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LESSON 1
MEXIPIN@ FOOD HISTORY: NARRATIVE FROM THE TEACHER

DESCRIPTION: THE PURPOSE OF THIS LESSON IS TO INTRODUCE STUDENTS TO THE

IMPORTANCE OF FOOD TRADITIONS OF MEXICAN/FILIPINA/O FAMILIES. THROUGH THE PRACTICE
OF ORAL HISTORY AND COUNTER-STORY TELLING, THE INSTRUCTOR WILL SHARE A PERSONAL
NARRATIVE OF HOW FOOD CONNECTS THEM TO THEIR ETHNIC HERITAGE AND HER/HISTORY.

GUIDING QUESTIONS: WHAT DOES FOOD MEAN TO YOU AND YOUR HER/HISTORY? WHAT DOES
FOOD SYMPOLIZE FOR YOU?

PURPOSE/AIM:
• STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO IDENTITY THE RELATIONSHIP OF FOOD AND THE
MEXICAN/FILIPINO EXPEREINCE THROUGH NOTE TAKING
• STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO SHARE ONE PERSONAL EXPEREINCE WITH FOOD WITH A
PEER
• STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO EXPRESS WHAT THEY WANT TO LEARN IN THIS UNIT
THROUGH WRITTEN REFLECTION AND DIALOGUE

MATERIALS:
Pens
Paper
Poster Paper
White Board
Dry Erase Markers
Colored Markers
Personal Narrative

PART 1: CULTURAL ENERGIZER

THE TEACHERS PERSONAL NARRATIVES

STEP DESCRIPTION: TIME

1 Students will be introduced to the new unit: Mexican/Filipino 7 minutes

(Mexipina/o) Food as: healing, her/history, and Identity. The
instructor will inform the students that they will be covering the
following topics: Mexican and Filipino Foods, Mexican and Filipino
Diet and Health, Stereotypes associated with Mexican and
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Filipino Food, Food as Resistance, and Food as part of

her/history and identity.

2 The instructor then will begin a personal narrative about their 7 minutes
relationship with food. (*Note the instructor must type out the
narrative and print it out for students to follow along)

Instruct students to highlight or underline anything that they

connect with through the narrative.

The instructor should then read their personal narrative, the

narrative is as follows:

“I remember going to my grandparent’s (Moms side of the family)

house when I was younger smelling freshly made pan dulce on
the kitchen table or the smell of tortillas being made about to be
eaten con arroz y frijoles. I remember the smell of pizole being
made by my grandma on cold afternoons. I’ll never forget family
barbeques at my grandparent’s house, chicken (always taking the
time to cook it) with arroz y frijoles and baked potatoes y bistec.
All of my family surrounded the backyard dining table eating our
food while listening to a Vicente Fernandez CD in the midst of
everyone talking together in Spanish, laughter in the air and
smiles on everyone’s faces. I also remember going to my other
grandparent’s (Dads side of the family) house—multicultural
household. I remember standing in the kitchen and watching my
grandma making pizole or enchiladas. Other days I’d watch my
grandpa make Filipino dishes like pancit. I always spoke English
at my grandparent’s house, my grandmother was fluent in
Spanish but didn’t speak it often, and my grandfather only knew
how to speak English because he never was taught tagalog. As a
child, growing up with a Mexican mother and a Mexican/Filipino
father was a unique experience, and at the time it was normal. I
lived and experienced both Mexican and Filipino culture but one
more so than the other. In my home I grew up eating tomales
during Christmas time, and woke up to the smell of menudo
cooking on the weekends. I also grew up eating arroz con leche
and waking up to the smell of pan dulce. And I had dinners eating
enchiladas con arroz y frijoles. Culturally I was brought up in a
predominantly Mexican household with parts of Filipino influence
from my dad’s side of the family on certain occasions. Food is
something that contributes to my identity, and has an impact on
how I see myself as a Mexican and Filipino person. The
connection of food Mexipina/o identity and experience is
important in relationship to maintaining a sense of ethnic pride in
both Mexican and Filipino cultures. My race and ethnic
background make up a lot how I identified myself through my life
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and having a strong connection to Mexican and Filipino food have

allowed me to culturally identify with my ethnic heritage”

3 Following the reading, students will Think, Pair, and Share. 10 minutes

Instruct students to:

- Think - about what they connected with in the personal
narrative
- Pair – with someone they normally don’t talk to
- Share – the connection they made with the personal
narrative

During the sharing portion, instructor students to talk one

personal at a time. Instruct students to choose person 1 and
person 2, allow person 1 to share for at least two minutes without
interruption, then switch and allow person 2 to share with out
interruption*.

*This allows students to fully express themselves and allow their

ideas to flow out without influence from another persons thoughts
or ideas.

PART 2: CRITICAL CONCEPTS

HER/HISTORY AND CULTURAL TIES OF MEXICO AND THE PHILIPPINES

STEP DESCRIPTION TIME

1 Following the Think, Pair, Share, the instructor will then explain 10 min
some of the historical background and relationships of the
Philippines and Mexico:

Key Points:
- Mexican and Filipino cultures have similar cultural histories
- Mexico and the Philippines were both colonized by Spain,
which leads in some aspects to the similarities in culture

2 The instructor may narrate the history in this way:

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“The cultural histories and linkages in Mexican and Filipino culture have
influenced how fluid both cultures are with each other. Both Mexico and
the Philippines were colonized by Spain, and to some degree share a
similar culture, for example, catholic religion and to some degree
similarities in language and food practices. Rudy Guevarra Jr. (2011)
writes that Mexicans and Filipinos also participated in a 250-year cultural
and human exchange during the Acapulco-Manila galleon trade that
flourished between 1565 and 1815. This coming together in a cultural
exchange of goods, language, food, and people had a lasting impact on
the histories of both Mexicans and Filipinos. This was the historical
connection that Mexicans and Filipinos came to share in the twentieth
century. Because both shared a Spanish colonial past, they often had
similar cultural practices. Both groups celebrate religious and community
fiestas and have strong ties to family, both immediate and extended.”

PART 3: COMMUNITY COLLABORATION AND CULTURAL PRODUCTION

WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN? REFLECTION AND DIALOGUE

STEP DESCRIPTION TIME

1 Class will end with an assessment of what the students would like 10 min
to know or learn for the next couple of lessons. (This will give them
an opportunities to gather their thoughts about what to expect for
the coming weeks)

The instructor will place six pieces of large pieces of construction

paper on the walls of the classroom. On each of these pieces of
paper, there will be one of the following questions written on it*

1. What do you hope to learn in this unit?

2. Is there anything that you wish to include to the topics we

will cover?

3. What do you know about Mexipino/Filipino food?

Students will then be given the last 10 minutes to circle around

class and write their answers to these questions.
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*There will be two pieces of construction paper that have the same
question. These pieces of paper will hang on the walls next to each
other.

PART 4: CONCLUSIVE DIALOGUE/CRITICAL CIRCULAR EXCHANGE

ASSESSMENT: HOW WILL THE STUDENTS BE ASSESSED?

Students will be assessed in three areas: note-taking quality, participation during Think, Pair,
Share, and overall feedback of what they would like to learn in this unit.

RESOURCES AND NOTES

RESOURCES
● GUEVARRA, JR. RUDY (2012) BECOMING MEXIPINO: MULTIETHNIC IDENTITIES AND
COMMUNITIES IN SAN DIEGO (LATINIDAD: TRANSNATIONAL CULTURES IN HE UNITED
STATES. RUTGERS UNIVESITY PRESS.