The Limits of the Lunchbox Moment
Not all children of immigrants grew up embarrassed about their food, but pop culture convinced them they should be
“Booger-gi” is what the kids call Justin’s bulgogi in
The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig, a picture book published in 2013. Justin is new, and when the other kids make fun of his food and his chopsticks, Brian, a shy, lonely white boy who longs to be included by his classmates, decides to leave him a note, telling him
he isn’t like those kids; he’d love to try bulgogi. Justin, whose food has not kept him from making other friends in the class, starts including Brian in activities based on this act of kindness, and all ends well, all because Brian said he’d be willing to eat bulgogi, objectively an incredibly flavorful and popular meal.