Gwinnett County in suburban Atlanta exemplifies how the American menu is getting longer and broader, says USA Today. Seventy percent of lodging and food-related businesses in the county are minority-owned. “In an area that used to be marked mainly by mom-and-pop restaurants selling variations of the classic Southern “meat and three,” Mexican restaurants sit near Korean BBQ places like Honey Pig, which offers kimchi and bulgogi, a seasoned sliced steak. At the Southern fusion grill Local Republic, burgers are served with an international twist,” says the newspaper, along with restaurants that serve Italian, Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Indian and Ethiopian foods.
College professor Lisa Heldke tells USA Today the relationship between food and identity is important but rarely is treated as importantly as other cultural hallmarks, such as literature. Food is a way to learn about other cultures, she tells the newspaper, which quotes her as saying, “Food is a wonderful vehicle for a conversation to happen.”