Food is strongly linked to identity. Three examples of foods and food-related items linked to identity that we discussed in class are the Navy bean pie for Black American Muslims, bread for Catholics and many other communities, and olive trees for Palestinians.

Describe a food that signifies identity for one of the communities in which you participate. This should be something that has meaning personally for you and your community. You can write either in the first or in the third person, as you like. You can use any formatting (font, size, margins, etc). You do not need to include references.

Make sure the essay includes each of the following elements:

The name of the food.

A brief description of the food that contains the following:

The main ingredients (no need to make a long list, just include the most important ones)

Who usually prepares it (professional chef, home chef, women/men, etc.)

How it is served (hot/cold, individual/common platter, fancy/simple plating, handheld, etc.)

1. How it is eaten (hands/fork/spoon/chopsticks, standing/sitting, alone/with other people, etc.)
2. Where it is eaten (home, restaurant, bar, picnic, movie theater, cafeteria, etc.)

Any additional characteristics that are important to understand the specific food you choose to describe

1. Feel free to include a picture of the food (OK if itàfrom the web) and/or a link to a recipe. However, the recipe itself should not be part of the essay and it does not count toward the total number of words.
2. The community for which this food symbolizes identity. This should be a community in which you participate, defined in any way you like. Any group of people, no matter how small, counts as a community. The community you describe can be your family, your friends or schoolmates, a school band, a sports team, an ethnic group, a religious group, a country, and many more. Be as specific as possible in describing the community.
3. The ways in which this food symbolizes identity for the specific community you choose to describe. The examples we discussed in class can give you a sense of the types of ways in which foods symbolize identity for different communities. Thus, the Navy Bean pie represents identity by symbolizing freedom from slavery for Black American Muslims. Bread symbolizes unity with the body of Christ for Catholics and has additional meanings for other religious groups. For Palestinians, olive trees and olive oil symbolize a long-standing link to the land of their ancestors. There are countless additional ways in which a specific food is linked to identity. For example, a specific food can symbolize time spent together as a family or time doing something fun for a group of friends. For neighbors, a food can symbolize a time of caring for somebody who needs assistance. For a group of refugees, it could symbolize a link to a country to which they no longer have access. Take time to explore this issue and to think about how the food you describe is linked to one of the many communities in which you participate.  This is the section of the essay in which you should use the most words.