Pittsburgh restaurant serves cultural exchange through food

Conflict Kitchen presents food and events from countries the United States is in conflict with, changing focus every three to five months.

Currently featuring food from the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, a league of six indigenous nations in upstate New York, Conflict Kitchen uses the shared experience of meals to facilitate cultural exchange, learning and improved understanding between communities. Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the restaurant runs a catering service, education program and variety of events, performances and discussions related to the culture of the country of focus and its current conflict with the United States.

The current menu’s ingredients include heirloom white corn, venison and blueberries, and a variety of options for different diets, including gluten free and vegan dishes. Previous iterations of the restaurant served food from Afghanistan, North Korea, Venezuela, Iran, Cuba and Palestine.

Food is a powerful means of cultural exchange, understanding and integration, and projects around the world are working with immigrants and refugees to use their food and knowledge as a means of employment and community building. In New York City, refugees provide an ethnic cuisine delivery service, and in Paris a catering company hires migrant chefs to produce the best cuisine from their homelands. How else could learning exchange help provide new lives for people forced from their homeland?