VIETNAMESE FIGHT FOR RIGHT TO EAT TRADITIONAL FOODS; CITY HEALTH DEPARTMENT SUED FOR CONDEMNING ‘FRESH MEATS’; CITY ACCUSED OF DISCRIMINATION, RACISM

by Ima Schmuck / November 3, 2011

The Vietnamese Restaurant Association of Greater Houston (VRAGH) has sued the Houston City Health Department because the health inspectors have repeatedly cited its members for having weevils in stored rice and roaches all over the food preparation areas.

Nguyễn Trấng Dũong, the association’s attorney, filed suit in federal court, charging that the repeated citations constituted discrimination and racism. The suit states that weevils and roaches are considered fresh meat because they are traditional Vietnamese foods.

Võ Nguyên Phùng, owner of the Poo Dung Poo restaurant told this reporter that he had been cited 37 times in the last two months by city health inspectors. Phung said that none of his Vietnamese customers have ever complained about roaches or weevils in their food because they eat them at home all the time.

“I don’t know what they expect me to do,” Phong said. “Without roaches and weevils I would not be able to stay in business.”

Trang said that VRAGH has tried to be sensitive to American pet lovers by urging its members not to offer dogs, another traditional Vietnamese food, on their menus.

Mayor Annise Parker told The Schalotte that she has instructed the City Attorney to fight the suit because she does not believe it has any merit. “But,” she said, “As a gay person who knows discrimination firsthand, I want to make sure that our health inspectors are not motivated by racism.” Parker said she would appoint a City Council committee to look into the charges.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Houston announced that Attorney General Eric Holder had ordered the Justice Department’s civil rights section to conduct a thorough investigation of the discrimination and racism charges.

UPDATE 11-4-2011, 9:20 am: Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, Republican candidate for president, came to the defense of Vietnamese restaurant owners when he learned that in California it is now specifically illegal to eat cats and dogs and other animals kept as domestic pets. The ban was enacted because of the belief that Vietnamese were getting pound animals for food. Paul released the following statement:

“As a Libertarian, it is my firm belief that if the Vietnamese want to, it is their right as American citizens to eat cats, dogs, mice, roaches, weevils or, for that matter, even maggots. The government has no business telling Americans what they can and cannot eat.”