NOTE: If you are short on time, watch the video and complete this See, Think, Wonder activity: What did you notice? What did the story make you think about? What would you want to learn more about?

SUMMARY

Food is a tangible and accessible way to understand and connect with different societies. One chef has led the movement to bring traditional food from her home country of Laos to diners across the United States.

View the transcript of the story.

News alternative: Check out recent segments from the NewsHour, and choose the story you’re most interested in watching. You can make a Google doc copy of discussion questions that work for any of the stories here.

WARM-UP QUESTIONS

1. Why were people fleeing Laos in the years after 1975?
2. Where did Chef Seng Luangarth learn to cook?
3. When did Luangarth become a professional chef?
4. How did Chef Seng help make Lao food more popular in the United States?
5. Why is Chef Seng known as the godmother of the Lao food movement?

FOCUS QUESTIONS

1. Why do you think that Lao Americans like Brittney Sooksengdao say they get emotional seeing non-Lao people eating Lao food?
2. What can you learn about a culture through its food? Using this story as an example, think about the history behind Chef Seng's journey to becoming a chef in the United States.

Media literacy: Look for a local restaurant in your community that features a country's cuisine you've never tried before. How can you find out more about that country's culture?

WHAT STUDENTS CAN DO

Learn more about Lao culture by watching the video below about an American women who helped resurrect an endangered Lao art form.

To learn more about the U.S. bombing of Laos and the Secret War, you can watch this Valley PBS original documentary, The Hmong and the Secret War.

Written by Gianfranco Beran and Vic Pasquantonio.

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