ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the central role that Filipinas played in creating and sustaining their families and communities and Filipina/o American ethnic culture in the decades before 1965 and the gender role transformations that gave women more power as well as multiple roles and responsibilities in their families. It mainly centers women, gender, class, family formation, communities, women’s labor, and cultural production in Filipina/o American history. Domestic science courses and American companies such as Heinz and Dole championed twentieth-century American food as modern and hygienic. The poverty of the Depression and war forced women and families to endure terrible sacrifices and hunger. Women fed their families with animal parts discarded by butchers, fishmongers, and grocers and produce and canned goods brought by relatives who worked in fields or canneries. World War II changed Filipina/o American communities, women’s labor, and the food that sustained the community.
