We need to think very seriously about how we level an accusation like "cultural appropriation."
It is a legitimate concern if the cultural element in question has a negative consequence or cost of some kind.
By that I mean it has been glaringly recontextualised, trivialised, mocked and/or -- probably most importantly -- leveraged to make a profit to benefit someone not of that culture.
To be clear, cooking and appreciating food from a different culture does *not* qualify as appropriation.
@sumpnlikefaith Cultural appropriation is real, and so is cultural syncretism. I'm glad people are learning to be more careful of the appropriation, but I'm afraid we may be forgetting about syncretism.
@weirdfizz What do you mean by cultural syncretism?
@sumpnlikefaith That's when things from different cultures just naturally blend together. Not because of appropriation, but just the result of sharing, being neighbors, and adapting what's new for you to what you're already familiar with.
@weirdfizz Oh, your point is that we should be aware that this is a natural thing that happens when cultures are in proximity, right?
@sumpnlikefaith Yes. I absolutely believe apropriation does harm and we should be careful, but as you pointed out about food, not everything that crosses the cultural lines is being apropriated.