“Food Culture from Near and Far: Stories of Identity and Belonging (A Welcoming Week Online Panel Discussion)” - a Welcoming Week conversation (2021 WW theme: “Belonging Begins With Us”) on Thursday, September 16, 2021; 7:00-8:15 pm

The Mortenson Center for International Library Programs (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library) and the UNESCO Center for Global Citizenship invite you to a virtual dialogue by Champaign-Urbana (CU) residents, who have made CU home and introduced their culinary knowledge and skills to the community. The dialogue will be based on food culture to understand the attitudes, beliefs and practices that surround the production and consumption of food. The focus will be on ethnic food culture which embodies our ethnicity and cultural heritage, shapes our identity, fosters a sense of belonging, and provides a medium for communicating and engaging both within and outside our families and communities. The session will begin with a panel discussion, then we welcome attendees to engage by asking questions, and sharing their association of food with their identity and sense of belonging.

Panelists:
Mubanga Chanda, Stango, Chef/Co-Owner of Stango Cuisine
Julianna Jung, Home Baker and 2020 winner of The Food Network Holiday Baking Championship
Jackie Aguilar, El Paraiso, Co-Owner of El Paraiso

Moderator:
Merin Oleschuk, Assistant Professor, Human Development and Family Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 

This is a Welcoming Week 2021 event of Champaign County:  https://universityymca.org/welcome/ww21/.  For more information, please see the Mortenson Center and Unesco Center for Global Citizenship Facebook pages