Immigration has been a hot topic and divisive issue in the U.S. for a number of years, with current federal policies pushing the issue further up the list of things we, as citizens, are most concerned about. For those that support immigration and immigrants themselves, “No immigrants, no food” has become a popular meme, and for good reason. Immigrants make up 50% of our nation’s agricultural workers, work in processing plants, work in the back of restaurants, and, surprisingly, account for 30% ownership of food carts operating in the U.S.(SMU Economic Growth Initiative). Without immigrants much of our agricultural production would simply rot in the fields without being picked and processed. On the other end of the food chain, without immigrant food businesses our culinary selections and breadth of cuisine choices would be greatly reduced.
FEED Kitchens is a living example of the effect of immigrant communities on our culinary choices. Because of immigrants working out of FEED, our region gets to enjoy a wide variety of foods that otherwise might not be available to our palettes. This summer there are cuisines coming out of FEED representing: Central America, the Caribbean, South America, the Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Mediterranean, Western Africa, and Northern Africa. Food trucks and pop-ups play to the strengths of many foreign-born entrepreneurs, since immigrants often have strong and deep culinary traditions from their origin country but lack the startup capital to open a bricks and mortar restaurant. With the option to use a shared kitchen/food business incubator like FEED Kitchens, a culturally authentic food business can be launched with lower upfront risk.
In reality, only a small handful of the 80+ business calling FEED Kitchens home are operated by indigenous vendors. This means that almost all businesses operating out of FEED are done so by folks with immigrant heritage. My own family immigrated from Germany in the 1860’s, settled in rural Dane County, and soon found their way to Madison to become skilled laborers in a growing City. It’s not that old, or that uncommon, of a story.
Small local food businesses are Main Street Businesses in our City – independent, localized commercial enterprises that define the character of our community. They bring diversity in culture and cuisine, they generate revenue that is circulated locally contributing to economic development, they create jobs, and they create the opportunity for families to generate income and a generational legacy that can be passed on to their children.
Immigrant-operated businesses deserve our admiration, but they’ll settle for our support.
