When I became an immigrant, I yearned to find and eat multicultural food, but I did not have information on where to find the food in my new city and country. This journey, my journey to finding my ethnocultural food in my city will highlight the unique experiences of newcomers in urban settings in their search for ingredients to prepare their desired food.

I remember my food experiences like they happened yesterday. It did not matter that we had enough money to purchase food, and there was a shopping center and grocery stores near our residence, we were hungry.

Why?

Moving to a new city, town, or even country is an adventure filled with mixed emotions. It’s a journey of hope and excitement, intertwined with a tinge of nostalgia for what’s left behind, especially with the familiar comforts of home cooking. The taste, aromas and flavors of one’s local food often carry memories and sentiments that are hard to replicate in a new environment.

Struggles of Newcomers to Find Desired Food in Cities

Globally, urbanization is on the rise, and that means an increase in the number and diversity of people in towns and cities. Apart from the concern of where the people will live, work, or walk, there is the question of what food they will eat to stay healthy, and continue to feel connected to their cultural heritage.

Cities have historically been dynamic and ever-growing centers of economic development. In the process, they pull together people from different ethnicities, socio-economic backgrounds, and cultural practices around food. Subsequently, cities have become melting pots, overflowing with diverse ethno-cultural groups from around the globe. This migration into urban areas has led to a bustling lifestyle, which includes many city dwellers not able to grow or find ingredients to prepare their desired food items. Therein emerges the food industry. 

The evolution of the food industry, which typically offers food designed for mass appeal and convenience rather than cultural specificity, intricately links with the rapid pace of urbanization and the need to feed them. These food options are mostly overprocessed and are monolithic in terms of appearance, cost and taste, thus, they fall short of meeting the varied culinary needs of the multicultural urban population. The foods leave immigrants and other newcomers in cities feeling lost in a sea of unfamiliar food options.

The result is that the very diversity that makes cities vibrant is the reason food is becoming monolithic. This poses challenges as city dwellers increasingly yearn for a diversity of food choices that reflect their cultural identities and preferences.

I am among the many immigrants who have struggled to find familiar food in the many cities and urban areas I have lived in for more than three decades. You should have seen me at the local grocery store in Toronto, pushing a cart filled with food items, yet, whenever I arrived home, I would be searching for something to eat, amid a bountiful shopping.

I hear you asking why the food industry cannot supply city inhabitants with the food they yearn for, the food they are ready to pay for?

Sometimes the food industry and retailers supply a variety of food items, but sometimes it is not the same food that people from different parts of the world or ethnicities are used to eating, as I discovered when I cooked sweet potatoes.

A Memorable Experience from Cooking Sweet Potatoes

I remember buying the sweet potatoes partly because they were attractive when compared to the ones back in Kenya. I returned from the grocery store, looking forward to cooking and savour the mixture of white and red sweet potatoes. I washed the sweet potatoes, arranged them in a cooking pot, added water to fully cover the sweet potatoes and put them on high heat to cook, the same way we cooked them back home.

While in Kenya, people cook sweet potatoes for a lengthy process, typically lasting close to two hours. They add water two or three times before the sweet potatoes are fully cooked and ready to eat. So, in keeping up with the cooking standard I was used to, I removed the cover to add more water and let them cook some more.

Guess what I had in the cooking pot?

In the fifty or so minutes that I left the Canadian sweet potatoes to cook before checking on them, they had turned into sweet-potatoes-soup. Then did I learn that even familiar-looking food items are different from what I was used to cooking and eating in Kenya.

That realization pushed me in search of information from those who had been in Canada longer. I needed to find out what sweet potatoes they ate and where they sourced them. My sweet potato experience kick-started my journey of learning more on multicultural food in my city. The journey has taken me to ethnic sections of mega grocery stores, to ethnic grocery stores and restaurants or eateries, to farmers’ markets, and to my backyard and into community gardens where I cultivate a variety of vegetables.

Why do foods by one name vary in taste across the world?

The variation in taste and texture of a food item across different regions of the world is a fascinating phenomenon. I have since identified some of the factors that explain this divergence:

• The differences in soil types, agricultural practices, including the use of different farming techniques, can alter the nutritional content and taste of food crops.
• Differences in soil composition and climatic conditions can yield crops with pronounced differences. For example, the sweetness and texture of sweet potatoes grown in Kenya may differ significantly from those in Canada. The reason being that sweet potatoes grown in tropical climates are drier and more fibrous, while those from temperate regions might be moister and sweeter.
• Genetic variations also contribute to these differences.
• The transport and storage conditions of food items can further affect their taste and texture, especially in the case of imported foods.

Accessing Multicultural Food in Cities

For newcomers in urban areas, accessing multicultural foods can be a journey of exploration. Many turn to ethnic sections in mega grocery stores, specialized grocery stores, and restaurants that cater to specific cultural groups, or serve international dishes. Other newcomers are known to wait for the season for farmers’ markets, known for supplying a range of fresh, seasonal produce that may be closer to what they were accustomed to in their home countries.

In cases where certain food items are still unavailable, urban farming and community gardens have emerged as a solution, empowering individuals to grow their culturally significant food crops. This not only ensures access to specific ethnocultural foods but also helps maintain cultural practices, and fosters a sense of community among urban dwellers from diverse backgrounds. 

Why the Concern about Food in Cities?

Many residents of cities and other urban areas are not only talking about food and healthy lifestyles, but they are making efforts to access their desired food items. And they have good reasons for doing so:

Food, a basic human need, has become a double-edged sword in many cities of the world. Though food nourishes our bodies, food is also a contributing factor in the rising cases of malnutrition and overweight which are partly attributed to changes in diet and lifestyle.

Newcomers to cities having limited food choices, many turn to the easily available and affordable industrial food items, which are over-processed, contain more sugar and fats, and are limited in variety. Subsequently, immigrants, especially those from rural environments to cities, are at more risk of not consuming healthy diets, and subsequently suffer from food-related ailments. Some of the common ailments are cardiovascular (heart disease and stroke), hypertension (high blood pressure), Type2 Diabetes, and some cancers.

The newcomers to cities are at most risk because they lack information on places to purchase their ethnocultural or multicultural foods, and at affordable prices, hence, they end up eating whatever food is accessible to them. And, since transitioning into an unfamiliar environment is associated with leading a busy life, immigrants or newcomers into cities lack time to find and cook desired food items. Many of them end up consuming ready-to-eat fast foods.

There’s Hope

The reality of food being a source of nutrients for the body and a cause of poor health has led to individuals and groups in cities to lobby and advocate for more diverse or multicultural foods, and for people to eat locally sourced, and seasonal foods to stay healthy. Though it is tough to eat locally, especially in Canada where crop cultivation is limited to a maximum of six months in a year, there is hope.

In response to this growing demand for multicultural food, we are witnessing a remarkable shift in urban foodscapes. More people are embracing the cultivation of their desired food items, be it in community gardens, urban farms, or back- and front yards. Farmers’ markets are increasing, offering a mixture of food items that cater to different ethnocultural cuisines. Some cities are diversifying their food items by changing policies to encourage people to grow or import multicultural foods, while specialty restaurants are rising to the occasion by providing culinary experiences that serve international cuisines. 

What Next?

This blog, Seasonal Multicultural Food in Cities, is dedicated to sharing a variety of food-related experiences: mine, yours, and those of anyone who has left their birthplace to settle in a city or another urban environment.

In my weekly blog posts, I’ll delve into the complex array of experiences encountered by people in cities as they strive to balance their traditional cultural food habits with the new culinary realities of their urban environment. I’ll examine both the challenges and opportunities this presents, focusing on how residents of cities seek out multicultural food. This exploration includes turning to seasonal and diverse options to meet both dietary and cultural needs.

Throughout our journey, I aim to illustrate through people’s stories that food transcends mere sustenance. It’s also about preserving identity, adapting to different lifestyles, and navigating the wide range of food choices available in urban life.

Join me as we explore the intricate connections between urban living, cultural diversity, and food, and understand why city residents fervently pursue an array of culinary experiences. The journey begins in my city and expands to others, uncovering the multicultural foods they offer and their seasonal variations.

Over time, the Seasonal Multicultural Food in Cities blog will evolve into your essential guide for a variety of topics within the niche of seasonal multicultural food in urban areas. It’s crafted to suit the interests and lifestyles of urban residents. By weaving in aspects of gardening, shopping, and cooking, it offers a comprehensive view of how to embrace and savour multicultural food in an urban context.

Embarking on this journey in urban settings is more than just about what we eat; it’s a lifestyle choice that incorporates community, culture, and sustainability. This blog is designed to inspire you to explore, cultivate, cook, and enjoy the diverse tastes your city offers, from your own garden to your dining table.

Now, over to you: What was your experience with food when you moved to an urban area? Did you struggle to find and eat your desired food items, or were they readily available? Please share in the comments below.

Note:

All photos are by @EKO, unless where stated