Student, Dietitian Reactions to Multicultural Food Service in Hannam School District

Abstract

Student and dietitian reactions to a multicultural food service menu were studied. Food habits in a multicultural family could delay the acculturation of the children to traditional Korean food and could cause the isolation of children from the community. Also, Korean students need to be exposed to other cultures and foods because it can be a challenge to eat novel foods when students grow up. To help both multicultural and Korean children adjust to new foods, a multicultural menu was included in a school's food service. Students regarded the multicultural menu as access to another culture, but they felt that improvement of the food quality and menu diversity were required. The degree of satisfaction with the food quality, appearance, freshness, temperature, and menu diversity were all moderate. The multicultural menu was served as a single menu item or a combination menu item. The main dish single items - pasta, jajangmyeon, onigiri, hamburgers, rice and curry, kaupatmu, kaupatkung, and donburi - were liked, but nasi goreng was liked only moderately. The soup - based dish single item, tempura soba, was liked, while tomyum was disliked. The side dish single items - tangsuyook, Japanese donkatsu, baked sausage and potatoes, tandoori chicken, chicken britto, Vienna schnitzels, tender tortillas, and fried chicken wings - were liked. The desserts single items-sandwiches, pineapples, waffles, pizza, bread with strawberry jam, mangoes, and tacoyaki - were liked. The combination menus - Italian, Indian, and American - were liked, but the southeast Asian menu was the least favored. Acceptance of combination and single menu items were similar. Male students liked multicultural menu items more than female students in all categories. Approximately 60% of dietitians had experience serving the single menu items for multicultural food service. The appropriate serving times were twice per month. Dietitians guessed that 80% of the students liked the multicultural menu. The dietitians preferred serving American or Chinese foods to southeast Asian food. There were two difficulties in serving the multicultural menu, which were voiced as as lack of skill in cooking the items and improper cooking utensils and tableware for the items. Despite all the difficulties, the dietitians served the multicultural menu because it provided menu diversity, rather than for educational reasons.