. For example, a U.S.-born Pakistani man remarked on how “Asian” lumps many groups together – that the term is not limited to South Asian groups such as Indian and Pakistani, but also includes East Asian groups. Similarly, an immigrant Nepalese man described how “Asian” often means Chinese for many Americans. A Filipino woman summed it up this way:

“Now I consider myself to be both Filipino and Asian American, but growing up in [Southern California] … I didn’t start to identify as Asian American until college because in [the Los Angeles suburb where I lived], it’s a big mix of everything – Black, Latino, Pacific Islander and Asian … when I would go into spaces where there were a lot of other Asians, especially East Asians, I didn’t feel like I belonged. … In media, right, like people still associate Asian with being East Asian.”

–U.S.-born woman of Filipino origin in mid-20s

Participants also noted they have encountered confusion or the tendency for others to view Asian Americans as people from mostly East Asian countries, such as China, Japan and Korea. For some, this confusion even extends to interactions with other Asian American groups. A Pakistani man remarked on how he rarely finds Pakistani or Indian brands when he visits Asian stores. Instead, he recalled mostly finding Vietnamese, Korean and Chinese items.

Among participants of South Asian descent, some identified with the label “South Asian” more than just “Asian.” There were other nuances, too, when it comes to the labels people choose. Some Indian participants, for example, said people sometimes group them with Native Americans who are also referred to as Indians in the United States. This Indian woman shared her experience at school:

“I love South Asian or ‘Desi’ only because up until recently … it’s fairly new to say South Asian. I’ve always said ‘Desi’ because growing up … I’ve had to say I’m the red dot Indian, not the feather Indian. So annoying, you know? … Always a distinction that I’ve had to make.”

–U.S.-born woman of Indian origin in late 20s

Participants with multiethnic or multiracial backgrounds described their own unique experiences with their identity. Rather than choosing one racial or ethnic group over the other, some participants described identifying with both groups, since this more accurately describes how they see themselves. In some cases, this choice reflected the history of the Asian diaspora. For example, an immigrant Cambodian man described being both Khmer/Cambodian and Chinese, since his grandparents came from China. Some other participants recalled going through an “identity crisis” as they navigated between multiple identities. As one woman explained:

“I would say I went through an identity crisis. … It’s because of being multicultural. … There’s also French in the mix within my family, too. Because I don’t identify, speak or understand the language, I really can’t connect to the French roots … I’m in between like Cambodian and Thai, and then Chinese and then French … I finally lumped it up. I’m just an Asian American and proud of all my roots.”

–U.S.-born woman of Cambodian origin in mid-30s

In other cases, the choice reflected U.S. patterns of intermarriage. Asian newlyweds have the highest intermarriage rate of any racial or ethnic group in the country. One Japanese-origin man with Hispanic roots noted:

“So I would like to see myself as a Hispanic Asian American. I want to say Hispanic first because I have more of my mom’s culture in me than my dad’s culture. In fact, I actually have more American culture than my dad’s culture for what I do normally. So I guess, Hispanic American Asian.”

–U.S.-born man of Hispanic and Japanese origin in early 40s

Other identities beyond race or ethnicity are also important

Focus group participants also talked about their identity beyond the racial or ethnic dimension. For example, one Chinese woman noted that the best term to describe her would be “immigrant.” Faith and religious ties were also important to some. One immigrant participant talked about his love of Pakistani values and how religion is intermingled into Pakistani culture. Another woman explained:

“[Japanese language and culture] are very important to me and ingrained in me because they were always part of my life, and I felt them when I was growing up. Even the word itadakimasu reflects Japanese culture or the tradition. Shinto religion is a part of the culture. They are part of my identity, and they are very important to me.”

–Immigrant woman of Japanese origin in mid-30s

For some, gender is another important aspect of identity. One Korean participant emphasized that being a woman is an important part of her identity. For others, sexual orientation is an essential part of their overall identity. One U.S.-born Filipino participant described herself as “queer Asian American.” Another participant put it this way:

“I belong to the [LGBTQ] community … before, what we only know is gay and lesbian. We don’t know about being queer, nonbinary. [Here], my horizon of knowing what genders and gender roles is also expanded … in the Philippines, if you’ll be with same sex, you’re considered gay or lesbian. But here … what’s happening is so broad, on how you identify yourself.”

–Immigrant woman of Filipino origin in early 20s

Immigrant identity is tied to their ethnic heritage

Participants born outside the United States tended to link their identity with their ethnic heritage. Some felt strongly connected with their ethnic ties due to their citizenship status. For others, the lack of permanent residency or citizenship meant they have stronger ties to their ethnicity and birthplace. And in some cases, participants said they held on to their ethnic identity even after they became U.S. citizens. One woman emphasized that she will always be Taiwanese because she was born there, despite now living in the U.S.

For other participants, family origin played a central role in their identity, regardless of their status in the U.S. According to some of them, this attitude was heavily influenced by their memories and experiences in early childhood when they were still living in their countries of origin. These influences are so profound that even after decades of living in the U.S., some still feel the strong connection to their ethnic roots. And those with U.S.-born children talked about sending their kids to special educational programs in the U.S. to learn about their ethnic heritage.

“Yes, as for me, I hold that I am Khmer because our nationality cannot be deleted, our identity is Khmer as I hold that I am Khmer … so I try, even [with] my children today, I try to learn Khmer through Zoom through the so-called Khmer Parent Association.”

–Immigrant man of Cambodian origin in late 50s

Navigating life in America is an adjustment

Many participants pointed to cultural differences they have noticed between their ethnic culture and U.S. culture. One of the most distinct differences is in food. For some participants, their strong attachment to the unique dishes of their families and their countries of origin helps them maintain strong ties to their ethnic identity. One Sri Lankan participant shared that her roots are still in Sri Lanka, since she still follows Sri Lankan traditions in the U.S. such as preparing kiribath (rice with coconut milk) and celebrating Ramadan.

For other participants, interactions in social settings with those outside their own ethnic group circles highlighted cultural differences. One Bangladeshi woman talked about how Bengalis share personal stories and challenges with each other, while others in the U.S. like to have “small talk” about TV series or clothes.

Many immigrants in the focus groups have found it is easier to socialize when they are around others belonging to their ethnicity. When interacting with others who don’t share the same ethnicity, participants noted they must be more self-aware about cultural differences to avoid making mistakes in social interactions. Here, participants described the importance of learning to “fit in,” to avoid feeling left out or excluded. One Korean woman said:

“Every time I go to a party, I feel unwelcome. … In Korea, when I invite guests to my house and one person sits without talking, I come over and talk and treat them as a host. But in the United States, I have to go and mingle. I hate mingling so much. I have to talk and keep going through unimportant stories. In Korea, I am assigned to a dinner or gathering. I have a party with a sense of security. In America, I have nowhere to sit, and I don’t know where to go and who to talk to.”

–Immigrant woman of Korean origin in mid-40s

And a Bhutanese immigrant explained:

“In my case, I am not an American. I consider myself a Bhutanese. … I am a Bhutanese because I do not know American culture to consider myself as an American. It is very difficult to understand the sense of humor in America. So, we are pure Bhutanese in America.”

–Immigrant man of Bhutanese origin in early 40s

Language was also a key aspect of identity for the participants. Many immigrants in the focus groups said they speak a language other than English at home and in their daily lives. One Vietnamese man considered himself Vietnamese since his Vietnamese is better than his English. Others emphasized their English skills. A Bangladeshi participant felt that she was more accepted in the workplace when she does more “American” things and speaks fluent English, rather than sharing things from Bangladeshi culture. She felt that others in her workplace correlate her English fluency with her ability to do her job. For others born in the U.S., the language they speak at home influences their connection to their ethnic roots.

“Now if I go to my work and do show my Bengali culture and Asian culture, they are not going to take anything out of it. So, basically, I have to show something that they are interested in. I have to show that I am American, [that] I can speak English fluently. I can do whatever you give me as a responsibility. So, in those cases I can’t show anything about my culture.”

–Immigrant woman of Bangladeshi origin in late 20s

“Being bi-ethnic and tri-cultural creates so many unique dynamics, and … one of the dynamics has to do with … what it is to be Americanized. … One of the things that played a role into how I associate the identity is language. Now, my father never spoke Spanish to me … because he wanted me to develop a fluency in English, because for him, he struggled with English. What happened was three out of the four people that raised me were Khmer … they spoke to me in Khmer. We’d eat breakfast, lunch and dinner speaking Khmer. We’d go to the temple in Khmer with the language and we’d also watch videos and movies in Khmer. … Looking into why I strongly identify with the heritage, one of the reasons is [that] speaking that language connects to the home I used to have [as my families have passed away].”

–U.S.-born man of Cambodian origin in early 30s

Balancing between individualistic and collective thinking

For some immigrant participants, the main differences between themselves and others who are seen as “truly American” were less about cultural differences, or how people behave, and more about differences in “mindset,” or how people think . Those who identified strongly with their ethnicity discussed how their way of thinking is different from a “typical American.” To some, the “American mentality” is more individualistic, with less judgment on what one should do or how they should act . One immigrant Japanese man, for example, talked about how other Japanese-origin co-workers in the U.S. would work without taking breaks because it’s culturally inconsiderate to take a break while others continued working. However, he would speak up for himself and other workers when they are not taking any work breaks. He attributed this to his “American” way of thinking, which encourages people to stand up for themselves.

Some U.S.-born participants who grew up in an immigrant family described the cultural clashes that happened between themselves and their immigrant parents. Participants talked about how the second generation (children of immigrant parents) struggles to pursue their own dreams while still living up to the traditional expectations of their immigrant parents.

“I feel like one of the biggest things I’ve seen, just like [my] Asian American friends overall, is the kind of family-individualistic clash … like wanting to do your own thing is like, is kind of instilled in you as an American, like go and … follow your dream. But then you just grow up with such a sense of like also wanting to be there for your family and to live up to those expectations, and I feel like that’s something that’s very pronounced in Asian cultures.”

–U.S.-born man of Indian origin in mid-20s

Discussions also highlighted differences about gender roles between growing up in America compared with elsewhere.

“As a woman or being a girl, because of your gender, you have to keep your mouth shut [and] wait so that they call on you for you to speak up. … I do respect our elders and I do respect hearing their guidance but I also want them to learn to hear from the younger person … because we have things to share that they might not know and that [are] important … so I like to challenge gender roles or traditional roles because it is something that [because] I was born and raised here [in America], I learn that we all have the equal rights to be able to speak and share our thoughts and ideas.”

U.S. born have mixed ties to their family’s heritage

“I think being Hmong is somewhat of being free, but being free of others’ perceptions of you or of others’ attempts to assimilate you or attempts to put pressure on you. I feel like being Hmong is to resist, really.” Pa Houa , documentary participant

How U.S.-born participants identify themselves depends on their familiarity with their own heritage, whom they are talking with, where they are when asked about their identity and what the answer is used for. Some mentioned that they have stronger ethnic ties because they are very familiar with their family’s ethnic heritage. Others talked about how their eating habits and preferred dishes made them feel closer to their ethnic identity. For example, one Korean participant shared his journey of getting closer to his Korean heritage because of Korean food and customs. When some participants shared their reasons for feeling closer to their ethnic identity, they also expressed a strong sense of pride with their unique cultural and ethnic heritage.

“I definitely consider myself Japanese American. I mean I’m Japanese and American. Really, ever since I’ve grown up, I’ve really admired Japanese culture. I grew up watching a lot of anime and Japanese black and white films. Just learning about [it], I would hear about Japanese stuff from my grandparents … myself, and my family having blended Japanese culture and American culture together.”

–U.S.-born man of Japanese origin in late 20s

Meanwhile, participants who were not familiar with their family’s heritage showed less connection with their ethnic ties. One U.S.-born woman said she has a hard time calling herself Cambodian, as she is “not close to the Cambodian community.” Participants with stronger ethnic ties talked about relating to their specific ethnic group more than the broader Asian group. Another woman noted that being Vietnamese is “more specific and unique than just being Asian” and said that she didn’t feel she belonged with other Asians. Some participants also disliked being seen as or called “Asian,” in part because they want to distinguish themselves from other Asian groups. For example, one Taiwanese woman introduces herself as Taiwanese when she can, because she had frequently been seen as Chinese.

Some in the focus groups described how their views of their own identities shifted as they grew older. For example, some U.S.-born and immigrant participants who came to the U.S. at younger ages described how their experiences in high school and the need to “fit in” were important in shaping their own identities. A Chinese woman put it this way:

“So basically, all I know is that I was born in the United States. Again, when I came back, I didn’t feel any barrier with my other friends who are White or Black. … Then I got a little confused in high school when I had trouble self-identifying if I am Asian, Chinese American, like who am I. … Should I completely immerse myself in the American culture? Should I also keep my Chinese identity and stuff like that? So yeah, that was like the middle of that mist. Now, I’m pretty clear about myself. I think I am Chinese American, Asian American, whatever people want.”

–U.S.-born woman of Chinese origin in early 20s

Identity is influenced by birthplace

“I identified myself first and foremost as American. Even on the forms that you fill out that says, you know, ‘Asian’ or ‘Chinese’ or ‘other,’ I would check the ‘other’ box, and I would put ‘American Chinese’ instead of ‘Chinese American.’” Brent , documentary participant

When talking about what it means to be “American,” participants offered their own definitions. For some, “American” is associated with acquiring a distinct identity alongside their ethnic or racial backgrounds, rather than replacing them. One Indian participant put it this way:

“I would also say [that I am] Indian American just because I find myself always bouncing between the two … it’s not even like dual identity, it just is one whole identity for me, like there’s not this separation. … I’m doing [both] Indian things [and] American things. … They use that term like ABCD … ‘American Born Confused Desi’ … I don’t feel that way anymore, although there are those moments … but I would say [that I am] Indian American for sure.”

–U.S.-born woman of Indian origin in early 30s

Meanwhile, some U.S.-born participants view being American as central to their identity while also valuing the culture of their family’s heritage.

Many immigrant participants associated the term “American” with immigration status or citizenship. One Taiwanese woman said she can’t call herself American since she doesn’t have a U.S. passport. Notably, U.S. citizenship is an important milestone for many immigrant participants, giving them a stronger sense of belonging and ultimately calling themselves American. A Bangladeshi participant shared that she hasn’t received U.S. citizenship yet, and she would call herself American after she receives her U.S. passport.

Other participants gave an even narrower definition, saying only those born and raised in the United States are truly American. One Taiwanese woman mentioned that her son would be American since he was born, raised and educated in the U.S. She added that while she has U.S. citizenship, she didn’t consider herself American since she didn’t grow up in the U.S. This narrower definition has implications for belonging. Some immigrants in the groups said they could never become truly American since the way they express themselves is so different from those who were born and raised in the U.S. A Japanese woman pointed out that Japanese people “are still very intimidated by authorities,” while those born and raised in America give their opinions without hesitation.

“As soon as I arrived, I called myself a Burmese immigrant. I had a green card, but I still wasn’t an American citizen. … Now I have become a U.S. citizen, so now I am a Burmese American.”

–Immigrant man of Burmese origin in mid-30s

“Since I was born … and raised here, I kind of always view myself as American first who just happened to be Asian or Chinese. So I actually don’t like the term Chinese American or Asian American. I’m American Asian or American Chinese. I view myself as American first.”

–U.S.-born man of Chinese origin in early 60s

“[I used to think of myself as] Filipino, but recently I started saying ‘Filipino American’ because I got [U.S.] citizenship. And it just sounds weird to say Filipino American, but I’m trying to … I want to accept it. I feel like it’s now marry-able to my identity.”

–Immigrant woman of Filipino origin in early 30s

For others, American identity is about the process of ‘becoming’ culturally American

Immigrant participants also emphasized how their experiences and time living in America inform their views of being an “American.” As a result, some started to see themselves as Americans after spending more than a decade in the U.S. One Taiwanese man considered himself an American since he knows more about the U.S. than Taiwan after living in the U.S. for over 52 years.

But for other immigrant participants, the process of “becoming” American is not about how long they have lived in the U.S., but rather how familiar they are with American culture and their ability to speak English with little to no accent. This is especially true for those whose first language is not English, as learning and speaking it without an accent can be a big challenge for some. One Bangladeshi participant shared that his pronunciation of “hot water” was very different from American English, resulting in confusions in communication. By contrast, those who were more confident in their English skills felt they can better understand American culture and values as a result, leading them to a stronger connection with an American identity.

“[My friends and family tease me for being Americanized when I go back to Japan.] I think I seem a little different to people who live in Japan. I don’t think they mean anything bad, and they [were] just joking, because I already know that I seem a little different to people who live in Japan.”

–Immigrant man of Japanese origin in mid-40s

“I value my Hmong culture, and language, and ethnicity, but I also do acknowledge, again, that I was born here in America and I’m grateful that I was born here, and I was given opportunities that my parents weren’t given opportunities for.”

–U.S.-born woman of Hmong origin in early 30s

During the focus group discussions about identity, a recurring theme emerged about the difference between how participants saw themselves and how others see them. When asked to elaborate on their experiences and their points of view, some participants shared experiences they had with people misidentifying their race or ethnicity. Others talked about their frustration with being labeled the “model minority.” In all these discussions, participants shed light on the negative impacts that mistaken assumptions and labels had on their lives.

All people see is ‘Asian’

For many, interactions with others (non-Asians and Asians alike) often required explaining their backgrounds, reacting to stereotypes, and for those from smaller origin groups in particular, correcting the misconception that being “Asian” means you come from one of the larger Asian ethnic groups. Several participants remarked that in their own experiences, when others think about Asians, they tend to think of someone who is Chinese. As one immigrant Filipino woman put it, “Interacting with [non-Asians in the U.S.], it’s hard. … Well, first, I look Spanish. I mean, I don’t look Asian, so would you guess – it’s like they have a vision of what an Asian [should] look like.” Similarly, an immigrant Indonesian man remarked how Americans tended to see Asians primarily through their physical features, which not all Asian groups share.

Several participants also described how the tendency to view Asians as a monolithic group can be even more common in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The first [thing people think of me as] is just Chinese. ‘You guys are just Chinese.’ I’m not the only one who felt [this] after the COVID-19 outbreak. ‘Whether you’re Japanese, Korean, or Southeast Asian, you’re just Chinese [to Americans]. I should avoid you.’ I’ve felt this way before, but I think I’ve felt it a bit more after the COVID-19 outbreak.”

–Immigrant woman of Korean origin in early 30s

At the same time, other participants described their own experiences trying to convince others that they are Asian or Asian American. This was a common experience among Southeast Asian participants.

“I have to convince people I’m Asian, not Middle Eastern. … If you type in Asian or you say Asian, most people associate it with Chinese food, Japanese food, karate, and like all these things but then they don’t associate it with you.”

–U.S.-born man of Pakistani origin in early 30s

The model minority myth and its impact

“I’ve never really done the best academically, compared to all my other Asian peers too. I never really excelled. I wasn’t in honors. … Those stereotypes, I think really [have] taken a toll on my self-esteem.” Diane , documentary participant

Across focus groups, immigrant and U.S.-born participants described the challenges of the seemingly positive stereotypes of Asians as intelligent, gifted in technical roles and hardworking. Participants often referred to this as the “model minority myth.”

The label “model minority” was coined in the 1960s and has been used to characterize Asian Americans as financially and educationally successful and hardworking when compared with other groups. However, for many Asians living in the United States, these characterizations do not align with their lived experiences or reflect their socioeconomic backgrounds. Indeed, among Asian origin groups in the U.S., there are wide differences in economic and social experiences. 

Academic research on the model minority myth has pointed to its impact beyond Asian Americans and towards other racial and ethnic groups, especially Black Americans, in the U.S. Some argue that the model minority myth has been used to justify policies that overlook the historical circumstances and impacts of colonialism, slavery, discrimination and segregation on other non-White racial and ethnic groups.

Many participants noted ways in which the model minority myth has been harmful. For some, expectations based on the myth didn’t match their own experiences of coming from impoverished communities. Some also recalled experiences at school when they struggled to meet their teachers’ expectations in math and science.

“As an Asian person, I feel like there’s that stereotype that Asian students are high achievers academically. They’re good at math and science. … I was a pretty mediocre student, and math and science were actually my weakest subjects, so I feel like it’s either way you lose. Teachers expect you to fit a certain stereotype and if you’re not, then you’re a disappointment, but at the same time, even if you are good at math and science, that just means that you’re fitting a stereotype. It’s [actually] your own achievement, but your teachers might think, ‘Oh, it’s because they’re Asian,’ and that diminishes your achievement.”

–U.S.-born woman of Korean origin in late 20s

Some participants felt that even when being Asian worked in their favor in the job market, they encountered stereotypes that “Asians can do quality work with less compensation” or that “Asians would not complain about anything at work.”

“There is a joke from foreigners and even Asian Americans that says, ‘No matter what you do, Asians always do the best.’ You need to get A, not just B-plus. Otherwise, you’ll be a disgrace to the family. … Even Silicon Valley hires Asian because [an] Asian’s wage is cheaper but [they] can work better. When [work] visa overflow happens, they hire Asians like Chinese and Indian to work in IT fields because we are good at this and do not complain about anything.”

–Immigrant man of Thai origin in early 40s

Others expressed frustration that people were placing them in the model minority box. One Indian woman put it this way:

“Indian people and Asian people, like … our parents or grandparents are the ones who immigrated here … against all odds. … A lot of Indian and Asian people have succeeded and have done really well for themselves because they’ve worked themselves to the bone. So now the expectations [of] the newer generations who were born here are incredibly unrealistic and high. And you get that not only from your family and the Indian community, but you’re also getting it from all of the American people around you, expecting you to be … insanely good at math, play an instrument, you know how to do this, you know how to do that, but it’s not true. And it’s just living with those expectations, it’s difficult.”

–U.S.-born woman of Indian origin in early 20s

Whether U.S. born or immigrants, Asians are often seen by others as foreigners

“Being only not quite 10 years old, it was kind of exciting to ride on a bus to go someplace. But when we went to Pomona, the assembly center, we were stuck in one of the stalls they used for the animals.” Tokiko , documentary participant

Across all focus groups, participants highlighted a common question they are asked in America when meeting people for the first time: “Where are you really from?” For participants, this question implied that people think they are “foreigners,” even though they may be longtime residents or citizens of the United States or were born in the country. One man of Vietnamese origin shared his experience with strangers who assumed that he and his friends are North Korean. Perhaps even more hurtful, participants mentioned that this meant people had a preconceived notion of what an “American” is supposed to look like, sound like or act like. One Chinese woman said that White Americans treated people like herself as outsiders based on her skin color and appearance, even though she was raised in the U.S.

Many focus group participants also acknowledged the common stereotype of treating Asians as “forever foreigners.” Some immigrant participants said they felt exhausted from constantly being asked this question by people even when they speak perfect English with no accent. During the discussion, a Korean immigrant man recalled that someone had said to him, “You speak English well, but where are you from?” One Filipino participant shared her experience during the first six months in the U.S.:

“You know, I spoke English fine. But there were certain things that, you know, people constantly questioning you like, oh, where are you from? When did you come here? You know, just asking about your experience to the point where … you become fed up with it after a while.”

–Immigrant woman of Filipino origin in mid-30s

U.S.-born participants also talked about experiences when others asked where they are from. Many shared that they would not talk about their ethnic origin right away when answering such a question because it often led to misunderstandings and assumptions that they are immigrants.

“I always get that question of, you know, ‘Where are you from?’ and I’m like, ‘I’m from America.’ And then they’re like, ‘No. Where are you from-from ?’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, my family is from Pakistan,’ so it’s like I always had like that dual identity even though it’s never attached to me because I am like, of Pakistani descent.”

–U.S.-born man of Pakistani origin in early 20s

One Korean woman born in the U.S. said that once people know she is Korean, they ask even more offensive questions such as “Are you from North or South Korea?” or “Do you still eat dogs?”

In a similar situation, this U.S.-born Indian woman shared her responses:

“I find that there’s a, ‘So but where are you from?’ Like even in professional settings when they feel comfortable enough to ask you. ‘So – so where are you from?’ ‘Oh, I was born in [names city], Colorado. Like at [the hospital], down the street.’ ‘No, but like where are you from?’ ‘My mother’s womb?’”

–U.S.-born woman of Indian origin in early 40s

Ignorance and misinformation about Asian identity can lead to contentious encounters

“I have dealt with kids who just gave up on their Sikh identity, cut their hair and groomed their beard and everything. They just wanted to fit in and not have to deal with it, especially [those] who are victim or bullied in any incident.” Surinder , documentary participant

In some cases, ignorance and misinformation about Asians in the U.S. lead to inappropriate comments or questions and uncomfortable or dangerous situations. Participants shared their frustration when others asked about their country of origin, and they then had to explain their identity or correct misunderstandings or stereotypes about their background. At other times, some participants faced ignorant comments about their ethnicity, which sometimes led to more contentious encounters. For example, some Indian or Pakistani participants talked about the attacks or verbal abuse they experienced from others blaming them for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Others discussed the racial slurs directed toward them since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Some Japanese participants recalled their families losing everything and being incarcerated during World War II and the long-term effect it had on their lives.

“I think like right now with the coronavirus, I think we’re just Chinese, Chinese American, well, just Asian American or Asians in general, you’re just going through the same struggles right now. Like everyone is just blaming whoever looks Asian about the virus. You don’t feel safe.”

–U.S.-born man of Chinese origin in early 30s

“At the beginning of the pandemic, a friend and I went to celebrate her birthday at a club and like these guys just kept calling us COVID.”

–U.S.-born woman of Korean origin in early 20s

“There [were] a lot of instances after 9/11. One day, somebody put a poster about 9/11 [in front of] my business. He was wearing a gun. … On the poster, it was written ‘you Arabs, go back to your country.’ And then someone came inside. He pointed his gun at me and said ‘Go back to your country.’”

–Immigrant man of Pakistani origin in mid-60s

“[My parents went through the] internment camps during World War II. And my dad, he was in high school, so he was – they were building the camps and then he was put into the Santa Anita horse track place, the stables there. And then they were sent – all the Japanese Americans were sent to different camps, right, during World War II and – in California. Yeah, and they lost everything, yeah.”

–U.S.-born woman of Japanese origin in mid-60s

As focus group participants contemplated their identity during the discussions, many talked about their sense of belonging in America. Although some felt frustrated with people misunderstanding their ethnic heritage, they didn’t take a negative view of life in America. Instead, many participants – both immigrant and U.S. born – took pride in their unique cultural and ethnic backgrounds. In these discussions, people gave their own definitions of America as a place with a diverse set of cultures, with their ethnic heritage being a part of it.

Taking pride in their unique cultures

“Being a Pakistani American, I’m proud. … Because I work hard, and I make true my dreams from here.” Shahid , documentary participant

Despite the challenges of adapting to life in America for immigrant participants or of navigating their dual cultural identity for U.S.-born ones, focus group participants called America their home. And while participants talked about their identities in different ways – ethnic identity, racial (Asian) identity, and being American – they take pride in their unique cultures. Many also expressed a strong sense of responsibility to give back or support their community, sharing their cultural heritage with others on their own terms.

“Right now it has been a little difficult. I think it has been for all Asians because of the COVID issue … but I’m glad that we’re all here [in America]. I think we should be proud to be here. I’m glad that our families have traveled here, and we can help make life better for communities, our families and ourselves. I think that’s really a wonderful thing. We can be those role models for a lot of the future, the younger folks. I hope that something I did in the last years will have impacted either my family, friends or students that I taught in other community things that I’ve done. So you hope that it helps someplace along the line.”

“I am very proud of my culture. … There is not a single Bengali at my workplace, but people know the name of my country. Maybe many years [later] – educated people know all about the country. So, I don’t have to explain that there is a small country next to India and Nepal. It’s beyond saying. People after all know Bangladesh. And there are so many Bengali present here as well. So, I am very proud to be a Bangladeshi.”

Where home is

When asked about the definition of home, some immigrant participants said home is where their families are located. Immigrants in the focus groups came to the United States by various paths, whether through work opportunities, reuniting with family or seeking a safe haven as refugees. Along their journey, some received support from family members, their local community or other individuals, while others overcame challenges by themselves. Either way, they take pride in establishing their home in America and can feel hurt when someone tells them to “go back to your country.” In response, one Laotian woman in her mid-40s said, “This is my home. My country. Go away.”

“If you ask me personally, I view my home as my house … then I would say my house is with my family because wherever I go, I cannot marry if I do not have my family so that is how I would answer.”

–Immigrant man of Hmong origin in late 30s

“[If somebody yelled at me ‘go back to your country’] I’d feel angry because this is my country! I live here. America is my country. I grew up here and worked here … I’d say, ‘This is my country! You go back to your country! … I will not go anywhere. This is my home. I will live here.’ That’s what I’d say.”

–Immigrant woman of Laotian origin in early 50s

‘American’ means to blend their unique cultural and ethnic heritage with that in the U.S.

“I want to teach my children two traditions – one American and one Vietnamese – so they can compare and choose for themselves the best route in life.” Helen , documentary participant (translated from Vietnamese)

Both U.S.-born and immigrant participants in the focus groups shared their experiences of navigating a dual cultural environment between their ethnic heritage and American culture. A common thread that emerged was that being Asian in America is a process of blending two or more identities as one.

“Yeah, I want to say that’s how I feel – because like thinking about it, I would call my dad Lao but I would call myself Laotian American because I think I’m a little more integrated in the American society and I’ve also been a little more Americanized, compared to my dad. So that’s how I would see it.”

–U.S.-born man of Laotian origin in late 20s

“I mean, Bangladeshi Americans who are here, we are carrying Bangladeshi culture, religion, food. I am also trying to be Americanized like the Americans. Regarding language, eating habits.”

–Immigrant man of Bangladeshi origin in mid-50s

“Just like there is Chinese American, Mexican American, Japanese American, Italian American, so there is Indian American. I don’t want to give up Indianness. I am American by nationality, but I am Indian by birth. So whenever I talk, I try to show both the flags as well, both Indian and American flags. Just because you make new relatives but don’t forget the old relatives.”

–Immigrant man of Indian origin in late 40s

Pew Research Center designed these focus groups to better understand how members of an ethnically diverse Asian population think about their place in America and life here. By including participants of different languages, immigration or refugee experiences, educational backgrounds, and income levels, this focus group study aimed to capture in people’s own words what it means to be Asian in America. The discussions in these groups may or may not resonate with all Asians living in the United States. Browse excerpts from our focus groups with the interactive quote sorter below, view a video documentary focused on the topics discussed in the focus groups, or tell us your story of belonging in America via social media. The focus group project is part of a broader research project studying the diverse experiences of Asians living in the U.S.

Read sortable quotes from our focus groups

Browse excerpts in the interactive quote sorter from focus group participants in response to the question “What does it mean to be [Vietnamese, Thai, Sri Lankan, Hmong, etc.] like yourself in America?” This interactive allows you to sort quotes from focus group participants by ethnic origin, nativity (U.S. born or born in another country), gender and age.

Video documentary

Videos throughout the data essay illustrate what focus group participants discussed. Those recorded in these videos did not participate in the focus groups but were sampled to have similar demographic characteristics and thematically relevant stories.

Watch the full video documentary and watch additional shorter video clips related to the themes of this data essay.

Share the story of your family and your identity

Did the voices in this data essay resonate? Share your story of what it means to be Asian in America with @pewresearch. Tell us your story by using the hashtag #BeingAsianInAmerica and @pewidentity on Twitter, as well as #BeingAsianInAmerica and @pewresearch on Instagram.

This cross-ethnic, comparative qualitative research project explores the identity, economic mobility, representation, and experiences of immigration and discrimination among the Asian population in the United States. The analysis is based on 66 focus groups we conducted virtually in the fall of 2021 and included 264 participants from across the U.S. More information about the groups and analysis can be found in this appendix .

Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder. This data essay was funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, with generous support from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative DAF, an advised fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation; the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; the Henry Luce Foundation; The Wallace H. Coulter Foundation; The Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation; The Long Family Foundation; Lu-Hebert Fund; Gee Family Foundation; Joseph Cotchett; the Julian Abdey and Sabrina Moyle Charitable Fund; and Nanci Nishimura.

The accompanying video clips and video documentary were made possible by The Pew Charitable Trusts, with generous support from The Sobrato Family Foundation and The Long Family Foundation.

We would also like to thank the Leaders Forum for its thought leadership and valuable assistance in helping make this study possible. This is a collaborative effort based on the input and analysis of a number of individuals and experts at Pew Research Center and outside experts.

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Dates, dining details revealed for 2024 epcot international food & wine festival, festival runs aug. 29 - nov. 23.

Haley Coomes , Digital Content Producer

BAY LAKE, Fla. – Walt Disney World has announced the dates for its flagship culinary event.

The 2024 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival presented by CORKCICLE takes place daily from Aug. 29 through Nov. 23, which marks the first time the festival will get an August start date since before the pandemic. The last four festival years have all started in July.

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The event allows guests to stroll and sample delicious food and drinks, see live entertainment, experience family events and purchase all-new specialty merchandise.

While the full menu has not been revealed, Disney said foodie fans can look forward to many mouthwatering returning favorites, like the apple strudel with vanilla sauce in Germany or the passionfruit cheesecake with toasted macadamia nuts at the Hawai’i Marketplace.

Find every episode of Florida Foodie on YouTube:

This year also marks the return of a special cheese crawl, Emile’s Fromage Montage. Purchase any five cheese dishes from the official Global Marketplaces list in the Festival Passport and get a stamp for each item. Once all five stamps are collected, guests can bring their passports to the specified location for a specialty unique item.

Everyone’s favorite purple dragon will also be cooking up some fun this fall. Disney also gave a sneak peek at some of the 2024 Food & Wine Festival merchandise, including drinkware from CORKCICLE.

During the evening hours, guests can grab a seat at America Gardens Theater for the Eat to the Beat Concert Series presented by Florida Blue. Details on the concert lineup will be revealed at a later date as well as details on dining packages.

Guests attending the festival can also check out CommuniCore Hall & Plaza , set to open June 10.

Check out the Florida Foodie podcast. You can find every episode in the media player below:

Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.

About the Author

Haley coomes.

Haley is a digital content producer for ClickOrlando.com and first started as a News 6 producer in October 2014. She's a graduate of Indiana University with a Bachelors of Arts degree in journalism. She specializes in theme parks and lifestyle writing.

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Guest Essay

Biden’s Small Win — and Bigger Failure — in the Middle East

By Trita Parsi

Mr. Parsi is the executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.

President Biden’s behind-the-scenes crisis management appears to have helped stop a wider war from igniting in the Middle East — for now. But that tactical win for the administration is actually part of its much larger strategic failure in the region.

Over the past two weeks, Mr. Biden has scrambled to ensure that the unprecedented open exchange of fire between Israel and Iran did not spiral into a full-blown conflict. After Israel struck the Iranian Consulate in Syria on April 1, killing senior Iranian military officials, Mr. Biden publicly urged Iran not to strike back while privately negotiating a choreography that ended in Tehran’s well-telegraphed barrage of missiles and drones being shot down before they could inflict major damage in Israel. Mr. Biden then tried to persuade Israel not to retaliate. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t heed the order, but Israel’s response was so muted that Tehran effectively ignored it. Mr. Netanyahu’s minister of national security called it “ lame .”

Mr. Biden deserves credit for orchestrating this crucial de-escalation. Iran launched an attack that failed, as it was designed to; Israel’s response was limited enough that Iran could pretend it hadn’t been attacked at all. But while the president’s maneuvering helped avoid an immediate disaster, it is his own policies that have set the Middle East on its current dangerous trajectory. Israel and Iran have been embroiled in a shadow war for more than a decade, but they had never been this close to all-out war.

Since Hamas’s attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, Mr. Biden has refused to leverage America’s considerable influence over Israel to rein in the behavior of Mr. Netanyahu’s government, to secure a cease-fire or to deter Israel from committing what may amount to war crimes or acting against American interests. Instead, he has followed Mr. Netanyahu’s lead, even as Israel has put vengeance over interest.

Mr. Biden has armed Israel in the middle of what the International Court of Justice has said could plausibly be considered genocide, including twice circumventing congressional review and oversight of arms shipments. His State Department has made a mockery of his claim of centering America’s foreign policy on the protection of human rights by certifying that Israel is not committing war crimes in Gaza. And most important, he has on three occasions vetoed U.N. Security Council resolutions demanding a cease-fire. He allowed one such resolution to pass last month, only to immediately undermine it by claiming it was nonbinding.

These policies have not only prolonged the war in Gaza, contributing to the slaughter of civilians and isolating the United States internationally. They have also fueled the risk of a regional war into which the United States could easily be dragged. The war in Gaza led to the breaking of the unwritten cease-fire between U.S. troops in the Middle East and Iraqi and Syrian militias aligned with Iran, which in turn led to a significant rise in attacks on American forces and the killing of three American service members in January. Mr. Biden responded by using force against these militias and the Houthis in Yemen, bringing the United States ever closer to open conflict.

The president, while he has often said he supports a two-state solution , has also pushed policies that, at best, ignored Palestinians’ right to statehood and, at worst, directly blocked them . Before the war, the Biden administration paid little attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and failed to reverse several Trump-era decisions, like the closing of the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington and the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem, which was the official diplomatic point of contact between the United States and the Palestinians. President Donald Trump’s formula for the Middle East asserted that a two-state solution was no longer the key to peace in the region. Rather, economic integration between Arab states and Israel would deliver peace, and Palestinians would effectively have to accept their fate as a people doomed to indefinite occupation.

Mr. Biden has continued to channel diplomatic energy into building on Mr. Trump’s Abraham Accords. The accords offered costly American concessions to Arab states in return for their dropping of the demand for Palestinian statehood as a condition for normalizing relations with Israel. Mr. Biden embraced this approach early in his presidency, and has sought to outdo Mr. Trump by trying to bring in the most important Arab state, Saudi Arabia. But by blocking any hope that peaceful efforts could deliver the national aspiration of Palestinians — the accords offer nothing more than a pinkie promise of a “pathway” to statehood — both Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden made Palestinian violence all the more likely.

Rather than re-evaluate this approach after Oct. 7, Mr. Biden stuck to that formula. Mr. Biden’s pursuit of a normalization deal with Riyadh was put on hold when the war broke out. Now Washington is once again abuzz with rumors of how close Mr. Biden is to sealing a deal between Saudi Arabia’s dictator, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Israel’s right-wing government. As part of any such deal, Saudi officials are reportedly now considering settling for mere verbal assurances from Israel that it will participate in talks on Palestinian statehood.

Though all of this is presented as a new and innovative plan for the Middle East, it is eerily similar to America’s decades-long failed strategies of organizing the region against Iran instead of supporting an inclusive Middle East security architecture that brings in all of the region’s governments. While Iran’s ideological animosity toward Israel runs deep, Tehran has on numerous occasions in the past hinted that, within a larger regional arrangement that doesn’t exclude it, Iran can live with whatever Israeli-Palestinian agreement the Palestinians themselves find acceptable.

Mr. Biden has pursued policies that have pushed the Middle East to the precipice of war. His tactical successes in avoiding the worst outcomes of his policies should not be belittled. But they can never make up for his government’s broader failure to pursue a strategy that brings real security to America and real peace to the Middle East.

Trita Parsi is the author of “Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran and the Triumph of Diplomacy” and the executive vice president of the Quincy Institute.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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