The “Ethnic” Aisle in Supermarkets is Indicative of a Larger Problem in the United States

Picture yourself walking around a grocery store. You walk through the produce aisle filled with fruits and veggies from around the world, then move onto flours and baking products, most of which are also sourced globally. The cookie aisle and the frozen food section aren’t any different. Then you hit the ethnic aisle. Things begin to feel strange. The rest of the store was also multi-cultural, just in a different way – a more “white” way. 

Restricting Small Businesses 

Priya Krishna is the author of “Why Do American Grocery Stores Still Have an Ethnic Aisle?”, which was published in the New York Times. She discussed how small businesses selling foods like premade curries and tiger nut flour aren’t given the same opportunity to shelve their products in grocery stores. Instead, they are confined to the ethnic aisle.

Part of this has to do with how difficult it is to define what her product is in an American grocery store. However, it’s not everything. Larger companies that aren’t owned by minorities selling identical products get to shelve their products outside the restraints of the ethnic aisle. 

Isolating International Americans 

The American nonwhite population is growing. The youngest generation of Americans is now more non-white than ever before. In 25 years, the non-Hispanic white population in the United States is predicted to become a minority. 

With that in mind, why should food from their cultures be shoved into a tiny corner of the grocery store instead of being put where they belong (flours in the flour aisle, crackers in the cracker aisle, etc.)? 

The ethnic aisles are racially and culturally isolating. They suggest to customers that these foods aren’t for everyone. Founder and executive chef Cuong Pham of Red Boat, says the aisle “limits perceptions of the ingredient’s uses.”

It also forces Americans to read the word “ethnic” every time they go to get a condiment or an ingredient for a recipe. While ethnic isn’t an offensive word, it highlights what American grocery stores consider exotic or different. The United States is inherently international. It’s made up of practically every race and culture under the sun, yet we still reduce their food to a single aisle instead of spreading out and normalizing the sweet chutneys, spicy harissa, and tangy kimchi many Americans enjoy regularly. 

We Don’t Have a Vegan Aisle Anymore, So Why Do We Need an Ethnic Aisle? 

The fight for cultural equality and the push for more Americans to eat plant-based is very different. However, we may be able to learn a little from how vegan products have made their way throughout all of the grocery store shelves around the country. 

Soy yogurt is shelved near dairy yogurts. Customers can buy vegan cookies next to cookies made with milk and eggs. While vegan alternatives are slightly different from traditional yogurts, milk, and cakes, they are still foods from the same category. This mesh of vegan and non-vegan food encourages shoppers to try alternatives because it normalizes the products. 

Food is a great way to bond and learn about different cultures. While the ethnic aisle may have originally been created to showcase other cultures, it’s hindering the small businesses today more than helping them.

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