All food has a story. From where it was planted, to where it was grown, to who harvested it, to how it was transported, to who sold it, to who bought it, to who cooked it, and to who ate it, there are so many little stories that each dish collects along its journey from farm to table. And every person along the journey that food takes has their own story to tell too.
Here at the Brainfood Summer Institute, we took a day to appreciate the art of food storytelling and how food interacts with culture and tradition. We named this day “Soul Food Day” and cooked some of the dishes our students had requested, including collard greens, mac & cheese, cornbread, and pumpkin pie. Before we began cooking, we took some time to watch a few videos of speakers on the website “A Spoken Dish” – a storytelling project dedicated to “celebrating and documenting food memories and rituals from people across the South.”
