Inspired by An Adventures in the Kitchen guest post: Pineapple Coconut Cake: A Holiday Tradition
I recently came across this guest post I wrote for Cheri over at Adventures in the Kitchen many years ago. I was still pregnant with my youngest and my oldest was only in preschool.
I grew up on the home cooked, southern food of my parents and grandmothers, and was even fortunate enough to remember the deliciousness that came from my great-grandmama’s kitchen — namely chocolate dipped peanut butter balls and red velvet cake.
As a young mom I wanted to recreate those recipes in my own kitchen to raise my kids on the same experiences. Over the years, that desire has evolved into a deep interest in southern food culture. Food forms us, comforts us, and sustains us. And, in turn, we do the same for it. Our food culture is created by the men and women who prepare it. It carries in it the influence of a thousand hands that came before, from a globe of rich culture and experiences.
I grew up in rural Georgetown, South Carolina, eating Pileau or Pilau (not to be confused with Chicken Bog). This dish is layered in flavors that originated in the Middle East, made their way to the African coast with traders, then found their way to North America on slave ships.
I understand that food heritage and culture is not to everyone's taste (pun intended). However, the further we get from our culinary roots, the further we also get from good nutrition and "real" food. I recently heard an interview with author Ashley English discussing her book Southern from Scratch: Pantry Essentials and Down-Home Recipes. English has a degree in nutrition and is a former vegan. What she has found is that southern fare, usually touted as unhealthy, is actually really healthy when it is made from scratch. This means using fresh food and avoiding convenience foods packed with chemicals.
The areas of our communities most endanger of unhealthy diets are the ones who cannot afford real foods. Let's face it, a soda and bag of chips is a lot cheaper than fresh fruits and veggies. "Currently in the United States, 1 in 8 people struggle with hunger. Food insecurity can cause individuals and families to make extremely difficult choices between buying food and paying bills. These choices can affect the ability of children to learn and grow, the ability of seniors to seek critical healthcare, and can cause health complications for people of all ages" (Cappadonia, 2018).
Never in our history has Americans been so educated or had information so readily at our fingertips. Yet Food insecurity continues to grow.
In an effort to combat this gaping hole on our tables, libraries of all types are tackling this issue in a variety of ways. They are creating community gardens, hosting lectures on fresh food and nutrition, and creating seed lending banks.
"Programs such as Poverty Simulations and Hunger 101 simulations are helpful training exercises that help library staff better understand the difficulties of navigating complicated government agencies, the challenges of purchasing healthy food on a very limited budget, and the emotional distress caused by food insecurity" (Cappadonia, 2018).
Libraries also have the unique ability to offer further learning to their communities through their resources on everything from cookbooks to garden planning. And it is FREE.
The American Library Association just released Gather ‘Round the Table: Food Literacy Programs, Resources, and Ideas for Libraries. The book features a "multi-pronged approach to incorporating food literacy in public, school, and special libraries, this all-in-one resource presents a definition of food literacy that shows how the concept touches upon important topics such as culinary skills, food security, nutrition and dieting, food allergies, health literacy, and food ethics; discusses the community impacts of food-related issues; walks readers through planning and undertaking a community food assessment, a process that can be used to identify a need, justify a service response, build buy-in and engagement, and plan for the allocation of resources; shares a variety of innovative food literacy programs drawn from libraries across the country, from cookbook and recipe clubs to an edible education garden, teen cooking classes, and offsite cooking demos; and provides information about additional resources and reference sources relating to the culinary world, including advice on collection development."
I have not had the opportunity to look through it myself, but so far, it sounds like a great resource for every library, including academic. Perhaps it is time for more communities to begin looking at the needs of their members and consider working with libraries to reach those who need it the most.
You can read the original post here, on Adventures in the Kitchen.
References
Cappadonia, Keturah. (20 April 2018). "Libraries Partner with Community Agencies to Help Fight Food Insecurity." ALSC Blog. Retrieved from https://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2018/04/libraries-partner-with-community-agencies-to-help-fight-food-insecurity/.
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