Understanding and Celebrating Our Foodways!
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
This month, we honor our Foodways which invite us to look beyond the plate and into the story.
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Foodways refer to the entire cultural, historical, social, economic, and spiritual system surrounding food.
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It is not just what we eat, but where it comes from, who prepares it, how it is shared, and what it means.
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In African-American culture, Foodways hold memory, identity, faith, power, and resilience.
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They reflect survival under enslavement, creativity born of scarcity, migration and adaptation, church and family rituals, and acts of resistance and love.
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Cuisine tells us what was eaten; Foodways tell us why it mattered. When we explore Foodways, we are tracing legacy, honoring ancestors, and tasting history that refuses to be forgotten!
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Lillian Harris Dean aka "Pig Foot Mary"
(1870 - 1929)
Lillian Harris Dean, widely known as "Pig Foot Mary" was an African-American cook, entrepreneur, and cultural figure whose food business helped bring the flavors and traditions of Southern Black cuisine to national attention during the early 20th century.
Mother of Soul Food - Lillian Harris Dean​
Tambra Raye Stevenson
Tambra Raye Stevenson is an African-American entrepreneur, nutrition educator, public speaker, policy advisor, inventor, and food justice activist. Tambra founded WANDA and NativSol Kitchen.
Tambra Raye Stevenson​
