Last year Gracie Norton, a wellness influencer on TikTok shared a recipe for “spa water,” a drink she claimed to have created. The influencer failed to mention that it is the same recipe as agua fresca, a beverage that was created by the indigenous people of Mexico.

 Agua fresca, which translates to “fresh water,” has been around since the AztecEmpire. This centuries-long traditional beverage is made by blending fruits, vegetables or spices with water and sugar.

 Spa water is just the beginning of cultural appropriation of food. This trend continues with influencers calling ceviche “cowboy caviar,” elotes “Mexican street corn” and conchas “seashell donuts.”

 The Latinx community voices that the influencers who claimed to have invented these foods are culturally appropriating Mexican food.

 Yamil Silva, who has a doctorate in Hispanic Literature, is the director of Latin America and Latinx Studies at the University of Scranton. Silva said that the main issue is a lack of education.

 “It can be ignorance, and that is the problem with the culture in which we are living and when we don’t have certain kind of education like learning a language or learning about all these cultures. If you don’t have that since you are a kid, of course you’re going to fall in certain mistakes and say, ‘oh this is American, I just created this’ without recognizing that there is a long tradition of it in Latino America,” Silva said.

 Silva also said that it’s not just the Latinx community being affected, but also the appropriator.

 “Cultural appropriation affects both communities—the one that has been taken and the other because they do not realize what they are doing. It is like a power relation in which the more dominant culture takes something without recognizing what the other one has produced. It continues perpetuating colonial dynamics,”Silva said.

 TheLatinx community is not upset that people are partaking in their customs, but because people not of that culture continue to appropriate and erase their history. Juan Carlos, the owner of Tekila's Mexican grill and Buchana's Bar, 900Oak St., Pittson, said that it feels like treason to his Mexican culture.

“I think before someone renames or reinvents something they should know about the cultural significance and origin of what they are selling. I find it sad that they’re calling themselves the creators of these dishes when Mexicans have had them for centuries,” Carlos said.

 Most would not think about the cultural significance of these dishes. Silva believes that simply educating oneself could solve this issue.

 “Do yourself a favor and read about the history and traditions of Latinx cultures.It is important to learn about other cultures to not make those mistakes,” Silva said.