Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial group in the United States, and North Carolina ranks among the states with the highest growth. Within this expansion, Vietnamese Americans are a rapidly emerging community, comprising 12 percent of the Asian American population in the state.

Growth, however, does not capture lived experience.

With a rich and still-unfolding history in North Carolina, Bánh Mì & Beyond documents the underrepresented experiences of Vietnamese adults who immigrated to the American South. This project situates these narratives within broader conversations on migration, identity formation, and community health, examining how individuals construct belonging through memory, movement, and everyday practices.

Bánh Mì & Beyond presents an intergenerational exploration of Vietnamese American immigration shaped by war, famine, and economic opportunity. Grounded in oral history and qualitative research methods, the project uses food narratives as a lens to examine cultural continuity, adaptation, and resilience.

Through systematically collected interviews and narrative analysis, the project contributes to a deeper understanding of how migration experiences influence identity, social integration, and health-related behaviors.

By centering community voices, the project seeks to strengthen Vietnamese belonging across North Carolina while fostering cross-cultural understanding. Food becomes more than tradition. It functions as a site of memory, a tool of communication, and a mechanism through which histories and values are sustained.

This project draws on 11 interviews conducted across four cities in North Carolina, capturing perspectives from students, researchers, restauranteurs, diplomats, and community leaders.

Participants were recruited through community networks and represent a range of migration pathways and lived experiences. Interviews were conducted in both English and Vietnamese to preserve linguistic nuance and ensure depth of response.

All interviews were analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis to identify recurring patterns related to migration, identity, and cultural practice. This approach allows individual narratives to be situated within broader social and cultural contexts.

Vietnamese is the second most widely spoken Asian language in North Carolina. In response, this project prioritizes bilingual accessibility. The exhibit is presented in both English and Vietnamese to maintain authenticity and expand reach.

This work serves as both documentation and analysis. It preserves lived experience while contributing to broader conversations in public health, social science, and community-based research.