[Update, March 25, 2021: This article has been edited to include a quote from Dean of the College Carlos Alamo-Pastrana.]
Jamaican Curry Rice, General Tso’s Chicken with Rice, Potato Vindaloo—these are some examples of Vassar Dining’s diverse menu options available for the students eating at Vassar, a predominantly white institution. The Gordon Commons staff aims to dismantle a typical white American-centric menu, highlighting different cultures’ cuisine across the globe. Yet the naming of foods such as Halal Chicken Bacon Pizza, Oriental Wild Rice and Oriental Chicken Dumplings reveal Vassar’s tendencies of cultural appropriation and a reflection of the institution’s attitude towards its BIPOC students.
Before examining the issues of appropriation, it is important to examine the process of how foods at Vassar make their way onto the Vassar menu. Stephen Scardina, Resident District Manager for Bon Appetit at Vassar College, explained that menu options do rely on student responses. “We rely on feedback from our students in the different types of cuisine that they would like to see offered in our operations. We also incorporate menu items that our staff recommends based on their cultural backgrounds,” he stated. After this, the Executive and Sous Chefs of Vassar’s kitchens begin research on the recipes. Scardina described this process as more of a science than an art, stating, “We engineer our menus so we can reach a broader spectrum of tastes and personal preferences … Our Executive Chef will always start testing a dish with the authentic recipe for the first tasting. Based on feedback, he will then add his own twist to a menu item and also work with the culinary teams to do the same.” In other words, the food that arrives on Vassar student plates and meal bins must go through a series of taste tests by culinary teams before it’s ready to be served.
This has resulted in dishes inspired by a fusion of cultures, such as Curried Corn Chowder, which Scardina called a “popular vegan soup” from a “Caribbean-Indian influence,” as well as foods that aim to be more sensitive towards different backgrounds, such as the recent incorporation of halal burgers to give Muslim students more protein options. Certainly these are a few of many attempts Vassar Dining has done to accommodate students’ tastes. But in spite of the research done by Vassar’s culinary teams, certain foods have failed in representing cultures accurately.
For example, students have noticed how certain kosher and halal options break the rules of their religious conventions. Oven Roasted Sage Butter Chicken, for instance, seems to go against kosher practices—even though it is not certain if butter was actually used in the cooking. Another is labeling a food with bacon as halal. Huda Rahman ’23, a Muslim American student, recalled: “One problem that came up recently was a pizza with bacon being labeled as halal because the chicken on it was halal. I don’t think they realized that contaminating the chicken made it haram but regardless there were students posting and emailing about it. The chef issued an apology and so far the issue has not come up again.”
Three recent menu options have also had grievous impacts: Oriental Chicken and Rice Soup (served at the Retreat on March 2) Oriental Chicken Dumplings (served at the Retreat on March 15) and Oriental Rice Salad (served at the Deece on March 22) which, according to Scardina, were conceived by the Retreat’s Head Chef and Retail Manager. Speaking of how the names were derived, Scardina said, “Our chefs will often search the internet for new recipes and use the name of the recipe when we menu the item,” though he added, “We will discontinue the use of oriental and other menu description that do not reflect the proper authenticity of the dish.”
This however, does not negate nor address why the word “oriental” has been used three times to describe supposedly Asian-inspired dishes. Speaking of the derogatory nature of these labels, Spencer McGrath ’21, a Chinese American student, said, “I think that my least favorite food is literally anything they label as oriental because it is racist. It’s also a super outdated term rooted in a lot of colonialism and imperialism.”
McGrath also made note of the difference between using oriental in Asian food businesses as opposed to its usage in Vassar’s dining menus. “[Asian businesses that] use oriental in the name [are] a whole different conversation. But there’s no reason [Vassar Dining] should be using this term.”
Delving into the usage of labels, Leslie Lim ’24, who is of a Cambodian Chinese background, expressed her frustration with marketing foods generally as “Asian.” Using fried rice as an example, she stated, “I think that marketing [for fried rice] as just Asian fried rice is really harmful. Because every different culture has different tribes of rice, like Thai fried rice is going to be so much different from what you’ll find in a Chinese household. It’s just really irritating that they package up these fried rice with peas and carrots. And that’s it. And that’s not authentic to what you’re labeling it as—not that there’s any way to label something as Asian and that be authentic.”
Addressing the Asian label, McGrath said, “It’s a bit different if it’s coming from something like the Asian Students Alliance, which is obviously not food, but certain groups that are trying to bring together different ethnic groups of Asian people across campus. But I think with [the label of “Asian”] food, it comes off as very disrespectful because it does, especially from PW (predominantly white) eyes, [come] off as lumping Asians together. And it perpetuates this idea of the monolith of Asia, which is ridiculous, because Asia’s landmass is huge.” They added, “The idea of authenticity can be a dangerous one, because I think there’s a lot of gatekeeping in the Asian and Asian American communities. But I think that authenticity [for these communities] is either what you grew up with and what it’s derived from: your heritage culture.”
To label dishes to Vassar students as “oriental,” both Lim and McGrath stressed, is not just an insensitive error, but a reflection of Vassar’s biases against Asian-identifying students in their academia. “When we label things, even food items, as Asian, it always refers back to East Asia,” Lim said. “And that perpetuates like the erasure of not only Southeast Asians, but South Asians, and it’s really problematic. And I think that just comes to show itself like in food, and especially even rooted in our like Asian Studies Department, or our Asian American Studies department that that’s not really real, where we only come to focus on certain groups and certain ideologies.”
Yet it shouldn’t have to be the responsibility of BIPOC students to address these issues. Lim called upon white students to also hold Vassar accountable. “If you’re a white person encountering these microaggressions, you need to be the one to make a fuss,” she said. “As Asian American or Asian students here, we’re expected to have the emotional labor and organize and do these things to make ourselves feel comfortable here. But if you take the stance and do tangible things like emailing or calling, then you’ll be able to help mobilize.” She continued, “And I think that’s so much more important than posting like an infographic on your Instagram. Because these are the things that we’re actively thinking about a lot of the time. We don’t get to stop thinking about, oh, how does our race or ethnicity play into our role here on campus.”
Drawing on Lim’s words, McGrath made sure to note how Vassar administration has continually failed Asian and Asian American students, in spite of President Elizabeth Bradley’s claims of solidarity with the Asian American community. “There’s a reason that communities on this campus are still so divided by race,” McGrath said. “And it’s very frustrating because [when] administrators see our faces, they see faces of other BIPOC minorities. And they just think we’re an irritation. They won’t listen to us, especially students who are involved with VASAM, which I think has caused PB to literally go, ‘all Asian faces: bad.’ [Because of the administration’s view on VASAM], they’re less likely to listen to us [when they see an Asian face] because they already see us as complainers making problems for them.”
Importantly, criticism shouldn’t be directed at the Gordon Commons and Retreat workers who prepare the food, but rather the higher-ups who are in control of dining at Vassar. “Their labor is already being taken advantage of,” McGrath said. “But there are other ways that either administration [can handle these issues]. There could be people who could come in and show them how to make these recipes. Or they could actually hire more people of color [for Vassar Dining].”
Of this idea, Rahman said, “I do not think it should be up to the students to have to provide recipes to the dining staff but if a certain community’s food is prepared in a way that does not seem culturally appropriate, someone should speak up and let them know. A big point is to assume ignorance not malice, I doubt anyone is purposely cooking the dish wrong and the dining staff would be open to criticism.” Still she emphasized that staff should put more effort into their research on dishes, as well as differentiating what is exactly being served versus its label on the dining menu.
Dean of the College Carlos Alamo-Pastrana responded to the concerns about certain items on Vassar’s menu:
“As the senior officer in charge of Campus Dining, I want to apologize to our students and especially to members of our Asian American communities for the problematic labeling of some of the food options in our dining facilities. Terminology and labels are saturated with complex histories and meanings that can shift across space, time and among different groups. It is clear that recent labels in dining, that were once used in the past to refer to particular products and foods, failed to consider these complexities and shifts. As a result, we have hurt valued members of our community. I am sorry that this happened. We are grateful to the VSA for bringing this matter to our attention. We have corrected the use of the offensive language and it will not appear again. Bon Appetit has also re-trained relevant dining staff on the proper preparation of halal food selections. We have also spent the last month working with the Vassar Muslim Students Association in collaboration with the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life and Contemplative Practices to prepare for a successful Ramadan. I remain thankful to our students for their continued engagement on these matters as we continue to strive to create the campus community to which we all aspire.”
The most important conclusion to draw from Vassar’s controversial menus is that it is not a new problem, but rather a reminder that the institution was not built with nonwhite students in mind—a reminder that is ever so prevalent in the minds of BIPOC students and merely glossed over by the white students who make up most of Vassar’s campus. Even if Vassar removes “Oriental Chicken with Rice” from their menus or does a better job at listening to students’ demands, its failures toward BIPOC students must not be completely forgotten.
Is this supposed to be a parody of wokeness?
What a complete bunch excrement. Complete and utter bullshit.
I agree that it’s important not to lump all of Asia together (it’s 60% of the world’s population!). But if the dishes were called “Cambodian” or “Thai” then the author would complain that they aren’t authentic to those cultures, right? Instead of being so angry, an article with actual constructive suggestions about what is wanted would be more helpful.
Let’s at the very least start with the use of “Oriental.” It’s really not that hard to do a bit of research and pay tribute to the influences of the food your cooking by labeling it accurately and specifically. Nobody’s asking for the Deece to cook perfectly authentic Thai food, or Cambodian food etc. etc. I would bet the authors of this article do not expect that either. One constructive suggestion I heard in the article is for white people to step up and call out the micro-aggressions they see around them.
Indeed the author would complain that they aren’t authentic to Thai and Cambodian cultures – because they are usually not, at all. It is not that hard for Vassar chefs to do their job and minimal due diligence to ensure their attempts at international cuisines are respectful and accurate.
As for constructive suggestions – the author suggested Vassar hiring POC to create dining options. If that is beyond your reach the author also called on the white student population to hold Vassar accountable. How about starting there instead David.
All this cultural appropriation hoopla is stupid.
How much has the world appropriated from the West?
If people of European decent cannot enjoy things from other cultures, then other cultures need to stop wearing Western clothes and return all our technology they appropriated, tear down their Western-style cities, stop going to our universities.
That’s just dumb. You guys use a shit ton of Eastern technology. Where do you think paper, guns, compasses and shit came from? You Europeans? Just because you colonized a bunch of countries and cultures from the East doesn’t make their achievements yours.
There are so many problematic statements in this post. First, there’s a difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation. No one said that people of European descent, “cannot enjoy things from other cultures.” What people of European descent ACTUALLY cannot do is show disrespect and ignorance towards other cultures. That’s why the usage of certain labels has such a significant impact (as explained in the article). Second, the world hasn’t so much, “appropriated from the West,” as it has been ruthlessly forced by the West to assimilate through imperialism and colonialism. Finally, regarding your flippant remark that, “other cultures need to stop wearing Western clothes,” you must be referring to the fast fashion brands that all have “Made in China” labels.
This is, quite possibly, the dumbest “news” article to ever grace my morning feed, thanks Google.
I think you are coming down too hard on the Deece workers. There is a big disconnect between Deece workers and Vassar administration and academia, so I think it’s unfair to say that the labelling issue is a reflection of Vassar’s biases against POC. Many of the Deece workers are actually POC and immigrants who live in Poughkeepsie, and this labelling issue may come from varying education levels and also cultural differences in education.
Un-Believable!
I’m a Chef for over 37 years, teach culnary arts for over 20 years and I have never read more BS about a menu like this.
If I want tk make Thai Curry, I’ll do it. If I want to make Nasi Goreng, I’ll do it. If I want to make Couscous, I’ll do it. I giveca rats a$$ what a woke liberal probably white, person has to say about it. This world is beatiful because we have all these cultures and even better, access to it. Uou don’t think I would ever eat that american McD cr@p? Nope…. give me Creole, Thai, Italian (real Italian), Peruvian, Indonesian, Mexican and so on. These cultures live it when you enjoy their food.
This is suuuch a stretch. Serving “halal chicken bacon ranch pizza” was very clearly just a dumb mistake, not revealing of “Vassar’s tendencies of cultural appropriation.” If they didn’t try and serve diverse options you’d get upset as well.
seconding that this was unproductive and not very educational. the only information here is that people are (rightfully) angry about dining issues which admin have already agreed to resolve. what was the point of this article?
Give all the menu items a reference number and post the recipe on a bulletin board in the dinning hall. Let the students give them a nickname which would probably be hilarious and not politically correct; much like the nick names given to army food. I’d be delighted for the complainers to be drafted into any country’s military service in order for them to realize how fortunate they are to be so well fed. I give the university a B+ grade for at least trying to move beyond institutional food that so many other students subsist on. Or only serve the dishes from my Celtic grandmother’s and US Army’s recipe books. Problem solved, no ethnic appropriations or missteps. Why should the university, parents, and tax payer shoulder the expense of hiring ethnic food instructors? Why don’t the Thai students and other ethnics (BIPOC?) roll up their sleeves and teach the Chefs how to properly cook Thai and so forth. Don’t laugh, I recall American-Italians doing just that at Frat Houses in the 1960’s. Do it the American way, put some skin in the game, and become a proactive contributor and not just a desk chair complainer.
This new thing Of CANCEL CULTURE must have been raised by some of the most sensitive entitled people EVER. Grow up and stop acting like a bunch of damn over sensitive coward’s .
A rose by any other name is still a rose. Food by any other name is still food. There are people around the world dieing of hunger. Do you think the care what you call it. Shut the hell up and feed the hungry give real purpose to not only your life but to others.
The author of this article has no soul.
Of this article were on the menu it would be called small minded BULLSHIT. I suggest the author get a life!
You people and your love to “cancel” things based on your own stupid feelings is getting very old to the white Americans.
How about people just STFU & eat….there, it’s that simple…Go be ” woke” infront of a mirror….my gosh…
Imagine all the moderate potential Vassar applicants reading this, closing the tab, and thinking, OMG what a nuthouse.
There is a real problem here, but it has nothing to do with cultural appropriation. Some people observe religious dietary rules and falsely advertising a dish as “kosher” or “hallal” is a significant breach of faith with the customers, just like calling a meat dish “vegetarian”. I find it hard to believe their kitchen is set up to he able to cook anything in a way fully in keeping with Jewish dietary law, as would be expected of a kosher restaurant. As a side note, the idea that pea soup is a particularly Jewish dish is just plain weird.
Hi Janet Song and Berel Dov Lerner, Rabbi Neal Loevinger here. I am the masgiach, or kosher supervisor, for the kosher kitchen at Gordon Commons. I’m a Conservative rabbi, and have taken masgiach (kosher supervision) training offered by the Jewish Theological Seminary and Rabbinical Assembly. I can assure you that no non-kosher ingredients are used in the kosher kitchen, which is registered with New York State under the Department of Agriculture’s kosher laws, with my name as the kosher supervisor of record.
My day job is at Vassar Brothers Medical Center, but I inspect the kosher kitchen every day, and when I can’t, Rabbi Bryan Mann, the Director of Jewish Life on campus, will check food labels and deliveries. If you have any questions or concerns about the kosher kitchen, please reach out to the dining staff and they will put you in touch with me. Thank you all for your concern and please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Hello Rabbi Loevinger To be honest, I wasn’t even aware that the Conservative Movement engaged in the training of mashgihei kashrut. May I understand that you are saying that the “Oven Roasted Sage Butter Chicken” was made with margarine or whatever to avoid a mixture of meat and dairy? If so, I suggest that you ask for the article to remove reference to that dish, or at least to make it completely clear that the only “problem” with the its kashrut stems from its confusing name..
Hi Berel, sorry, just saw this now. Yes, of course, “butter chicken” is made with parve margarine. I’m sure the Bon Appetit managers saw this article and will use better, clearer signage going forward. Thank you.