It all started when I was in elementary school, in the second grade. During lunch, I used to always eat onigiri which my mom always made for lunch. Onigiri is a Japanese rice ball that you can add different ingredients to like furikake, salmon, and wakame. My mom always made it for lunch because it’s easy to make and I always used to enjoy it when I was home with her.

Onigiri is a dish that has deeply rooted itself into Japanese culture. I had actually had onigiri for the entirety of my childhood. It was memorable to my heart, but suddenly, inside of the elementary school cafeteria, I was getting made fun of, which made me ashamed. All I wanted was to fit in even more with everyone else. At the time, Lunchables were really popular. All across the cafeteria, these were these small factory packed cardboard lunches that got the responses of “Wow” or “Lucky!” So every time I went grocery shopping with my mom, I would beg her for Lunchables. I begged and pleaded every single time. Every so often she would say "yes," which always made me happy. It also gave me some power, because it made my classmates beg for some of my Lunchables and they would finally compliment my food.

After a while, I could tell that my mom was not okay with me eating such unhealthy food and she wanted me to eat more homemade food. Although they are really popular and convenient, Lunchables are highly processed in the meat and cheese. Americans tend to have a bad habit of creating highly processed, unhealthy, and artificial products for their kids to eat compared to other cultures. I argued with my mom and just said "that’s what everyone else is eating."

Eventually, I came to realize that no one should be ashamed of what they eat. In fact, it can actually hurt your elders and family members from your culture if you are ashamed of your roots. Everyone has a culture they should embrace, and that includes being proud of their own culture’s foods. We may not realize it at the time, but honoring our roots can be healthier for us in more ways than one. We shouldn’t conform to one behavior, one appearance, or one flavor. We’re all different, and that’s what makes us, us.

© Shayne. All rights reserved. If you are interested in quoting this story, contact the national team and we can put you in touch with the author’s teacher.