Audience Statement
This research paper are for those who tend to eat food specifically geared toward their culture and have never veered from it. One would see this research essay as a form of reference/reasoning to their many questions regarding the upheld idea that soul food is the only predominant food choice in the typical African American home. It also signifies the reason it is held at the highest standards of those within the African American race/community. It also centers around those who wish to enjoy other foods but are culturally stuck to eating only things that are generalized to what is considered a norm within their community or race. My goal is to educate those who have been deterred form trying new foods, due to lack of support
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Cost effective items were pivotal to their survival. As for eating such foods for many of years, those dishes that were made became critiqued throughout time to much tastier meals. Such meals were passed down from generation to generation, creating a unique history behind it. Also, during that time “Soul Food” was distinguishing its own meaning and identity, “There is no doubt that the slave trade left a profound and everlasting mark on the souls of enslaved Africans, but Opie makes a startlingly simple argument, offering a definition of soul that describes not slaves but the positive attributes of all of humankind.”(Evans 223) Laretta Henderson claims that, “in its culinary incarnation, "soul food" was associated with a shared history of oppression and inculcated, by some, with cultural pride. Soul food was eaten by the bondsmen. It was also the food former slaves incorporated into their diet after emancipation. Therefore, during the 1960s, middle-class blacks used their reported consumption of soul food to distance themselves from the values of the white middle class, to define themselves ethnically, and to align themselves with lower-class blacks. Irrespective of political affiliation or social class, the definition of “blackness” or “soul” became part of everyday discourse in the black …show more content…
This limits their taste and outlook on other foods. They become culturally isolated and ignorant. Although this may be true to a certain degree, I would disagree because “what there was in urban black neighborhoods, was an African American culinary tradition that centered on two principles: Southerness and commensality. The story of how these principles became "Soul Food" is the story of how a transparent and mundane fact of life - food - became a harbinger of an urban, black ethnic identity.”(Poe 5) I feel as if it is one’s tradition, it should be carried out each and every day not just on special occasions. It holds its value to a higher standard, which reflects a good understanding of how far they have come as people. Trying new foods is not a requirement in life, it is just something people do to become cultured. If it’s not required, then there is no need for it. In conclusion, “Soul Food” is always going to be predominate within the black community. It is an authentic way blacks have distinguished their identity and is recognized and appreciated by other cultures, not to mention that it holds a lot of history and greatness of their ancestors who sacrificed their peace of mind for the next generation of blacks to prosper. We as a community should continue to appreciate these meals because there is no need to
As a child I remember my mom preparing Sunday dinner Saturday afternoon. I was told it took time to prepare everything. Then come Sunday dinner after church we had some of the biggest meal placed before us. Mac and cheese, collard greens, cornbread that looked like pound cake, pork chops, fried chicken, etc. As I got older I asked for some of those recipes and she could never answer what all I needed to do she showed me. Her main concern was I loved what I was cooking and to cook to please others. I guess that explained all the salt, pepper, and other heavy ingredients. I choose to write about soul food because I believe it’s a part of my heritage and its a meal I enjoy from time to time. African American Registry states that in order to understand
This triumphant history is simmering beneath a complicated mixture of endearing and polarizing perspectives. As for many, these are dishes that celebrate a heritage of culinary genius, community-building, and resourcefulness. However, there are many who reach the opposite conclusion and criticize soul food as an exceedingly unhealthy cuisine that needs a warning label, or slave food that is unworthy of celebration (Miller,
But corn meal bread, with little or no meat, and no vegetable diet, is extremely hard fare. I am very certain, from an attentive observation to this subject, that a negro deprived of meat diet, is not able to endure the labor that those can perform who are liberally supplied with it; and that the master who gives his field hands half a pound of meat per day, and two quarts of meal, (or something short of this when an allowance of vegetables is made,) is better compensated by slave labor, than those who give the ordinary quantity. Their food should be cooked for them twice a day, and carried out to the field. It is a general custom in this part of the state, to have their food cooked but once a day, and to require each negro to cook for himself at night, and carry with him his food for the morning’s meal in the field. (Web, para
""Soul Food" a Brief History." Welcome To The Black Box, Personal Narratives in High Definition. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2014
Story, M., Bass, M., & Wakefield, L. (1986). Food preferences of cherokee indian teenagers in cherokee, north carolina. Ecology of Food & Nutrition, 19(1), 51-59.
When you go to a soul food restaurant, you know exactly what to expect – fried chicken and pork chops, candied yams and corn bread, macaroni and cheese and barbecue ribs, all slow cooked and marinated, the good old fashioned way. But have you ever stopped to consider what soul food actually is? Well, we've got good news for you – Fusion East in Brooklyn, NY is hear to lay it out all for you, from its roots and beginnings to modern variations.
In Lavanya Ramanathan’s Washington Post article published in 2015 titled “Why everyone should stop calling immigrant food ‘ethnic’”, she discusses about people’s preconceptions on the type of food that should be labelled ethnic. Ashlie Stevens also touched on a similar topic in her Guardian article published in 2015 titled “Stop thinking and just eat: when ‘food adventuring’ trivializes culture”. She talks about how people assume that just by eating food from a certain culture, they are able relate to the culture as a whole. Both authors acknowledge the importance of appreciating authentic cuisines, but takes different approaches to convince the audience. Both authors establish credibility by using a wide range of substantiated evidences. While,
When I hear the words “soul food” I immediately think of the history, the traditions, and my family. On the other hand, those people who are not familiar with these terms; they consider it to be just food. Sure you might also think of hushpuppies, fried chicken, collard greens, grits and ribs, but do you know how and why they came about. Not many actually do. As Baraka concluded his essay he stated, “I guess a square is somebody who’s in Harlem and eats at Nedicks.” I can also agree with that statement. I can see those same squares everywhere else in America; they eat at McDonald’s.
This research paper is for those who tend to eat food specifically geared toward their culture and have never veered from it. One would see this research essay as a form of reference/reasoning to their many questions regarding the upheld idea that soul food is the only predominant food choice in the typical African Americans home. It also signifies the reason it is held at the highest standards of those within the African American race/community. It also centers around those who wish to enjoy other foods, but are culturally stuck to eating only things that are generalized to what is considered a norm within their community or race. My goal is to educate those who have been deterred from trying new foods, due to lack of support
Michael Twitty is a food writer and culinary historian best known for preparing, preserving and promoting African American food ways and its origins in Africa. He emphasizes how African food culture has made a great impact on the American South. His cooking helped him to learn about his identity and culture. He describes “identity cooking” a way to better understand him and his culture as a Jewish-African American. A project he developed called “The Cooking Gene” is what he explains as a means of “exploring my family history through food, from Africa to America, from slavery to freedom.” Race, food and ethnicity all have a more complex and cultural meaning especially when fused together. Different
In Michael Pollan’s “The End of Cooking” shares the message of what we are losing something important in this day and age because of all our pre-made and processed foods. This can be compared with Kothari’s “If You Are What You Eat, What Am I?” and her argument that food is part of one’s own identity. By using the examples from these two texts you can analyze the state of food and culture in the United States today. All of the processed and pre-made foods are causing people all across America to lose their sense of Culture. We no longer know what it’s like to make one of our cultures specialty dishes from scratch which can help people identify with their culture. This process helped newer generations see what it was like for those before them to cook on a daily basis and could help them identify your sense of culture.
Soul Food explore the hardships and trials of black family life, and through the characters, setting, and theme of both the story and the film, the issue of class and the search for community is discussed. Big Mama wanted her family to come closer. The more she tried, the farther apart they became. During her struggle, she encountered many obstacles including her own son 's beliefs, but she did not let them curve her appetite to gain higher status in society.
This type of cooking brought slave traditions of adaptation of foods to the forefront and exposed many people that were not familiar with these foods knowledge of them. The use of less expensive proteins, greens, one pot meals. During and after slavery, living conditions of the African people in the United States were extremely poor. Because of this, the Africans were able to adapt and use what was available to them, just as they had done during the lean times in Africa. As soul food restaurants became more common in larger cities, so did the foods among not only the black communities, but all people. “Though soul food originated in the South, soul food restaurants — from fried chicken and fish "shacks" to upscale dining establishments-are in every African-American community in the nation, especially in cities with large black populations, such as Chicago, New York, New Orleans, Los Angeles and Washington,
American culture is changing dramatically. In some areas it’s a good thing, but in other areas, like our food culture, it can have negative affects. It is almost as if our eating habits are devolving, from a moral and traditional point of view. The great America, the land of the free and brave. The land of great things and being successful, “living the good life.” These attributes highlight some irony, especially in our food culture. Is the American food culture successful? Does it coincide with “good living”? What about fast and processed foods? These industries are flourishing today, making record sales all over the globe. People keep going back for more, time after time. Why? The answer is interestingly simple. Time, or in other words, efficiency. As people are so caught up in their jobs, schooling, sports, or whatever it may be, the fast/processed food industries are rapidly taking over the American food culture, giving people the choice of hot
Africa is a continent that is rich and diverse in terms of culture and traditions. The continent is also considered to be the agricultural hub in the world. Due to this, most of African culture is ultimately intertwined with the foodstuffs that the land has to offer. In general, most of the inhabitants of Africa live within the rural areas and rely on subsistent farming to meet their day to day food needs. Fast food restaurants and supermarkets where processed and packaged food is sold are usually frowned upon and considered a waste of money and resources (AIG, 2011).