I Eat; Therefore I Am: Constructing Identities Through Food

This autoethnography focuses on the role food played in my identity formation. In approaching this, the following thesis is divided into the three "meal times" where my personal narratives will function as entry points for a discussion on: how the ethnic food I ate created self-loathing problematizing a sense of belonging yet at the same time, was also capable of bonding a community, the beginnings of curiosity and an appetite for culinary adventure including an exploration of my food related practices, and finally how the gendered food identities of my father, mother, and grandmother contributed to my identity. By highlighting the impact of my food past on my sense of self, I provide insight into how it is sometimes the seemingly mundane, such as our food histories, which inform what we consume that largely define who we are, not only as individuals, but as a culture and society.M.A