By: Robert Wei

America, a country with various cultures and diverse ethnicities, is a nation made up of immigrants. From the colonial ages to the 21st century, immigrants have filled up America’s population. As everywhere else in the world, one thing that people in America enjoy is food. There are even awards for food, and immigrants are dominating the number one spot and changed the way how America eats.

Immigrants have always won at least one James Beard award, but not as much as this year. The James Beard Foundation canceled its award ceremony in 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic as the obvious reason. But allegedly, there were also complaints about a lack of ethnic diversity among the award winners. When the awards resumed last year, they looked very different. “We’ve refocused on what is the purpose of these awards. It’s to award excellence. And excellence can look like anything, right?” said Dawn Padmore, the vice president of the James Beard Foundation. I believe that immigrants have been winning more awards because they haven’t gotten so many in the past few years. There have also been complaints of lack of diversity and the fact that America is an immigrant country, so more immigrants should be recognized to winning awards.

Many popular foods come from coastal cities and foodie destinations, but immigrant cooks and chefs thrive elsewhere too! This year’s award nominees also included Veronika Gerasimova, the owner and only employee at Veronika’s Pastry Shop in Billings, Montana. Veronika, originally from Uzbekistan, was born and raised there. However, upon moving to Billings in 1999, she came across difficulties in finding a bakery that crafted the Russian, Eastern European, and French pastries she loved. Afterward, in 2017, she boldly decided to quit her regular job and create her own pastry shop. This action ultimately led her to receive a prestigious culinary award. So, immigrants should get more recognition for their work because of their incredible journey and, of course, their skills and talents.

In conclusion, Americans get happiness from their culinary experiences, citing the chef winning prestigious food awards. Interestingly, immigrants have emerged as important figures, flocking to the United States to cook. This award-winning domination can be caused by various factors such as the relatively recent lack of recognition, concerns about limited diversity, and America’s cornerstone identity as a nation shaped by immigrants. In the outcome, there is an increasing awareness that more immigrant chefs should be recognized and appreciated for their excellent style of cooking culinary delights because they are still American citizens and have great cooking skills in the end.