[Sonja Mason-Briscoe]

            I really enjoyed the summer experience more so because of the speakers that were brought into each seminar. Each presenter brought in such rich experiences and research to give us all a different outlook on what Asian cuisine really is.  As a chef and culinary arts teacher, I felt I had a grasp on East Asian cuisine.  However, since I have not traveled to these regions, I began to feel that my textbook experience was limited.  These speakers presented new ideas, concepts, and thoughts on Asian foods based on regions, cultural practices, world limitations, and of course politics.

            This was the first time I even looked at the limitations of exportations on how this has truly affected Asian cuisine locally, nationally, and globally.  Our students don't comprehend the magnitude of all of this and I as an educator want to introduce these factors.  As my students try to mimic authentic recipes, they will need to realize that many of the ingredients available from modern China may not reach here in the U.S. due to the pandemic, politics, and lack of resources. As China has had to alter their horticultural practices, export and import has all been impacted on a great level.

            So now I will need to teach my students the difference between the old Chinese recipes and customs for cooking verses the Modern China factors and what is available to us. Nevertheless, I am still excited to present with as much authenticity as possible the cooking methods and traditions of China. Overall, I want my students to dig deeper than their prior knowledge of Chinese cuisine to include a richer understanding.

            I am very grateful for the seminars, the presenters, and the plethora of resources that were presented. I will use all of this especially in my International Cuisine courses. It is definitely crucial that our high school students understand food on a global, political, and financial level if they are going to be successful in the food industry.

 

[Sonja Mason-Briscoe]

China's Safety Requirements Pose Challenge for Food Exporters really caught my attention.  Page 3 "China does not reveal the total number of imported food shipments nor the number of

inspections conducted, so there is no information to determine whether changes in the number

of refusals reflect changes in the number of shipments or frequency of inspections." I believe without that data we can't conclusively determine if the requirements are the real cause of delays in food exportation. Considering what's going on now, I  am more inclined to think delays are due to lack of labor for production and inspection which means time-temperature abuse, lack of training, and chemical contamination to rush and enlarge growth for higher profits. I don't see where the Chinese government are going to be able to get a grip on regulating food safety with their greed and willingness to look the other way and not invest in a better system to oversee small and large farms practices. 

[Sonja Mason-Briscoe]

I teach Culinary Arts at Dorsey High School in Los Angeles.  I was born and raised in Los Angeles and I love my city for the melting pot that it is. I enjoy learning about other cultures through food. The only place in Asia I have traveled to thus far is Fiji. I look forward to this pandemic being over so that I can travel to more places. The hardest part in teaching during the pandemic was looking at a screen of names and not knowing if my students were engaged or not during my demos. 

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