Food's Lasting Impacts

There is so much to dive into when discussing African American food and cuisine. Soul food is mostly commonly associated with African Americans but sadly, so are the stereotypes that surround the Black community. The reality of the times we live in today is the fact that there is an entire generation, (maybe several), who eat the food and know the recipes but have no idea where the foods' history begins or how the recipes and perceptions of the foods were created.

Stereotypes

Many have heard of the many stereotypes that surround Black people: the fried chicken, watermelon, diabetes and high blood pressure stereotypes are just a few common ones. But there are realities behind each stereotype and reasons why they are so hurtful. For example, African Americans were incredibly limited here in America. They were not allowed to have pigs or cows but they were allowed to have chickens. For Black people, having a chicken was a form of empowerment but also a means to make money. Black people would cook the chicken, often times fried, and sell it to make money for their families. Even fried chicken wings are rooted in fighting for liberation. For a good while, Black people couldn't buy good quality meats. All the good cuts were reserved for White people. So, Black people had to make do and started to cook the chicken wings they were sold. Over many years, chicken wings have become a staple in America however people forget that it's roots were founded in the struggle of African Americans who were trying to make a living. A lot of popular stereotypes about Black people are just making fun of the struggle that they have been through. They mock the blood, sweat, and tears that were poured out just to ensure that families can eat and that they can make it to the next day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbjdYOy5_4I

The Soul of Soul Food

There is an art to cooking African American cuisine. Many of the cooks who grew up eating the food and were taught by other African Americans, don't measure their ingredients. There is a lot of feel and sense of knowing that goes into each dish. Now, there definitely are recipes and "correct" ways to make each dish, but the beauty of African Americans culture is that slavery caused so many Africans to be split up and separated leading to there being differences in the community based on location and family history. Also tribal how each region has a different variation of the African American culture.

One family might cook one dish one way, but another family might do it differently elsewhere but they are both cooking the same thing and engaging with the culture and the cuisine.

African American soul food is one of the only cuisines that uses ingredients from all over the world in its cooking. There are ingredients and techniques from Africa, of course, but also Asia, Europe, Australia, and all other regions. Ex. Black eye pea fritters. Again, being split up and forced to survive with what they were given, slaves had to be creative and they most certainly were. They created a whole new cuisine that to this day, touches the soul and brings comfort to African American people and others. We share so much of ourselves with the food we eat and the ways in which we prepare that food. Food really is a part of our history and identity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZymKYRNPDs

"African American food is one of the only cuisines that uses ingredients from all over the world in its cooking. There are ingredients and techniques from Africa, of course, but also Asia, Europe, Australia, and all other regions."

Food is also a part of the larger country's identity as well. Like many things, food helped to build America up to be what it is today. Not just from a cultural standpoint however, because yes, so much of the food culture that is present in America today is directly from African American food but also on political, economic, and social levels.

The food that was grown here is America and the debates on what food belongs to what culture have impacted the way this country has developed. (Immigrants and their foods are part of the mix as well.) For example, growing rice in America was a huge business. But, everything started in Africa. When slaves were brought over to America they brought rice over with them. It was mainly used to feed themselves and to ensure survival but became a cash crop for slave owners. Planation owners became very rich off of Carolina Gold: a high quality variety rice brought over by Africans. So much money was made off of cash crops. Rice lead to economic benefits for Americans but political, social, and eventually economic challenges in the lives of African Americans. So even before the cuisine of African American food was fully developed, the recipes, traditions, and knowledge about food that Africans brought with them benefitted Americans and started to shape our country.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBGI06SAosE

Expanding it's influence, African American food is now a staple internationally. Rather they know it or not, people on the other side of the globe are eating foods from the African American culture.

It can be heartwarming seeing a culture built out of oppression and a need for acceptance and survival be accepted all across the world. However, it can also be disheartening. Food is tied to the people and so often African American cooking becomes popular but people forget the history or to recognize the people that cook the food. In some ways, the foods new gained popularity creates a larger unacceptance. But that is why chefs and African Americans alike are pushing to maintain the authenticity of the cuisine.

"Food is tied to the people and so often African American cooking becomes popular but people forget the history or to recognize the people that cook the food."

Whether that is buying Black, or educating others, or simply opening our own restaurants and cooking establishments, work is being done to make sure that the history and the people are not forgotten. Food is the tie between worlds and African American food is not exempt from that reality. But, when society tries to take the people from the food, it loses it's soul. It becomes unauthentic and the exclusion of the people becomes another form of racism and discrimination. We learn about life and one another through what we eat and African Americans should be able to have a seat at the table.

For great African American soul food recipes: https://thesoulfoodpot.com/black-people-food/

Renee Ellis

Grade: 12

17 years old

I usually interview or ask other students questions about their perspective on each blog topic, but this one was important to me so I wanted to give my Dad and I's perspective. Speaking from a personal level, I grew up eating a lot of the foods that people associate with African American cuisine. But I also grew up eating some Jamaican food as well being that my mother is Jamaican. I fully believe that food is a connector of cultures and people. It is beautiful to see everyone embrace African-American/Black cooking. Or at least begin to embrace it. The cuisine was founded in struggle and it comes from the creativity of formally enslaved people in America. It stems from them having to create this new way of living that was unique to them but also made sense in the new environment that they were living in. It is also really great to see things that I so personally connect with represented in the media or in society. However, it’s hard to look at as well. For some reason in America people tend to take bits and pieces from others cultures and take them as their own. And as an African-American who is currently trying to find her place in society or trying to feel included in this country it’s hard to watch the foods that I’ve grown up eating almost taken away from the culture. The recipes that African-Americans have taken pride in for so many years are now becoming a part of the main stream media but the people that created those recipes aren’t being credited. It’s a weird place to be in. It’s almost bitter sweet. I’m not sure how other African-Americans feel but because of the knowledge that I’ve already had coming into this project, and the information that I’ve gathered after research, debating between those two ideas is a little challenging.

I also interviewed my Dad and asked him about his opinions on the topic of African American food:

"I think African American Cuisine is a derivative of southern cooking and that we are a people who have food that also comes from the West Indies. But now there are more black people who are trying to be healthier and eat more fresh vegetables and things of that nature, so I think it's good. But if you want more traditional food I think just like any other culture, you enjoy what you have in terms of the foods you grew up with, the seasonings that are different, and the different types of meats and dishes and I think they are good. I enjoy them, especially during the holidays."

How do you feel about a lot of our food stemming from slavery or slave times?

"Well, not all of it stems from slavery some of it came because not everybody was rich in the south. There are white people who eat things like chitlins and different parts of the pig. When you are poor do the same thing. You do with what you have left over and what you could get access to. I just think sometimes that stigmatism of the food being from slavery is a little misleading I think anybody who's poor and has to make ends meet has to do the same thing.

And actually, people would eat things you wouldn’t eat like raccoons and stuff like that. So I just think if it came from slavery they were just trying to make ends meet, but a lot of them have been eating some of the same types of food that they were preparing for the main house except they just had the not the best portions of it."

Are there any foods or cooking that you like specifically?

"In terms of Black food, I like the foods that come from the Caribbean, that have been brought into this country through slave trade. The rice dishes, the rice and peas, the pork chops. But again I like it all."