AAPI History In Agriculture

Why Do Asian Immigrants Garden?

In addition to producing organically-sourced vegetables and fruits that are inexpensive compared to market prices, a garden is also a chronicle of culture. The crops grown within these gardens reflect the identities of their carers. Thus, seeds are tangible links between individuals and ancestors.

Food can be seen as a physical manifestation of this cultural memory that connects immigrants to their distant homeland, communities, and lineage. As newly arrived immigrants arrive in the U.S. with an overwhelming sense of obligation to assimilate, their dietary and cultural habitats often shift to adhere to the standards of the dominant culture. In order to combat complete assimilation, East and Southeast Asian immigrants, especially those that arrived in the West as war refugees, subconsciously indulge in gardening. The indulgence in this therapeutic activity therefore potentially serves as a buffer for their psychological and physical trauma from war.

Gardening then becomes a symbolic act of resistance against complete assimilation as it aids in maintaining group solidarity and reinforcing personal identity. This newly acquired activity allows individuals to regain control over an aspect of their changing lives, and eventually instills within them, a sense of cultural pride. Gardening, therefore, has the ability to transfer cultural identity and fulfillment onto subsequent generations.

Examining the relationship between food preparation and cultural connectedness can thus aid the understanding of the interactions between people and their changing environments. This eagerness to establish belonging and adapt is intrinsically linked to the preservation of identity.