Geographical Origins and Ecological Place: Kimchi
Basics:
1,200 word minimum (*Not including Works Cited page)
1” margins, Double-spaced, Times New Roman Font, 12-pt
Cite at least three credible outside sources to support your analysis
Employ MLA Citation Style (Links to an external site.) with Works Cited page
Format as a Word File (.doc, .docx) or as a PDF (.pdf)
Submit via the Assignments tool in Canvas
Evaluation: comprises 20% of your overall grade
Late work: late work will be docked a whole letter grade (10 points) per 24 hours late without previous arrangement for extension
Description:
This essay assignment asks that you research and analyze a specific food commodity to demystify the social relations that condition its production, circulation, and consumption. You must make an argument as to what more general food justice issue(s) your analysis of this specific food item has revealed. Avocados, sugar, potatoes, corn, bananas, pork, soy, and milk are just a few examples of commodified foods you may choose to examine in-depth.
In the course of providing an “anatomy” of this commodified food, consider the following issues (as applicable):
The geographical origins and ecological place of this food item
The histories and environmental conditions of its cultivation
The labor conditions and economic relations that support its production and circulation
The benefactors involved in its retail and distribution
The messaging of its marketing
The politics of its access among different consumer populations
The disparate health impacts of its consumption
The dynamics of its disposal
Please note that this analytic essay assignment contains a research component: you must research a food commodity you wish to examine and cite at least three scholarly sources while making your argument. Your essay must have a clear thesis articulated in the opening paragraphs, and the body of your analysis must present evidence supporting the conclusions at which you will arrive. You may cite course materials as well as outside scholarship or journalism investigating the food commodity you have selected. Your thesis, however, must build upon that outside scholarship with your own original argument: you may not simply summarize or reiterate someone else’s conclusions.
Evaluation Rubric
Thesis, Argument (20 points)
FULL CREDIT: The thesis is clearly introduced in the opening paragraphs and reiterated throughout the essay. The thesis directly addresses the prompt by demystifying a significant food politics issue at stake in the production, consumption, and consequences of a particular food commodity’s production. The thesis is original, debatable, manageable, clear, founded in textual analysis, and significant in wider cultural terms. The essays title obviously relates to the thesis and/or central argument.
Evidence, Analysis (20 points)
FULL CREDIT: The argument is consistently supported with strong and well-selected textual evidence. The analysis explores the production and consumption of a specific food commodity from multiple vantage points. Key concepts are defined, specified, and employed with precision. Each paragraph contains one or more direct quotations from relevant sources that the author introduces and explains. The analysis explains the relevance of outside material to your overall thesis, effectively “unpacking” the issue for the audience.
Organization (20 points)
FULL CREDIT: The essay is well-organized around a clear and logical progression of ideas that build a coherent and significant argument. The introduction is engaging, “hooking” the reader, while laying out a clear plan for analysis. Each paragraph contains a clear topic -sentence and there are effective transitions between paragraphs. the conclusion reiterates the thesis claim while gesturing towards larger social, economic, political, and/or ethical implications of your argument (addressing the “so what?” question).
Quality of Writing (20 points)
FULL CREDIT: The writing is clear, formal, and concise without contractions or colloquialisms. Diction and sentence structure are effective and varied. Writing flows. Authorial voice is analytical and consistent. The prose uses constructions such as parallelisms and subordinations that communicate the relationship between ideas. Technical issues (typographical errors and grammar issues) are absent or very minimal.
Quality of Research (20 points)
FULL CREDIT: The author effectively cites at least three reputable outside sources in the course of analysis. The secondary sources are well-selected, well-founded, and do not overwhelm the author’s own voice and analysis, which remains original and significant. The author correctly employs MLA in-text citation practices and includes a complete and correct “Works Cited” page.
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Kimchi
Introduction
Cabbage is one of the commodified foods in the market nowadays. Because of its many varieties, cabbages have been used in different types of dishes. As many commodified foods are being made into value-added products nowadays, it is important to examine these products. Kimchi is a traditional fermented food considered a staple in Korea and is made of oriental cabbages (Cheigh et al. 175). “The process of making kimchi involves brining (salting) the vegetables to draw out the water, which helps in preservation and allows the seasonings to penetrate the food over time; the final salt concentration ranges from 2-5%.” (Understanding and Making Kimchi 1). It is fermented along with other ingredients like salt, garlic, ginger, red pepper powder, cabbage (or other main vegetables), onions, fish sauce, and water. The production of kimchi is facilitated by lactic acid bacteria, which grow during the fermentation process (Park et al. 6). Because many people have found kimchi to be tasty and have many nutritional values, more and more people consider consuming kimchi more often, sometimes adopting it as a staple in their diets as well, and sometimes as a source of variation in their diets.
Histories
In an interview conducted by BBC Travel with two-Michelin-starred chef Jungsik, the chef has stated that “Kimchi is a traditional Korean dish that originated over 3,000 years ago. The tradition of making kimchi started as a way to ferment and store vegetables during the cold winter when many Koreans died of starvation. It is the most ubiquitous side dish on a table every day [and] a long-standing cultural heritage of Korea. I hope our culture no longer becomes distorted” (BBC Travel). With this, the chef has highlighted the origins and reason behind making kimchi from the traditional lens.
Geographical Origins and Ecological Place
While some people assert that kimchi originated from other fermented food such as the Chinese paochai, the Japanese tsukemono, and the German sauerkraut, the production of kimchi has its own unique technique. Because of the lack of specificity of historical documents regarding the exact origins of kimchi, the exact location cannot be specified. It is just generally regarded as being from South Korea and was adopted by many families in Korea during winter times (Jang et al. ).
Environmental Conditions of Cultivation
The cultivation of kimchi is mainly focused on the cultivation of its major ingredient, the cabbage. The napa cabbage is usually cultivated in “land with acidic to neutral soil, which is organically rich loamy or sandy soil” (Iannotti).
Labor Conditions and Economic Relations that Support its Production and Circulation
Since kimchi is traditionally made by hand, and since tradition plays a big role in Korean culture, the involvement of people as labor forces for producing various levels of production from small to large scales is still prominent in Korea, despite some changes in the way kimchi is handled. Because kimchi is a staple, and it is being exported worldwide due to its growing popularity, the production of kimchi continues to grow as well because of the large value placed by people for authenticity.
Benefactors Involved in Retail and Distribution
The growing market for kimchi and other Korean staple foods has increased the number and types of benefactors involved in retail and distribution. Many importers of Korean merchandise also import food like kimchi, fermented radishes, and seaweed. According to Jobst (online), “Kimchi manufacturers stated that 27.3 percent of their kimchi products were sold to food services. It was followed by agencies and direct sales offices.” Therefore, stakeholders are diversifying as well.
Messaging of Marketing
The globalization of kimchi has indeed encouraged its commodification in the market. Despite being consumed as a staple food in Korea, the popularity of kimchi has increased over time, especially in current times when Korean fads are being brought by Korean personalities like singers, actresses, actors, and many other entertainers. In the U.S. and other countries like the Philippines, there is an apparent growing Korean food craze among different types of people from different walks of life. Many have attributed these shifts in food consumption behavior to the rise of Korean drama series, where many people aspire to live the same way as their Korean actor idols, hence increasing the popularity of Korean cuisine (Bae, online). The rise of the popularity of Korean barbeque grill restaurants has reinforced the growing craze for kimchi worldwide as well.
Many entertainment personalities often also promote specific brands on their social media. For example, Jin Yinji, a famous Korean actress, developed her own brand of kimchi, Gold Kimchi, which appealed to the masses by using its quality and unconventional but attrac...