I’m Support+Feed’s Detroit City Coordinator, and this month I’ve been conducting a series of food education workshops with the children of Marygrove Elementary in honor of Black History Month. Here are some of the highlights from the program – it’s been a big hit, and hopefully you’ll learn something new as well!
Week one was all about corn. African Americans have long used corn to make meals and feed their families. We talked about how important it was to enslaved Africans here in America. Corn was turned into cornmeal for hot water cornbread and many other dishes. We made maple butter to enjoy with our cornbread, and the kids loved it.
For week two, we focused on sweet potatoes. Students explored the sweet potato and learned about this nourishing root vegetable’s deep connections to African and African American food traditions, and how it has become a staple of Black American cooking. We made whipped cream together and enjoyed sweet potato pudding combining orange, white, and California purple sweet potatoes!
This week, rice was the subject of our third workshop. We talked about how Black people brought the knowledge of how to grow rice to America, and explored different types of rice. Rice requires a lot of standing water, which is why rice cultivation became common in the southeastern United States. It became a staple in Black American households, particularly in the Lowcountry and Gulf Coast, as illustrated by common dishes like red beans and rice, jollof rice, cowpeas and rice, and jambalaya. We finished the workshop by enjoying jambalaya and making fried plantains together.
Food is an integral part of any culture, and it was really moving to see kids light up while learning about their own heritage, and how African American food culture of today reflects the rich and complicated past of our community, and our country.