Article Response: Immigrant Identities, Preserved in Vinegar by Jane Ziegelman - Essay Example

The pickle became popular due to its cheap price. Pickles were also considered by charity and health workers to be a stimulant like coffee, whiskey, and tobacco. Children from poor families always had a strange fascination with pickles. Efforts were then made to transform immigrant food into American food.

This began with the separation of children from their pickles. Cooking classes were established to teach immigrants about the American way of cooking and homemakers were trained how to make simple American food including chowders and pies. In 1919 and 1920, New York City’s Board of Education started to feed immigrant children with American food in place of pickles. Pickles had not ceased by the mid-1920s, so quotas were issued to stop immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe. However, the pickle did not stop; Americans started to use it as diet reforms declined, and nowadays pickles are enjoyed as normal food.

This story shows that one can eat any kind of food and speak any language and still be an American. Therefore, what makes an American an American is citizenship and not food or culture. Immigrants can be assimilated to become American without necessarily forcing them to abandon their culture and food. American society is made up of diverse communities with different cultures and behaviors, but those differences never make them less or more American than others. In my case, I eat pickles.

The introduction of pickles to the United States is a thrilling story that may make some people who are radical to the American culture hate pickles. However, I think that the story just indicates how society accepts diversity in the form of cultural values and ways of life. I can eat food from any community as long as they do not have any negative health effects. Pickles have been eaten for a long time and they do not show any unhealthy effects. The story by Ziegleman tends to show an acceptance of pickles by Americans after a short time of struggle to eradicate it.

Another type of food that is considered “Un-American” at some point is hamburgers. This was introduced during industrialization as a fast food because people were busy during industrialization and did not have enough time to prepare food that take long. Due to that convenience, Americans accepted Hamburgers. In a similar case, Pickles has been accepted due to its convenience and it is important as part of American food.