My name is Catalina Martinez and I live in Harlem, NY. Throughout last year, I worked as a brand ambassador for the rising non-profit organization Cultured Kids Cuisine. Mia Kotikovski, a class of 2020 graduate, founded Cultured Kids shortly after her departure from Brooklyn Tech. She aimed to create Cultured Kids, a woman-led and dominated organization which encouraged female initiative and connection building, while also cultivating cultural awareness in young children through recipe learning.
My experience at Cultured Kids Cuisine was an enjoyable one; despite the COVID-19 pandemic I got to confer with many girls my age, from numerous ethnic backgrounds, on how important it is to foster multicultural food education within younger children. My interest in the internship was sparked by my wanting to provide exposure for Latino-American culture in spaces that are lacking in representation. Entering academic areas and discussing culinary diversity and food resilience is important to me as a Latino who grew up with a strong Caribbean influence in Harlem, Manhattan.
Addressing food resilience in Puerto Rico was a major concern of many islanders during Hurricane Maria in 2017. During this time, Puerto Rico was struggling with food insecurity as almost half of its population was living below the poverty line. After Hurricane Maria, the majority of agricultural lands which produced food on the island were destroyed, and many organizations were created to support farmers’ agricultural methods in case of future disasters. In the following years, many diaspora Puerto-Ricans became involved in the islands’ current events, and strengthened their connection to their culture as a retaliatory reaction to the lack of government involvement and aid after Maria. Like many others, it was around this time that I developed prominent cultural pride and advocacy for my country, and wanted to involve myself in educational food-related programs.
Growing up in Harlem, culturally diverse aspects in clothing, music, food, and more were always prevalent throughout my childhood. Since Harlem is an African American, Caribbean, and Hispanic Latino dominated area, it has always been a place of familiarity and comfort for me, as Puerto Rico is a Caribbean country with West African roots. While Harlem is a hub of information that I am well versed in, the bounds of it’s cultural reach end in places that consist predominantly of non-black and hispanic ethnicities. Being raised knowing my culture was foreign to those outside of my ethnic group kindled motivation to get recognition through programs such as this one. I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to not only share my experience culinary educational programs but to also be taught by others on food resilience in their respective countries.
