A Tory MP has denounced an activist’s claim that teaching children not to eat with their hands is oozing the control and shame of colonization.
Ashfield, Nottinghamshire Conservative MP Lee Anderson said in a Facebook post on Monday that chef Joshna Maharaj’s claims were “more rubbish”.
Ms. Maharaj wrote an article last July entitled “Why the way we teach children table manners is actually racist”.
She says children should be taught to eat with both utensils and their hands and become familiar with different cuisines from an early age.
Mr Anderson shared a screenshot of the article and posted it on his Facebook page with the comment, “When in Rome. Different countries and cultures can have different types of food. Chopsticks, cutlery, fingers etc …
Ms. Maharaj wrote an article last July entitled “Why the way we teach children table manners is actually racist”
Ashfield, Nottinghamshire Conservative MP Lee Anderson said in a Facebook post on Monday that chef Joshna Maharaj’s claims were “more rubbish”
“I taught my children to use a knife and fork, not their fingers. I never thought of colonization once.
“In Great Britain it is good manners to work at the table with a knife and fork. More rubbish. ‘
Although Ms. Maharaj’s article was written for Today’s Parent magazine last year, it was recently shared again on social media with many seeing her comments in red.
The Toronto-based food writer and food activist shared how she believed people should reconsider traditional notions of good table manners.
And she said when she taught her friends to eat with their hands in public, she could see how happy it made her.
She said she was first taught to eat roti with her hands on the Indian flatbread before switching to rice, but her parents also taught her how to use a knife and fork.
Mr Anderson shared a screenshot of the article and posted it on his Facebook page
She said, “I recently spoke to someone who told me a story about their young niece who goes to a prestigious preschool and ate rice with her hands at lunchtime.
“The feedback from their parents was that this kid needed to work on their table manners and use real cutlery with their meals.
“When I heard this, I immediately felt anger rise within me.
“The message that eating with your hands is an unbridled way of eating is a real problem for me because it oozes control and shame of colonization, which is particularly dangerous in an educational context.
“The claim that a child who eats with their hands has no manners is an echo of the European colonial powers trying to tame the ferocity of the people they control.
“These European table manners were imposed on the conquered peoples in order to“ civilize ”them.
“It’s a damaging message about right and wrong doing.”
She continued, “Let me be clear here: I think teaching children how to behave at a table is crucial.
Although Ms. Maharaj’s article was written for Today’s Parent magazine last year, it was recently shared again on social media with many seeing her comments in red
“But I think we need to rethink what we teach and how we teach it. Recognizing the diversity of cultural backgrounds and nutritional traditions is essential *
“We shouldn’t teach children not to eat with their hands at all, or that eating with cutlery is a more refined or refined way of eating.
“Different people eat their food in different ways … The better news, I think, is that sometimes we eat with our hands and sometimes with cutlery.
Dozens of people responded to the article on social media.
Katie Badger said: “It is not considered indecent to eat with your fingers, it is the accepted way of eating oysters, chops, asparagus, etc., if it is reasonable to use your Indian bread to mop up in an Indian restaurant. ” all the nice sauce, in a chinese restaurant you try the chopsticks but they love to give you a spoon and fork and I’m not sure how you would enjoy your tom yom soup without a spoon.
Dozens of people responded to the article on social media
“In Italy a spoon and fork for your pasta dish, it is not rocket science that you use the best cutlery for work or your fingers.”
Marian Appleton said, “There is nothing colonial about using a knife and fork or a spoon.
“This is the way we eat our food, and it has been for centuries. As others have said here, whenever you eat Chinese or any other food from another country, use the appropriate utensils or whatever you like. It can be very unsanitary to use your fingers when they have not been washed. ‘
Mary Smithurst said, “I’m fed up with people looking for insult in anything!
“Racism is a very overused word. Racism, as I understand it, is the conscious act of singling out a person or group based on their ethnic characteristics, not how they eat their dinner!
“It’s just a matter of different manners. If you follow this argument, it is certainly racist to complain about the use of a knife and fork.
“There is racism against all groups, but if you are white and live in a western society, nobody cares that you are being discriminated against.”