The world celebrated UNESCO’s International Day of Islamic Art in November, highlighting the rich cultural heritage of Islamic communities. It is also essential to recognise the role of food in preserving and promoting cultural identity.
Recently, the Palestinian chef and activist, Fadi Kattan, made headlines with his Bethlehem-based cooking school, which uses food as a tool for cultural resistance. Kattan’s initiative exemplifies the power of culinary narratives in reclaiming autonomy and humanity.
Colonisation thrives on erasure, denying communities their cultural identity and existence. Food becomes a powerful marker of resistance, asserting community identity and challenging dominant narratives.
The significance of culinary citizenship is evident in the struggles of indigenous communities. In Canada, the revitalisation of traditional indigenous cuisine has become a powerful symbol of resistance against colonialism. Initiatives like the Indigenous Food Sovereignty movement aim to reclaim traditional food systems and promote cultural heritage. Culinary citizenship transcends geographical boundaries. For immigrant communities, food serves as a tangible connection to their homelands.
Cookbooks like The Gaza Kitchen: A Palestinian Culinary Journey, by Laila El-Haddad and Maggie Schmitt, and Soup for Syria: Recipes to Celebrate our Shared Humanity blend recipes with stories of resilience, reclaiming autonomy and humanity in the face of displacement. These narratives resist the dehumanising effects of colonialism, asserting the richness and the diversity of Palestinian and Syrian cultures.
In literature, works like Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake and Jessica Zhan Mei Yu’s But the Girl explore the complex relationships among food, memory, and cultural identity. These stories highlight the struggles of immigrant communities to preserve their cultural heritage in the face of assimilation.
In the film, The Lunchbox (2013), an unlikely friendship develops between an Indian housewife and an accountant through meals and letters. This poignant story illustrates the power of food to transcend borders and connect people across cultures.
Women play a central role in preserving and transmitting cultural heritage through food. As Partha Chatterjee notes in The Nation and Its Fragments: Colonial and Postcolonial Histories, women are often responsible for “protecting and nurturing the spiritual quality of national culture.”
The Palestinian struggle exemplifies the intersection of culinary symbolism and digital activism. The watermelon, a key ingredient in many Palestinian dishes, has become a symbol of resistance, representing the colours of the Palestinian flag. Social media platforms have amplified this symbolism, with artists and activists sharing images and stories of watermelon-themed resistance.
The connection between food and social justice is increasingly being recognised. Initiatives like Food Justice Certified and the National Black Food and Justice Alliance work to address issues of food access, sustainability, and equity. Furthermore, food activism has become a powerful tool for social change. The #FoodForThought campaign was launched in the Middle East to raise awareness about hunger and food insecurity in the region.
Through culinary citizenship, literary and culinary resistance, memory, women’s roles and symbolism, food challenges dominant narratives and asserts the richness and the diversity of marginalised cultures. By recognising the power of food in shaping cultural identity, we can work towards a more inclusive and equitable society.
Naina Bhargava is founder and editor of The Philosophy Project