Sharing meals, making meanings: Foodways among 2nd and 1.5 generation immigrants

Abstract

Second- and 1.5-generation immigrants must negotiate multiple cultures: the culture(s) of their parents, and the dominant culture where they are born. Foodways play a critical role in the construction of cultural identity, marking group inclusion and exclusion. This study explores how people with inherently in-between identities construct meaning in their everyday lives through domestic food production and consumption. It examines the intersections of diaspora, acculturation, and food in Halifax, NS – a smaller city with low immigrant retention rates (Ramos and Yoshida, 2011). Through sharing meals that are meaningful to eight participants, and supplementing these insights with semi-structured interviews, I find that foodways act as sensory, material, and symbolic markers of belonging and difference for second- and 1.5-generation immigrants. Participants constructed connections to – and were ascribed difference from – peers, family, and heritage through the relational and multisensory nature of food. This study encourages tolerance through meal-sharing, to help create a sense of community for those whose identities are rooted in culturally in-between spaces.