My Grandmother's Pot: Caribbean Immigrant Cooking Skills and Dietary Acculturation

Immigrant children who grow up in New York City often express strong connection to the cultural food practices associated with their parents’ or grandparents’ country or culture of origin yet often lament that they are unable to cook the signature dishes of their childhood and youth that are part of their cultural identity. The Caribbean Immigrant Cooking Skills and Acculturation project seeks to understand the process of dietary acculturation as it relates specifically to behaviors and decisions around cooking/cooking skills, shopping, and eating, and how these might be associated with health outcomes in adult Black Caribbean immigrants from English speaking countries and their children and/or grandchildren living in New York City. Black Caribbean immigrants are less likely than other immigrant groups to experience negative effects of dietary acculturation such as obesity, diabetes and hypertension, however, their children do not benefit from this protective effect. In‐depth interviews are used to fully understand the underlying mechanisms, social behaviors, norms and decision processes of the dietary acculturation in this population. Results The initial phase of the study has shown that Black Caribbean immigrant families, as might be expected, prioritize formal education over life skills transfer, however, equally significant were a number of factors including: matriarchs who retained control of cultural heritage in a new country; a difference in perception (US vs. country of origin) of whether cooking is “safe” for children to be involved in; smaller family size; the false perception that cooking is something one has to be “taught”; and the younger immigrants’ desire to become enculturated in the US. Conclusion Dietary acculturation is a desired process in younger immigrant generations, a process which deteriorates their diet and jeopardizes future health, and a process which appears to be accelerating. Retention of culture of origin is desired by adult immigrants; however, given the changes in family dynamics, the rupture of social roles and social support associated with migration, as well as the fact that skills, knowledge and social norms from the country of origin are not passed down to younger generations, further exacerbate the effects of acculturation. Recommendations include community based participatory program development facilitating inter‐generational cultural skills and knowledge exchange, such as communal cooking classes and oral history projects exploring and validating the immigrant experience. These could facilitate amelioration of some of the challenges and health outcomes faced by immigrants and their families. Support or Funding Information This project was supported by a grant from the Doctoral Student Research Grant program at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.