Because First World Problems…or something like that. Politically correct students at an ultra-liberal Ohio college are in an uproar because the cafeteria food isn’t ethnically accurate enough. The NY Post reports that students at Oberlin College are so angered by the “insensitive” and “culturally appropriative” offerings at their dining hall that they have demanded a meeting with Campus Dining Service officials and the college president.
And what is making the special snowflakes so infuriated? At issue are foods such as General Tso’s chicken being served with steamed chicken instead of fried — which is not authentically Chinese, and simply “weird,” one student bellyached. Others are freaking out over Banh Mi Vietnamese sandwiches served with coleslaw instead of pickled vegetables on ciabatta bread–rather than traditional French baguette.
“It was ridiculous,” Diep Nguyen, a Freshman who is a Vietnam native, told The Oberlin Review, the school newspaper. “How could they just throw out something completely different and label it as another country’s traditional food?”
Guess what else was terribly offensive? The sushi rice was undercooked in a way that was, according to one Japanese student, “disrespectful” of her culture. That student, Tomoyo Joshi, a junior from Japan, was very offended by this flagrant violation of her rice. “When you’re cooking a country’s dish for other people, including ones who have never tried the original dish before, you’re also representing the meaning of the dish as well as its culture,” Joshi told the Review. “So if people not from that heritage take food, modify it and serve it as ‘authentic,’ it is appropriative,” she said.
Oberlin’s black student union joined in the food fray this month by staging a protest and petition against the grub being offered at Afrikan Heritage House, an on-campus dorm. The dorm’s cafeteria wasn’t serving enough vegan and vegetarian options, and had failed to make fried chicken a permanent feature on the Sunday night menu, the school newspaper reported. The petition also recommends the reduction of cream used in dishes, because “Black American food doesn’t have much cream in it,” according to the Review.
Student gripes are even getting the attention of at least one national organization, at least relating to the school’s inclusion of beef in a traditional Indian tandoori. “Consuming beef was considered sacrilegious among Hindus,” blasted to Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, who has demanded meetings with school officials, according to the Chronicle-Telegram.
Campus dietitian Michele Gross told the Review this week that so far, the first meeting between college officials and dyspeptic students went well, and changes are being implemented to address all concerns. Her concern? “It’s important to us that students feel comfortable when they are here,” Gross said.
I bet Oberlin alum Lena Dunham is proud.
DCG