If you asked me why we're called Reclamation Foods…
I'd say it's because we're about Reclaiming our cultural wisdom through food, reclaiming the overlooked parts of the animal harvest (fun fact: almost half of a cow is considered "inedible" in the US), and ultimately Reclaiming our health (because these happen to be some of the most nutritious foods available to us).
But if you asked me on a deeper level...
I would say it's because we're about:
On a personal level, this endeavor has been about Reclaiming pride in my heritage. Having grown up in predominantly white spaces, I was ashamed of my Korean culture from a very young age. So I tried to distance myself from and abandon that identity. I know I’m not alone and that this is an all-too-common first- and second-generation experience.
One of the few Korean things I quietly held onto throughout my childhood, along with OG K-pop (I'm talking H.O.T., not BLACKPINK), was food. While Korean food (along with almost everything Korean, it seems) has really been having a moment the past decade or so, that was not the case in the 90's and early 2000's. Back then, Kimchi was decidedly not cool!
Like many first- and second-generation kids, I had a mildly traumatizing "lunchbox moment" in elementary school. My mom would pack me lovingly made lunch spreads like mandu (Korean dumplings), gogi-jeon (pan-fried egg-battered mini beef patties), a side of kimchi, and gomguk (beef bone broth) kept warm in a thermos.
For some reason, that thermos of soup caused me the most embarrassment. (Maybe that's why I'm starting this business with broth). I think it was the effort - it was painfully clear that my mom went to great lengths to feed me a good, homemade meal even when I was away from home. For whatever reason, I felt embarrassed by that, instead of proud and loved and supported.
Very quickly, I ended up trading in that nourishing, homemade goodness for Lunchables and PB&J. I would literally beg my mom on every trip to the grocery store to get Lunchables until she finally caved. Though I still secretly loved to eat my mom’s Korean cooking at home.
So, in part, the name Reclamation Foods is about Reclaiming this part of me that I tried to throw away. Reclaiming that soup! And Reclaiming the loving tradition of feeding people real food.
In another sense, Reclamation Foods is a love letter to all those who have kept the culture alive - moms, dads, chefs, home cooks, dinner party hosts - and to those of us, like me, who are trying to Reclaim that part of our soul.
Finally, while our first product is inspired by my own Korean heritage, we aim to eventually be much more than a broth company. Because every traditional culture has a way of using the entire harvest. And everyone deserves to feel like they belong.
My long-term hope is to create a platform for these culturally rooted foods and invite culture bearers to collaborate with us to develop products that fit our ethos of Reclaiming our cultural wisdom and maximizing every animal harvest. So we can all Reclaim our collective cultural wisdom.
But for now, it begins with better broth. By Reclamation Foods.
Shop our first release: shelf stable Korean-style broths.
See you in the kitchen,
Edlin Choi, Founder
🫰