Jacqueline M. Newman

Chinese immigrant food habits : a study of the nature and direction of change

THIS STUDY researches the food habits of a randomly selected group of 102 Chinese immi grant mothers who live in two locations in New York City, one predominantly Chinese, namely China town, and the other Queens, a mixed ethnic commun ity. By use of detailed questionnaire and interview, it determines the relationships between traditional food habits before immigration, neighbourhood differences and three time frames since immigration to the United States: under two, two to five and over five years. Significant change has occurred in food habits when comparing those habits practiced before immigration to those practiced in the United States. Of all the items studied, food items showed the greatest changes, parti cularly with respect to meat and dairy products. Some, but not all other food habits changed. The food habits of the respondents in Chinatown, although not com pletely traditional, changed less than the food habits of those living in Queens. Comparing groups by years since immigration, those respondents in the United States fewer than two years ago showed an appreciable change while those in the United States more than five years showed a reversal in some food habits to tradi tional food habits.

Chinese Food: Perceptions and Publications in the United States

In the United States, very few research articles are written about Chinese food. A handful of English-language books have been written about Chinese food history but none discuss their food or any perceptions of it in America. One book did look at Chinese cookbooks but did not evaluate them even though cookbooks are increasingly important resources representing lifestyle choices and food attitudes. Because Chinese people believe that nothing is more important than eating, exploring their cookbooks looks at a food culture consumed by more people in the world than any other. This paper located and assessed 2,500 English-language Chinese cookbooks, 40 percent published in the United States. Their content, place of publication, ethnicity of author, types of recipes, cookbook trends, and content changes are explored from the first government document published in 1899 and the first recipe book published in 1911 through the 1990s. The perceptions of authors, publishers, and restauranteurs explain some of these changes. The paper ends with an examination of a new Chinese cookbook genre, additional reasons why Chinese cookbooks are changing, and a plea that Chinese people record their individual culinary heritage for future researchers.

Chinese Food Habit Perspectives

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study was to assess changes in food behaviors of a Chinese population by investigating a group of 32 mature students before and after they came to study in the United States. Using a modified version of the National Cancer Institutes Health Habits and History Questionnaire, data was collected to measure food acculturation, food behaviors, and frequency of consumption for more than one hundred foods. Results show considerable dietary change. Food intake decreased significantly in the “Bread and cereal” food group and in the “Vegetable” food group in the United States compared to intake in China. In contrast, foods in the “Fruit,” “Meat,” and “Dairy products” food groups increased significantly in the United States compared to in China. Intake of many individual items increased significantly including snacks and sweets, ice-cream, whole milk, non-dairy creamers, orange juice, white bread, and soda. The most significant decrease was in the consumption of rice. Other food behavior...