Blog post by Stephen Cho Suh, San Diego State University, USA
 
In April 2024, David Chang, head of the Momofuku food empire, came under fire when lawyers for his brand sent cease-and-desist letters to dozens of companies across the US. At issue was the apparent unauthorized use of ‘chili crunch’, a name that Momofuku was in the process of trademarking for one of its own chili oil products. Though Momofuku eventually pulled these requests, with Chang himself issuing a public apology, it was clear that a metaphorical line had been crossed. Chang, a long-time advocate if not key representative of the Asian American food scene, was roundly criticized by Asian American foodies and food entrepreneurs for doing the very things he frequently railed against – seemingly creating artificial barriers to entry for fledgling entrepreneurs while also policing the culinary boundaries of a dish or cuisine. To many, Chang had become the culinary bully that he had built his career claiming to despise.

It is easy to dismiss this short-lived Asian American food drama as a business decision gone temporarily awry or as the grumblings of a small but loud minority. But doing so would miss the broader cultural significance of this micro-event. We contend that what was at conflict here was not simply the overly complicated nature of trademark law, nor was it just about who gets to claim ownership of an ingredient or dish. No, the predicament here had to do with something that was far more fundamental – the questions of ‘What is Asian American food?’ and ‘Who does Asian American food belong to?’.

Blog post by Gabrielle Lindstrom, Mount Royal University, Canada
 
In general terms, diversity and cultural awareness training are approaches that fall under the auspices of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) initiatives. While there are different legal and political imperatives surrounding EDI discourses, diversity and cultural awareness education modalities are commonly used by many corporate, government and NGO (non-government organizations) to address gaps in knowledge with regard cultural realities other than mainstream Western perspectives.
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My Identities article, ‘Rethinking critical thinking, diversity and Indigenous awareness from a Blackfoot perspective’, is concerned with the Canadian settler context and is situated within conceptual terrain of EDI educational development. I offer a critique of the cadre of diversity initiatives that emerge out of EDI initiatives with emphasis on the Indigenous/cultural awareness training, unconscious bias training and culturally inclusive workplace approaches. These EDI methods distinct to Indigenous lived-experiences with Western colonialism are used to address information that was not taught in mainstream schools about Indigenous peoples historical and contemporary cultural realities.