Category: Immigrant and Transnational Voices

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Category Description: Narratives define and defy human-drawn boundaries. Here are stories about culture, identity, belonging and estrangement, movement across/among borders, and the contexts in which these stories unfold. Starting and ending points are less important than the movements themselves.

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Sources

Cocina Libre Collective. Cocina Libre Immigrant Stories. https://cocinalibre.co/
Annotation: This website was compiled by the organization Cocina Libre Collective. It is a group based in Denver, Colorado, that provides training opportunities to immigrants and offers workshops and chef-curated dinners to the community. The website talks about the organization and upcoming events. They also have information about two cookbooks they have published that feature recipes and stories from immigrant chefs to highlight their culture and bring people together through food.
Positionality Statement: I am a Master’s student studying TESL/TEFL. Through the ESL classes that I teach, I come in contact with a lot of immigrants. Some of their favorite lessons are the ones that feature food, because food is such an important part of culture and identity. I found this website through research I was conducting for a project in a Politics of Literacy class I took. I am very interested in the ways this organization is helping immigrants’ voices be heard through their cooking and sharing their stories in cookbooks. It also stood out to me that they are based in Denver, because I live near Denver.
Contributor: Alauna Sutton (alauna.sutton@colostate.edu) contributed this source citation on May 13, 2026.
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Diaz, Christina J., and Ore, Peter D. Landscapes of appropriation and assimilation: the impact of immigrant-origin populations on U.S. cuisine. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 48, no. 5, 2022, 1152-1176. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2020.1811653
Annotation: This article explores the idea of assimilation, not only that immigrants will adopt practices from the culture to which they move, but also that the mainstream culture will be influenced by the immigrants. They consider this especially through the lens of food and ethnic restaurants. The article evaluates ethno-racial hierarchies through the “American mainstream”. As visible features of society, restaurants facilitate cultural and social exchanges. The authors of the article analyzed data about Asian and Hispanic restaurants in 3107 counties across the US. Their data showed, among other things, that historical immigration patterns influence the type of ethnic food that is available in certain regions of the US. According to the authors, theirs is the first study to test relational assimilation throughout the US.
Positionality Statement: I am a Master’s student studying TESL/TEFL. I found this article while researching food as a means for immigrants to share their voices for a project in a Politics of Literacy class that I took. Food is so deeply cultural and is an essential piece of the human experience. It is interesting to see how historical and modern immigration patterns affect the food preferences of the mainstream culture in a place.
Contributor: Alauna Sutton (alauna.sutton@colostate.edu) contributed this source citation on May 13, 2026.
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Prints, Ksenia. At the Immigrant’s Table. https://immigrantstable.com/
Annotation: This is a recipe blog written by a Russian immigrant to Canada. Her blog focuses on recipes from other countries, highlighting her experience as an immigrant.
Positionality Statement: I am a Master’s student studying TESL/TEFL. I did a project for my Politics of Literacy course about the role food plays in helping immigrants to share their voices, especially when they do not speak the language of the country they live in. This blog was important to that project, because it features recipes by an immigrant, displaying them in a way that gives millions of people easy access to her voice and culture.
Contributor: Alauna Sutton (alauna.sutton@colostate.edu) contributed this source citation on May 13, 2026.
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Upwardly Global. A Nation Built on Flavor: How Immigrant Food Shaped American Cuisine. https://www.upwardlyglobal.org/blog/a-nation-built-on-flavor/
Annotation: This blog post is found on the website of an organization that helps immigrants with workforce development. The blog post itself highlights 11 foods from spaghetti to sushi that were brought to the US by immigrants and now play a major role in American cuisine. It talks about the culture that is infused into these dishes and the history of where they came from.
Positionality Statement: I am a Master’s student studying TESL/TEFL. I did a project for my Politics of Literacy course about the role food plays in helping immigrants to share their voices, especially when they do not speak the language of the country they live in. This blog post shows the close tie that food has with culture, both the culture it comes from and the culture it was brought to.
Contributor: Alauna Sutton (alauna.sutton@colostate.edu) contributed this source citation on May 13, 2026.
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