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IMO, as a 11 year classroom teacher now online, students have a kind of freedom to chat or speak without much judgment online. Today, we talked about lunch bc someone was having lasagna & said 'We're Chinese but my mom makes us lasagna for lunch.' We then had /1
a long conversation about food, cultural stereotypes, & racism. Food-culture is so important to identity & acceptance. The kids discussed their history of negative reactions around food & that, in younger grades, they asked to take 'white food' for lunch. /2
'Kevin's' mom makes lasagna because her 4 kids once begged her to not send Chinese food to school. I could see all the students of colour nod their heads immediately. All. South Asian, South-East Asian, Middle-Eastern, African, Russian, & South American, Caribbean culture. /3
All nodding at having their lunches laughed at or worse. I asked what "white food" was requested & some answers were "cheese and crackers" & "sandwich" & a "granola bar" all said in a very formal way. Someone said "white people love their cheese strings" to much laughter. /4
But then students started to share favourite foods from home - dosa, sameer, bolani, carrot halwa, goat curry, roti, gaifan, jianbing. We looked up pictures & recipes for everything. Because they're kids, we looked up a lot of desserts but they were lively & happy about it all./5
I got some new recipes to try but I think the students found some peace & acceptance about their families and cultures. As we were winding down, one girl said "I'm kinda embarrassed I had a grilled cheese for lunch." And every one cheered "NAH we LOVE GRILLED CHEESE TOO!" /6
We laughed & looked up fancy grilled cheeses with add-ins like apple & onion. It was so fun & it was great to hear kids say 'that Afghan flatbread looks delish. I'm going to make that' & "I'm going to try jerk chicken. I like spicy.' (look out, kids, you have no idea)/7
'Kevin' said "when I have some Chinese food for lunch, I'll show you guys" & everyone said "ok cool!" There was no judgment. No one turned up their nose at the mention of anything. They were accepting & kind & really excited about food. It was good for them, I think. #equity /8
I hope we address food insecurity too because I was also aware that there are kids online whose families are out of work due to #COVID19 . I hope they feel included & welcome too. The sense of inclusion & belonging is a start. I was proud of them today. /n
//thank you for the kind words and responses/retweets. It does matter. Also, here are some of the foods we talked about trying: masala dosa; Afghan bolani with egg, potato, and green onion; chicken gaifan.
We also discovered that some kind of crepe/pancake/thin-fried-bread is common across continents as a "food holder." Makes sense.
Oh & shout out to my gr8 girls who said "hot sauce is life" and also convinced me that I need to get a travel size to take with me everywhere. Lol. 
Correction: not *sameer* but samber/sambar; a south Indian lentil stew that is served with idli, dosa, or rice. In fact, I kept calling these 'rice puffs' until several kids said 'Geez, Mme, that's idli.' (idli - fluffy steamed fermented rice/lentil cake). #learningthroughfood
//ALSO, a big reflection that #INDIGENOUS 
food was not represented in the conversation; SO important too along with acceptance, food security, diversity, & truth. I'll make this a weekly thing (having lunch together) where we can also discuss/find out about #INDIGENOUS foods.
food was not represented in the conversation; SO important too along with acceptance, food security, diversity, & truth. I'll make this a weekly thing (having lunch together) where we can also discuss/find out about #INDIGENOUS foods.
//Wow, I never expected this response and thank you ALL for sharing your 'food discrimination' stories. Today, during lunch hour, we are having 'online lunch' together and will talk about more dishes & recipes. We are excited, at home, to try Afghani bread and dosa this weekend.
//Lunch hour today: we saw fish curry with rice & beans, more grilled cheese, egg & noodle bowl, & a kind of spanakopita but not quite in pastry. Students asked me what sourdough bread was and....I had to google it. #notonthesourdoughbandwagon
/Many kind replies, comments, suggestions, & thanks 
Thank YOU! Trying to answer but the response is amazingly overwhelming. I'll get there. Yes, food discrimination still happens at school but we learn more each day & hopefully will take tolerance back to school when it's time.
Thank YOU! Trying to answer but the response is amazingly overwhelming. I'll get there. Yes, food discrimination still happens at school but we learn more each day & hopefully will take tolerance back to school when it's time.
