Dear Geist,

Where do you stand on the decision by the Los Angeles Times, in January 2020, when they announced that some food items mentioned in the paper (shawarma; al pastor; pollo asado; birria; carnitas; etc.) would no longer be italicized? As some people who grew up on those foods pointed out, those packages and images were significant in other cultures for years before others came to claim them.

—Rohani in Cyberspace

Dear Rohani,

Yes, there is pushback from people who grew up on those names and images and whose culture was there first. Here is Patricia Escarcega, who works for the Los Angeles Times: “Seeing the foods many of us grew up eating italicized can feel jarring and alienating. . . Who are we writing for when we decide to italicize salsa roja? . . . Birra, xiao long bao, sai krok, Isaan, crepes, American cheese . . . the sense of exoticizing foods through typography felt less than we were helping readers but rather signaling that one of those things was not like the other.” Hmm. At Geist we’re looking for more input on this very timely question, and we will follow it.

—The Editors