CORE 301: Modes of InquiryFood and Class in Los Angeles

Spring 2018, Dates: May 14 - June 11 Office Hours: …and by appointmentemail: petitti@usc.edu

But when the suppers are planned / And the freeways are crammed / And the mountains erupt / And the valley is sucked into cracks in the earth / Will I finally be heard by you? —Neil Young, “L.A.” (1973)

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CORE 301: Modes of InquiryFood and Class in Los Angeles

I. Course Objectives

Investigate the complicated intersections of food and class—economic enclaves of enculturation—to see how people negotiate them throughout Los Angeles, especially in neighborhoods in proximity to USC (Boyle Heights, Alhambra, Monterey Park, Arcadia, Compton, and Watts)

Experience firsthand the financial benefits, consequences, and setbacks of food production and consumption within a city widely considered at the cutting edge of America’s obsessive food culture

Explore the economic effects of attempting to maintain an international food city in harmony with Los Angeles’ diverse, swelling urban population, by examining issues of immigration, capitalism, and globalism

Meet with various members of the local food community as well as international figures associated with the Los Angeles food scene in order to better comprehend the historical, ecological, and human toll—as well as the ramifications—of catering to countless palettes and income-levels

Understand how food connects communities and cultures throughout Los Angeles, and the ways it can divide

Witness how an array of individuals employ their culinary expertise to empower themselves, their families, their colleagues, and their communities

Unearth the hidden economies, political ramifications, and abundant culture associated with food in Los Angeles. Engage directly with growers, laborers, cooks, chefs, critics, and activists who are working to provide consumers with a richer, fuller picture of what it means for Los Angeles to cultivate an authentic and celebrated food scene

II. Course Description

From renowned Korean-Mexican fusion served from a truck (Kogi), to food the New York Times has praised as “highly Instagrammable” (Botanica), Los Angeles has stabilized from a renowned food scene to an international food mecca. In fact, the food scene in Los Angeles is so globally appealing that Jonathan Gold, the city’s most prominent food critic, has both won a Pulitzer Prize and been the subject of a feature-length, award-winning documentary. But, the A-list chefs, celebrity clientele, and famed or hidden gems of Los Angeles’ food scene only reveal half the story about how Los Angeles eats and why.

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CORE 301: Modes of InquiryFood and Class in Los Angeles

Undergirding the success stories connected to the thriving food scene in Los Angeles—the taco truck or strip-mall noodle shop that is boosted by a newspaper feature or television spot—major discrepancies abound: the global finance that masks exploitative business practices, the market research contrasted against the legislated food deserts, and the celebration of farm-to-table meals as food scarcity thrives. In other words, issues of food in Los Angeles often obfuscate issues of class. Who can eat where and what and why is itself a matter of class. Heightened visibility for the food scene in Los Angeles demands we take a closer look at how food is a conduit for class-based issues throughout Los Angeles.

During our Maymester, students will explore Los Angeles’ food scene in order to uncover the issues of class often hidden in plain sight. Students will read articles and literature, listen to podcasts and albums, watch films and television programs, and converse with an assortment of guest speakers in order to comprehensively track the current progression and stratification of Los Angeles’ food scene. Additionally, various in-class and on-site speakers will help students understand the particular issues inherent to every restaurant and neighborhood they visit, and to comprehend the efforts being made by those who wish to ethically sustain and celebrate the various cuisines of Los Angeles. Through research, writing, presentations, and food-preparation, students will discover that, though food has class-based limits, it can still be used as a tool for advancement, resolution, and empowerment. All students should walk away from our course with a clearer idea of how class imprints itself on every dish, chef, and consumer that make up Los Angeles’ brilliant, paradoxical food scene.

III. Weekly Agenda

Week 1:Los Angeles is home to approximately 4 million individuals—or, in Los Angeles County, over 10 million people. And then there’s the nearly 60,000 homeless persons largely clustered downtown. When you crunch the numbers of Los Angeles’ population, as the saying goes, it equates to a lot of mouths to feed. Naturally, the question becomes: how? Students will spend the first week of the semester reading about general class-based concerns regarding food, the history of food sustainability in Los Angeles—with an emphasis on the neighborhoods we are visiting in the following weeks—and how Los Angeles figures into what is sometimes dubbed “the global industrial food system.”

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CORE 301: Modes of InquiryFood and Class in Los Angeles

We will also read and explore the history of Los Angeles, which, invariably, reveals a history of class in Los Angeles too. Through readings, in-class discussions, Tumblr posts, video presentations, and guest speakers, students will finish our first week with a clearer understanding of the inherent concerns attached to feeding the enormous urban population of Los Angeles and the role class plays in who eats what, when, and why. Then, as a preliminary dive into our field research, we will visit two historic downtown locations being dramatically reconfigured specifically by issues of food and class during our first weekend.

Week 2:For the second week of our semester, students will mostly spend their time in East Los Angeles in order to explore the food scene and class-based issues attendant to the population in the area, particularly the local population. Through exploratory trips through Cesar Chavez Avenue and 1st Street, including stops at the Evergreen Cemetery and Mariachi Plaza, students will learn about the history and evolution of Mexican food in Los Angeles. Furthermore, students will examine how historical redlining practices transformed East Los Angeles into an enclave for Jewish, Russian, Japanese, and Mexican-American populations. Additionally, a variety of speakers will talk to students about food, class, and the culture of East Los Angeles.

Week 3: On the third week, students will again spend much of their time out of the classroom, this time in order to explore South Los Angeles. Students will discover how community activists in the neighborhoods south of USC have worked to integrate more green spaces and farmers markets into locales whose reputations have been marred by fear-mongering and violence. Additionally, students will explore thriving food neighborhoods previously identified as food deserts. Students will explore South Los Angeles, including a farm in Compton and the Watts Towers, in order to paint a fuller picture of the changing landscape south of campus. Guest speakers this week will include food scholars, local chefs, gardeners, and entrepreneurs doing their part to educate and update the food culture of South Los Angeles.

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CORE 301: Modes of InquiryFood and Class in Los Angeles

Week 4: The fourth and final week of the semester will focus on the most recent, and in many ways the trickiest, area of Los Angeles grappling with issues of food and class: the San Gabriel Valley. Once again, students will spend the majority of the week outside of the classroom in the neighborhoods Northeast of campus (Monterey Park, Alhambra, and Arcadia). In order to examine tensions between the working-class Chinese-American population who long-settled the SGV and the new class of Chinese immigrants (in particular the especially wealthy) moving in and bringing in a variety of food and class-based intrigue, students will visit a variety of locations where issues of class and food are spotlighted—perhaps no better than the Santa Anita Mall. Helping us navigate the issues of class as it relates to the ever-shifting and swelling food scene of the San Gabriel Valley will be several speakers and critics familiar with the long history of the area’s food scene. Finally, students will conclude the week and our semester with an in-class potluck, where each student will be responsible for providing both “soup and a sermon.”

IV. Assignments

Attendance and Class Discussion (15%)Attendance at each session is mandatory, as our weeks will be jam-packed with activities. This Maymester aims to be fun—and, I expect we’ll find, that impulse is not often at odds with the seriousness of the subject matter. Regardless, the class will also involve many hours in transit, as well as plenty of walking and, of course, a decent amount of eating. Class discussions will be focused on our readings, course content, presentations, and the myriad questions that arise from our trips and encounters and discussions with speakers and local populations. It will be a robust four weeks. As such, this portion of a student’s grade will be determined by a combination of attendance and participation in discussions and field trips. Attendance throughout the Maymester is mandatory. Except in cases of serious illness, attendance for the entirety of the Maymester is expected; remember, we are condensing an entire semester in four weeks, so every class day is essential.

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CORE 301: Modes of InquiryFood and Class in Los Angeles

Field Research Tumblr (25%)Throughout the semester, students will travel to various neighborhoods of Los Angeles, meeting and talking with people from or familiar with the areas, witnessing various aspects of food production and consumption, and eating an assortment of food. Therefore, I would like each student to anticipate bringing along one or more devices to capture and note what they encounter; a smartphone is a fine device for a portion of the assignment, but a pad and pen work just as well (and both are perhaps ideal). After each designated field trip—not our various meet-ups or excursions (see the weekly schedule for the dates)—each student is expected to upload (within 24 hours of the trip) a post about our field trip on the course Tumblr that provides a brief analysis of some aspect of our visit (300 words). If you have captured images on your smartphone, which is recommended, attach those to your post with captions. Students cannot possibly, nor should try to, write about everyone they meet or every observation they make, so part of what I’ll evaluate for these Tumblr posts will how well you can assess and edit your evidence. The expectations for these posts are interpretive, but each post should also analytically address some objectively notable element of each trip. Students should avoid value-judgments (things being “good” or “bad”) and diarist tendencies (“I went here” or “I ate this”). Students could, for example, write about how a proprietor’s background directly connects to their commitment to their restaurant in East Los Angeles, and what that might mean for patrons/the community. Or, a student could comment on the practicality or necessity of sidewalk gardens in South Los Angeles. (We will discuss the ethics of taking photos and quoting individuals—the basics of field research—during our first week.) I would challenge each student to focus on a different aspect for each field trip by keeping in mind issues of audience. Ask yourself: what do people want to see and read about and why? Is this too similar to what I wrote previously? How might I convey my observations in a way that’s illuminating and entertaining? And so on.

Presentation (25%)At some point during the semester, each student will present (for 10 minutes) on one of the issues of food and class we are examining in this class. Further directions, and sign-up times, will be provided during the first week. Research Paper/Potluck (35%) The major two assignments for this Maymester are conjoined and require each student to investigate a particular aspect of the

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CORE 301: Modes of InquiryFood and Class in Los Angeles

intersection of food and class in Los Angeles, and then to consider it personally. I will meet individually with students during the first week of the semester, once some preliminary historical and critical groundwork has been provided, to help students choose a topic for the research paper, as well as a dish for the potluck. The research papers should be 6-8 pages long, and they must include a Works Cited page. All papers will be due by Sunday, June 10th. The potluck will be held during our final class session on Friday, June 8, and further details can be found on that day in the calendar.

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