What a gas stove ban means for your fave restaurants [LA Times]

That seems wildly hyperbolic to me. 100K+ BTU wok burners are not the foundation of Chinese cuisine. Millions of Chinese people cook tradional food every day without them. Chinese cuisine predates their invention by centuries.

Yes, but we Chinese love our food and Chinese food keeps evolving. Few of my Chinese dishes today even existed 20 years ago. Yeah, weā€™d still have Chinese food without ultra high heat, but not what Iā€™ve gotten used to eating. Even my American born relatives have wok kitchens in their houses.

You stand to make a fool of yourself arguing that this current controversy is anything like those other incidents you mention. They specifically targeted Asians as even those who were behind them would admit. Seek allies, donā€™t make enemies.

Go ahead and consider it. Thatā€™s reasonable. Look for racism as much as you like and, when you find it, complain loudly. All Iā€™m saying here is that the motivation seems to be dealing with climate change, a very reasonable cause, IMHO. I completely understand how the law affects Asians but it seems unlikely that this is what is motivating lawmakers in this case. It is to be proven and you havenā€™t proven it. Instead, the logic seems to be ā€œIā€™m inconvenienced by this law and Iā€™m Asian, therefore it is racist and the people behind it are racists.ā€

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I know your comment wasnā€™t aimed at me, but thereā€™s really no need for name-calling. You disagree w/ @chandavkl, and thatā€™s fine. I think you can leave it at that.

B/c thatā€™s worked so well for BIPOC folks in this country thus far?

Itā€™s a very tired trope that those who are oppressed are the ones who need to work harder at being less vocal about how much they are harmed by being oppressed.

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lololol fuuuuck this.

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The stated intent of the proposed law is simply to make new buildings carbon-neutral. There are no details yet re gas hookups or anything else. The council just told city staff to come back with a proposal within 180 days. Thatā€™s plenty of time for wok hei fans to lobby for an exception.

INSTRUCT the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS), with assistance from the City Attorney, the Climate Emergency Mobilization Office (CEMO), and all relevant departments, to report back within 180 days with a plan for the implementation of an ordinance and/or regulatory framework, effective or before January 1, 2023, that will require all new residential and commercial buildings in Los Angeles to be built so that they will achieve zero-carbon emissions.

https://lacity.primegov.com/portal/item?id=121295&fbclid=IwAR1440z3e6NZUf2ktMGtQeHDyFJmqRA52yG5qb0T1Dai3WjNPaEqPGXuwzs

Because of a pay wall I canā€™t read the article. Why would a ban on gas stove affect Asian restaurants? I can use my flat bottomed wok on my induction cooktop.

Thatā€™s an exact description of structural racism.Structural racism isnā€™t the familiar definition that describes outward hatred of people of color. Structural is when laws uphold the status quo and keep putting minorities at a disadvantage in different areas of life. There doesnā€™t have to be a motive behind it. The dismissal of considering other cultures is enough. Passing laws because thereā€™s little sacrifice by those passing them, because it doesnā€™t affect them while disproportionately affecting cultural minorities is exactly the definition.

That being said, Iā€™d support this law if they take a good-faith effort for allowance/compromises to businesses and ethnic cuisines where gas may be essential. I donā€™t know how that would look.

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It wouldnā€™t affect any existing restaurant, only new construction.

Full ice-cap melt would affect more Chinese restaurants than a gas hookup ban in new construction.

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Here you go, Cath:

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Thanks, ED. So it mostly sounds like resistance to new things.

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I certainly agree with your 2nd paragraph. I understand structural racism and warrant that it certainly does exist but to call some new structure (proposed law, in this case) racist, you first have to at least try to tackle it in a non-racist manner. From some of what I read here (and elsewhere), it seems like people want to skip that last part and go straight to calling something structural racism. I understand the frustration but I donā€™t think any steps can be skipped. Even though we have a long way to go in the fight against racism, progress has been made. I am not saying that because I want to preserve the status quo but because I want to continue that progress, not throw it all away in some sort of cold race war.

Iā€™m not understanding all of this . How many restaurants are cooking on electric? I would tend to believe most are on gas . Tell me if I am wrong.

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Well if the choices were either save wok cooking or saving the poles, Iā€™d save the poles. But thatā€™s not the choice.

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Iā€™d also like to know of the restaurants that have been using all electric kitchens. A dining-service restaurant, not a fast-casual or food court establishment.

Also I wonder how this would work for broiler systems. I have an electric broiler which is plain trash.

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All-electric kitchens are common among restaurants in Lyon and elsewhere in the RhƓne valley since they have lots of hydroelectric and nuclear power plants.

My hope is that the compromise is to ban it from all new residential homes and keep gas hookups available for all commercial kitchens, or at least quota the number of gas hookups to where restaurants can prioritize what needs flame and what doesnā€™t.

You donā€™t need a gas main to heat a wok super-hot.