Born in China, Grown in America serves as a mini collection of key ingredients unique to the narrative of Chinese food - its birthplace, growth, migration, and consumption. It investigates the legends and traditions associated with them, how and if these foods have assimilated to the U.S, and the dishes they can be found in. It is not meant to serve as a complete collection, but rather a starting point for us to think critically about the foods we eat daily. What do the things we eat, the ways we eat them, and our access to them tell us about ourselves and the communities we are a part of? How can we connect with others, whether it’s the people who grow our food, the ones we share our meals with, or those who simply eat similar ingredients? By exploring food through an ethnographic lens, we can highlight the untold stories of the microbial labor, human behavior, and environmental changes that contribute to defining the ABC (American Born Chinese) experience today, imagining new ways of community building and developing personal narratives surrounding Chinese food.

→ View the digital pdf here ↗

→ Spring 2022 (15 Weeks)

→ DSGN 489: Design Senior Seminar

→ Instructors: Ani Liu, Jacob Rivkin

→ Special thanks to Laura Li, Joshua Zerengue, and Joshua Mosley