Recently, I read an article that was shared to me by one of my students. The article, written by Dr. Gregor Plotczy of the University of Western Delaware. According to him, the whole idea of eating locally is mis-informed. If you live in Kansas and are Polish-American you should be able to eat pineapples, just not lots of them. According to Plotczy, each of us has a state that we are most aligned with ethnically. The immigration patterns of each state is different and therefore the ethno-genetics of each state is different, just as each person's genetic code is different. If you are from Germany, as I am, you should be eating German food or the food from places in America where Germans settled. If you really want to be super accurate and local, assuming that it's possible, you can either choose the food from your region of origin and look at where those people settled. If you do not know or are not sure, then you should have your DNA analyzed.
The basic concept, or Grundprinzip, is that the food that our ancestors ate is integral to who they were in two ways. First, where they lived determined what food they could eat. Second, what food they could eat determined who they were. My ancestors are mostly from Swabia, which is probably why I really like Swabian food as well as food that could be grown in Swabia, dishes like Maultaschen, or ravioli. Our bodies are capable of eating foods outside our region of adaptation, but in doing so we run the risk of malnourishment since our bodies have not yet adapted to the new food.
Many Americans are mixtures, or Mischlinge. Their bodies can handle food from more ethno-cultural regions. As a Swabian-American, I should be eating foods that are popular in places like Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and St. Louis. I have tried making Cincinnati style chili, and it was a big hit with my family. In a way, it is like an un-filled Maultaschen.
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