Telling Iowa’s Stories Through Food: Professor Jin Feng Awarded Mellon ASIANetwork Digital Storytelling Grant

Food has long been a place where culture, memory, and community meet—and in small towns across Iowa, Chinese American restaurants have played a quiet but powerful role in shaping local life. A new digital storytelling project led by Professor Jin Feng, Orville and Mary Patterson Routt Professor of Literature and Professor of Chinese and Japanese, will bring those stories to the forefront.

Feng has been awarded a $7,250 AAPI Voices and Stories Faculty Fellow grant from ASIANetwork for her project, “We Are What We Eat (and Serve): Chinese American Restaurants in Small-Town Iowa.” The project centers on rural Iowa communities—including Grinnell—and highlights the lived experiences, family histories, and civic contributions of Chinese American restaurateurs.

At the heart of the project is a partnership rooted right here in Grinnell. Feng will collaborate with Tracy Chen, co-owner of Chuong Garden and spouse to Charlie Chuong, chef and co-owner, and other members of the Chuong family who operate additional Chuong Garden locations in other small Iowa towns. Through interviews, archival research, and community-based storytelling, the project will explore and document how these restaurants have become gathering places—sites of connection, entrepreneurship, and cultural exchange in rural communities.

“This work is about honoring everyday civic presence,” Feng said. “Chinese American restaurants are often among the longest-standing businesses in small towns. They serve food, yes—but they also serve community.”

The project builds on Feng’s longstanding research into the history of Chinese experience in Iowa, including her work on Sing Bo Moy ’1891, Grinnell College’s first Chinese American alumnus. By connecting historical narratives to contemporary voices, Feng’s work bridges past and present while centering stories that are often overlooked in rural histories.

With support from a Vivero Fellow, Feng will transform this research into digital storytelling resources that can be used both on and beyond campus. The project will be incorporated into her Fall 2026 tutorial, Chinese Food for Thought, giving first-year students a taste of community-engaged scholarship and public humanities work.

The Mellon ASIANetwork AAPI Voices and Stories program is supported by a grant from the Mellon Foundation and reflects ASIANetwork’s commitment to amplifying Asian American and Pacific Islander narratives at liberal arts institutions. ASIANetwork is a consortium of more than 150 colleges across North America that supports Asian studies through collaborative programming and faculty development.

For Grinnell, the project exemplifies how scholarship, teaching, and civic engagement intersect—rooted in local relationships and shaped by shared stories at the community table.