Celebrating Asian-American & Pacific Islander History Month – Catching up with Isabel Lu

Celebrating our shared history and the fabric of our cultural legacy is deeply rooted in the work we do at CEFS. For many food systems practitioners, farmers, and communities, culture, wellness, and agriculture are intertwined.

In celebration of Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Committee on Racial Equity in the Food System (CORE) Apprentice and Artist, Isabel Lu, shares her interdisciplinary journey in creating collaborative spaces with community – through food, art, and identity.

What do you hope to get out of the CORE apprenticeship?

I was really drawn to this apprenticeship – for one, it was this intersection between research, community-engaged food systems work, and art in an interesting way that I don’t think I’ve seen before. These are literally my passions and goals, interest, and career trajectory – so the opportunity was really amazing. I’m really interested in getting more connected with so many of the amazing food justice workers, practitioners, artists, and leaders In North Carolina and the South in general – understanding how they support communities and food systems, how we can support them, and how we can connect them all. I think there is a lot of “siloing” when it comes to food systems work but also when it comes to the nutrition field and also in art. I think there needs to be more support in terms of interdisciplinary work and making incredible, creative opportunities for people – those are my main interests. But more specifically, I’m interested in supporting curriculum development around nutrition in NC, sharing more about Asian American stories, and supporting BIPOC youth food activists.

How does your art and community work reflect your beliefs?

I came from a nutrition-research background that was very much clinical in a way – looking at how food supports your physical health in a very quantitative way. “How much vitamin C is in this orange?” and “How many grams of fiber are you getting?”; or “ How many miles do you live away from a grocery store?” – all of these things – when in reality, communities and people eat for very non-quantifiable reasons. It has to do with your community, your access, your cultural background, your mood that day, your preferences or your relationship with food, your gender or sexual identity – all of these things.

In the nutrition academic space – the standards are rooted and developed for and by elitist white men and women – their values and ways of understanding food and people just don’t mesh with who I am and who my community is. So for me, art has been a way to explore those ideas and tackle my own relationship with food. In the process of understanding those kinds of aspects of food and why we eat; I want to bring more stories of food that might not be in the mainstream conversation.

Right now I’m working on a mini series on soy and tofu because I’m a first generation Chinese-American and in East Asia, we eat a lot of soy and tofu. The conversation around soy in the West is very much either avoidance, scared, or just weird. Soy is often compared to dairy and is seen as an inferior substitute for dairy – in reality, soy can be healthy for you and part of a very sustainable and healthy diet. People don’t really understand it so they try to avoid it or get scared by it – but for me, soy has positive health benefits and it’s also a good tasting food. It has so much to do with history and why we eat it – so those are also conversations I want to look at.

In what common practices do you feel you are strengthening the community? What do you think we can do more of?

I think right now my biggest engagement with the community is through art. Which is really, really, cool because if you were to ask me a year ago – I really didn’t think I would be doing any of this – so I’m super excited about that. I think in terms of doing more, I definitely want to be more involved in food systems work happening here. I always felt self-conscious because I have a terrible green thumb – I literally looked at my mint plant one time and it just died (laughs). So, I don’t know if I want to subject a farm to that, but I definitely want to get involved with food systems work, especially BIPOC farmers around the area. I know there’s a huge community in the Triangle area and North Carolina in general. I would like to see how I could support – whether it be in art, policy advocacy, grant writing, or some of my other skills. I definitely cannot help with the actual day-to-day farming stuff so I want to be more involved in those areas with focus on supporting art and youth involvement in general.

From your perspective – why do you think initiatives like CORE are important?

I don’t think I’ve ever come across an organization like CORE that is talking about food systems work in a very interdisciplinary and inclusive way for a lot of people. Most of the time, I go to a few sources for food sovereignty and food justice work and it’s very much about food, land, and race.Then, I’ll go to other spaces that talk about art, identity, and community. After that, I’ll go to other spaces and talk about nutrition and all those things. CORE is very interesting in that it allows space to talk about all of that because it’s all important and it all relates to each other – which just makes sense.

The fact that CORE engages youth and is associated with NC State, which is an agricultural school – and it has all these connections to policy makers, researchers, farmers, and artists is truly amazing. Every time I attend an event or have a meeting with somebody – I learn something new, consider a new perspective, or am amazed by how much work is being done by so many really cool people. If I wasn’t a part of CORE, I would never have come across, or gotten connected to these people – it’s super special and I’m honored to be a part of it.

After working with agriculture and nutrition, are there any food myths you want to dispel?

We tend to demonize certain crops, foods, ingredients, and practices. In reality, the issue is not the item itself, but the practices and circumstances around them. Oftentimes, it’s caused and/or perpetuated by white and Western ideologies. Corn, soy, GMOs, ‘slash and burn’ are all examples of this.

How can we keep in contact with you and your work?

I post on my instagram(@iisabellu) pretty regularly about my art, the shows that I’m in, and events I’m doing. You can also check out my website (https://www.isabel-lu.com/) where I post all of my art, more information about my background, and my research as well. I can be reached by email or Direct Message (IG) – I’m always down to have conversation and connect with people. On the art front, my work is currently located in the CAM Museum and VAE Gallery in Raleigh, NC until September 2023 – both locations are downtown. I’m also frequently at Artspace, a non-profit visual arts center.