Nigerian Food Symbol Analysis

For the characters in the United States, food is a way to connect with the life they left behind in Nigeria. Characters like Akunna derive comfort from discovering their local African foods store, while others like Chinaza attempt to bring as much food as they can from home to the United States with them. When customs seizes some of Chinaza's food items for fear that she'd attempt to plant some of the (dried and dead) seeds, it shows how unyielding the United States can be to its immigrant population. Chinaza's husband, Ofodile, joins the cause of customs by insisting that Chinaza not cook traditional Nigerian dishes, so that they won’t be known as "the people who fill the building with smells of foreign food," indicating that though traditional food is undeniably comforting for people like Chinaza and Akunna, for others it's an unpleasant and unwelcome reminder of their ties to another country.