Ronald Ferdinands

Please refrain from confusing 'nationality' with 'ethnicity'. I keep hearing statements such as "there are students from ninety nationalities studying at this school,' "Australia now has many nationalities as there are in the world." etc etc in the Food Lovers' Guide programs. Please ensure that your presenters know the difference between the words 'nationality' and 'ethnicity'. You have an obligation to not only present facts but to also to not compound continous bias categorisation of fellow Australians. Nationality denotes citizenship, not ethnicity. Children studying at our state schools are generally children of Australian citizens and hence they are Australians. Just because they do not all look Caucasians, they are often referred to as 'different nationalities'. It is both stupid and can also be classified as 'racist' statements. I know that this is certainly not your intention. All Australian citizens have an ethnicity; Aboriginal, Irish, English, Scottish, Italian, Greek, Mexican, African, Chinese, Indian, Malay, Spanish, etc. A statement such as "there are students of ninety ethnic groups studying at this school" would be an accurate statement. Please, in your keenness to project diversity, do not (unwittingly) continue to differentiate Australians as of 'different nationalities' because of how they look. This is a travesty. People should proudly embrace their ethnicity, but all ethnic citizens of Australia are AUSTRALIAN nationals. They are of Australian nationality. Thank you. I love your program. I began to cook because of your marvellous food programs. I have now embraced a diverse culinary taste ... truly Australian diverse food culture. Thank you.