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Do you find ethnic sections of the grocery store problematic?
- Thread starter Nida
- Start date
im actually okay with them makes it way fucking easier to find the adobo goya, jerk sauce etc. the only problematic things ive seen is when a store has an aisle called oriental. which is pretty offensive to me.
yeah its this. pretty much everything should be a food of the world in the US for the most part.
yeah its this. pretty much everything should be a food of the world in the US for the most part.
what the hell is spotted dickIn case you Brits are wondering what your section looks like here in the US:
(It's an old photo I pulled from the internet but it looks pretty correct. I'm not in any hurry to even go into a grocery store right now)
The only time this ever crossed my mind is when I used to use Murray's pomade and it wasn't in the same section of the grocery store as the other hair products. They had a special section that it was in (not even close to the other hair products), which was pretty weird.
Not everyone lives in the sort of area where you can find a chinese market or equivalent source for specific ingredients. It's also reasonable for people who go to one supermarket to be able to get most of what they want there instead of having to go to multiple places. There's also the more nebulous issue of some people perhaps feeling like an outsider going into one of these specialised grocers.
But no it's not problematic, its pragmatic.
But no it's not problematic, its pragmatic.
Don't think it's problematic. But around here, most people of an ethnic minority would go to special stores that specialize in the food from their regions if they're looking for those items, rather than to an international aisle at the general grocery store. As do people of the majority ethnicity sometimes too, of course, if they want to cook non-European cuisine
Spotted Dick is damn good.
I can totally see the argument here. In theory you can just put everything together, but I admit it's damn nice to be able to go to the Japanese section and buy the seaweed snacks I love, or the Goya coconut water from the Mexican section.
If Spanish, or Japanese, or Korean etc people find it racist, it's racist, and we can do away with it, and we'll manage. This isn't a question for for a 40 year old white man (me) to have an opinion on that counts.
I can totally see the argument here. In theory you can just put everything together, but I admit it's damn nice to be able to go to the Japanese section and buy the seaweed snacks I love, or the Goya coconut water from the Mexican section.
If Spanish, or Japanese, or Korean etc people find it racist, it's racist, and we can do away with it, and we'll manage. This isn't a question for for a 40 year old white man (me) to have an opinion on that counts.
this is fucked up cause Barrys Tea is irish.In case you Brits are wondering what your section looks like here in the US:
(It's an old photo I pulled from the internet but it looks pretty correct. I'm not in any hurry to even go into a grocery store right now)
To downplay the concern of minority like the article in the first post?
"If you go to the ethnic food aisle, that is sort of the last bastion of racism that you can see in full daylight in retail America," David Chang, the man at the helm of the Momofuku empire, said on his podcast this summer. "It is something that's got to go."
In a telephone interview, Chang says there is an "invisible ceiling" on some supermarket items: Italian products that were once marginalized, such as olive oils and vinegars, are now routinely integrated into grocery store aisles, while Chinese, Japanese and Latino foods remain stuck in their own sections. The ongoing segregation of these foods, Chang says, isn't about acceptance among the mainstream. Asian and Latino cuisines have long been embraced by Americans of every stripe, he says. You can sometimes even see this acceptance play out in supermarkets: Instant ramen and tortilla soups may sit right next to boxes of chicken noodle and cream of chicken soups, those standards of mid-century America. Same for the produce section, where plantains and mangoes will be sold in the same area as apples and iceberg lettuce.
All the foods in the ethnic food aisle are already accepted. So why do we even have them?" Chang asks. The aisles, he adds, are an echo of "1950s America, which was not a particularly good place to be, especially if you were Asian."
To Chang's way of thinking, these aisles continue to exist because nobody wants to talk about them, which was certainly true about the publicists I contacted for this story. Representatives of Whole Foods Market, Giant Food, Kroger, Albertsons (which includes Safeway stores) and Harris Teeter either declined to comment or did not return multiple phone calls for comment.
It's why I didn't participate in the cultural approiation topic, alot of people just don't read the article and go on their own thing about how it's not what it is, and how minoirty are misunderstanding thing, etc.
Not at all
My wife is Asian and we have a closer supermarket to us with two full "Asian food aisles". She likes that because it has products she wants for cooking and we don't have to drive much further to the actual Asian grocers
It would be tedious if all these products were all over a major store, especially if the reasoning was just "we might upset people".
There is an American section at my local too, which is nice. It has dr. Pepper and chocolate not found in usual stores
My wife is Asian and we have a closer supermarket to us with two full "Asian food aisles". She likes that because it has products she wants for cooking and we don't have to drive much further to the actual Asian grocers
It would be tedious if all these products were all over a major store, especially if the reasoning was just "we might upset people".
There is an American section at my local too, which is nice. It has dr. Pepper and chocolate not found in usual stores
My local stores have an international isle that has Asian, Mexican, Jewish/Kosher, and Italian stuff.
They also have a separate half-isle for just Goya stuff.
They also have a separate half-isle for just Goya stuff.
That's not Huy Fong (Rooster). Flying Goose is a different brand. It's a little sweeter than Huy Fong.
Sounds like our Fiesta. The Tres Leches is the bomb.
User Banned (2 Weeks): Trolling, history of related priors
I'm waiting for the thread that just asks if living is problematic at this point.
I mean, shit - I always found them convenient because when I'm cooking it's literally "am I cooking south-east Asian today, or white person today?".
Mind you, I'm typically going to the small-owned grocer in Chinatown for my SE Asian ingredients anyway, or the small-owned Mexican spot for all my masa and beans etc.
I think Chang makes a great point though, like why the fuck are Italian and Mediterranean ingredients not "ethnic" but Asian and South / Central American ingredients are?
It's actually really good food for thought that I would have never considered before this thread.
Mind you, I'm typically going to the small-owned grocer in Chinatown for my SE Asian ingredients anyway, or the small-owned Mexican spot for all my masa and beans etc.
I think Chang makes a great point though, like why the fuck are Italian and Mediterranean ingredients not "ethnic" but Asian and South / Central American ingredients are?
It's actually really good food for thought that I would have never considered before this thread.
I go to QFC here in the PNW and I don't find the concept problematic except in the case of "Mexican" cuisine because they have two sections- one is the sorta El Paso canned chilis and refried beans and Pace salsa etc but they also have a "real" Latin food section with dried de arbol chiles and proper Latin American goods and sauces etc. apart from being confusing and a bit condescending to everyone- it's also redundant and I have to check both sections because sometimes the Mexican branded version of the same exact thing is a different price but with a Spanish label.
and it's inconsistent in content too- the "Mexican " section isn't exclusively whiteymex - and there's authentic and obscure things in each section.
also having the ethnic sections helps people from those regions go shopping so overall it's extremely useful for most people including the "victims "
my in-laws rarely venture beyond the "Asian" section and they've improved both the UK (seriously- mcvities and jelly babies and hp sauce and so on) and the "Indian " section. It's funny seeing them try to cope with Filipino stuff though and sometimes it's in Asian aisle and sometimes the Latin sections.
There's also a kosher section which is random AF - so obvious things like gefilte fish but also vast swathes of gummy candies and things I never considered "kosher " - but they don't have halal and kosher labeling on things that are technically both which seems odd but likely good reasons.
and it's inconsistent in content too- the "Mexican " section isn't exclusively whiteymex - and there's authentic and obscure things in each section.
also having the ethnic sections helps people from those regions go shopping so overall it's extremely useful for most people including the "victims "
my in-laws rarely venture beyond the "Asian" section and they've improved both the UK (seriously- mcvities and jelly babies and hp sauce and so on) and the "Indian " section. It's funny seeing them try to cope with Filipino stuff though and sometimes it's in Asian aisle and sometimes the Latin sections.
There's also a kosher section which is random AF - so obvious things like gefilte fish but also vast swathes of gummy candies and things I never considered "kosher " - but they don't have halal and kosher labeling on things that are technically both which seems odd but likely good reasons.
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Looks like an umami section.
Likely not what they were going for, but it kinda makes sense if you think about it that way.
As an Asian I find it extremely convenient to have staples in one section, rather than relying on the store to figure out where to arbitrarily slot certain foods that don't have an equivalent in a typical "american diet" when I'm visiting family back in rural Michigan.
I know I don't speak for the incredibly wide spectrum of my asian brethren, but I really disagree with David Chang on their role in a modern supermarket.
It sounds like something extremely pedantic to complain about to feel in control during quarantine.
I know I don't speak for the incredibly wide spectrum of my asian brethren, but I really disagree with David Chang on their role in a modern supermarket.
It sounds like something extremely pedantic to complain about to feel in control during quarantine.
I don't know that it's offensive, but I would only go to such aisles in desperation. I'm not interested in 3rd rate versions of stuff I'm used to getting at a proper Japanese supermarket for a much better price.
Ah yes, the old Asian girlfriend post strikes again.
Ah yes, the old Asian girlfriend post strikes again.
I think about poster stepped it up with Asian wife a few posts back. Gotta get on his level.
A much nicer choice of phrase
I often end up going there just to try some new foods.
Not all of us have a Ranch 99 or HMart close to hand. As an Asian American who moved to a city with a much smaller East Asian population the International Foods aisle is the only place I can find certain items conveniently.
I see international mostly; sometimes more specifically an Asian section and a Hispanic section.
Depends on the store.
It's hard enough finding one off items, plus I sometimes see other similar things I'd want to try, as well. It's not that big a deal
Asian grocery stores in Thailand have ethnic sections that are basically the "white people" parts. I like them. Makes it easy to find western snacks.
The vast majority of people are gonna look for an international isle for bird's custard or spotted dick or whatever. So stores separate them to make them easier to find and in turn, make them more money. That's all it is. As items become more and more mainstream they will be moved to other isles. I'm not quite sure how this isn't obvious. I would never expect some very American food item to be front and center if I visited another country where it's not common. Maybe some smaller places in rural areas are super racist and I haven't seen it though.
Haven't seen Marshmallow Fluff in AGES. Now I want a fluffernutter.Not really no.
This reminds me, we have "American food" shelves here in Finland.
That's actually exactly where pho noodles are at in the Kroger I go to most often, and Pho broth is in the same section as Cambells chicken noodle soup. Gochujang is mixed in with hot sauces.
The "Asia" section is mostly just instant ramen from Korea and Japan.
I'm in Canada, and Chinese supermarkets are similar. There's a section for Western foods if it makes sense for them to be all together. But if a Western good has enough similarities to other stuff in the store, then it goes into that section instead.
For example, there's a Chinese supermarket where there's a Western snack aisle and an Asian stack aisle. But Western canned goods are with all the other canned goods.
Western supermarkets here are sort of the same, but in reverse. There are sections for Indian foods, Chinese foods and so on. But if a product is similar to other products that the store stocks, it goes in that section instead.
OP
OP
Does H Mart have an American section? We have one within walking distance but I've always heard it's absolutely packed.
yeah, if they let that shit out into the rest of the store, american brands would be DOA. asian snacks are objectively superior. It's an understandable but unfortunate choice to move stuff like soy sauce and tortilla to a foreign food aisle but I kind of get it. I don't expect to see hamburger buns at ranch 99.
Well, that's certainly the dumbest thing I've heard in a while. lol.
It's pretty convenient how it is now.
i guess i also find it odd that Chinese food restaurants primarily sell Chinese food, but that's just me
In almost every Supermarket I've ever been to in America, Italian food has its own section- pasta, sauces, pesto, Arborio rice, powdered Parmesanetc etc. Italian section is typically a thing. Rarely actually labeled (nor for that matter are the "Asian" and "Latin American" sections - they just sort of start).
but it's almost ubiquitous. No Spanish or Portuguese stuff. Italian.
I've also never seen any of them actually labeled "ethnic " but I don't doubt that happens.
Also frozen versions of shit for some reason are just lumped with closely related other frozen stuff- vegetables, meat, meals. Beer is also arranged by country sometimes (German, Japanese, UK) but wine is by color then style, method or varietal.
herbs and spices are alphabetical and then CHAOS.
"Oriental"aisle always gave me pause but the store I go to renamed it "international" in the past couple weeks and moved all the southern stuff to that aisle.