Man, you better know!

I play at being bouggie and bring stuff to work that I like…

and maaaaaan, do I get a reaction.  Funky cheeses, expensive teas, nice chocolates (I hadn’t even really understood how little dark chocolate is liked by many black people)...

Why I can’t be like a normal negro, you know, and be a police officer.

Yes, politics of class is deeply entrenched into the whole black food thing…

I think Steve Gilliard has done some blog post along these line, especially focusing on regional cruisines, such as the whole wheat roll/cornbread dichotomy.

Jesse, I’d love it if you’d write it, or at least point me towards a source to read. You’ve brought up a lot of scenarios, and I can imagine how many of them play out, but I don’t know for certain, and some I’m not familar with at all. To cite just one, I’m failing at a Google search on the topic of frozen chicken and discriminatory housing policy.

not just because of agricultural policy which privileges cheap meat and dairy over vegetables and fruits but also because of sociopolitical mores that create pressure to eat the former rather than the latter

This makes me think of a meal in czechoslovakia not too long after the revolution, at a (north) vietnames restaurant where the notation “vegetarian” by an item on the menu meant that it had vegetables at all. One of the other people at dinner explained that a diet consisting mostly of meat had become a point of national pride (conspicuous consumption, because only poor people have to fill up on carbs and vegetables) with the usual consequences for lifespan.

Maybe that’s why my coworker recently commented (as I was eating a sandwich with lettuce) that putting lettuce on a sandwich is a white people thing to do. On balance, I’m not sure if he was kidding or not.

Jesse, I’d love it if you’d write it, or at least point me towards a source to read.

Then I shall!

I hope it’s not just Ezra doing the writing, and that they accept submissions—because we have one waiting here. And yes, some of Steve Gilliard’s old posts on food and cultural politics deserve a much, much wider audience—one that the WaPo’s food beat-writers aren’t really good at addressing.

I live in a loft/gallery district that stalled mid-way through gentrification, i.e. the housing market fell apart before the yuppies could buy out all of the er, people of style and taste.  As a result, the neighborhood straddles some traditionally black and post-gentrification neighborhoods.  The differences in produce and food in general available at the ungentrified area and the post are astounding, but the little things get me, too.  For instance, the “black” Kroger has twice as much space dedicated to barbecue sauce and half as much space for pasta as the other store.  There are freezers full of tripe and chitterlings at the “black” Kroger, but it’s impossible to find at the other store. 

It’s not just the grocers, though.  I tried to go to a Macy’s to pick up some skin-care products at the S Dekalb Mall…they didn’t have any men’s products.  20% of the store was dedicated to fucking Ed Hardy paraphernalia.  Shirts, clothes, fragrance, window shades, ugh.  It made me wonder, and I still don’t have an answer to this…to they stock this shit because they are condescending or because it is what they believe will sell to those markets?

Damn that fried chicken looks good - I ain’t seen drumsticks like that since grandma died!

Native American communities are also hit twice by geography and government policies regarding food.  “Traditional Indian” foods like frybread are actually the product of government rationing to reservations of products like lard, flour, and sugar, rather than foods that could actually be described as either traditional or possessive of any nutritive value.  Combined with poverty and the lack of fresh fruits and vegetables common in very poor rural areas, frybread has become a symbol of epidemic levels of diabetes in Native communities, as well as a stereotypical “Indian” food that actually spans many disparate nations as a result of their common history of exploitation and deprivation at the hands of the U.S. government.

In addition to contributing to the health problems of an entire group of people, then, it’s also obscured the variety of Native American cuisine and culture in favor of a popular perception of a singular Native culture and history.  I’m much less familiar with the politics of food in black communities, and I wonder—can something similar be said of food’s availability and quality obscuring a larger diversity?  And has this problem affected the health and cuisine of groups that immigrated voluntarily?

Yeah, that’s pretty much what’s happened to me as well.  I remain pretty stunned at how awful “food” is these days.  It’s weirdly as though Kraft et al. are trying to make things so awful people have to take notice.

When I was a kid, vegetables were cheap but meat was expensive. Nowadays, chicken is cheaper than any vegetable besides potatoes. I can buy pork for the price of bell peppers or zucchini. This makes my head hurt.

One factoid I have read, which is backed up for me by experience, that even poor Asians and Hispanics can afford to eat lots of vegetables. Now the produce is not the freshest in these stores, but if you take it home and cook it right away, you’re in good shape.

Besides the products available, what about the time costs? Frying is faster than baking. Biscuits bake faster than yeast breads. Greens cook fast.

It seems to me that soul food might have something to do with wanting to get food on the table fast—black women didn’t have someone to do their housework for them, and they didn’t have the luxury of SAHMs for much of recent American history. They worked, and came home hungry and with hungry families. And up until a few generations ago, counting calories was for the elite; normal people had to worry more about getting enough fuel into their bodies, so that fats and carbs were good things.

I have to say this: I have a book I received for review purposes not long ago on barbecue, which is in my opinion one of the greatest of the great American cuisines, and very much a product of the African-American experience (by way of the Caribbean). It’s a little bit of a superficial book, but a fun one, that hits barbecue shacks not only in the south but all over the country. While it wouldn’t be my first choice of a learn-to-‘cue book, it’s a very good one, and there’s actually a sidebar on barbecue and the Jim Crow legacy. I don’t think I’ve seen that in any other book on the subject.

(The book, by the way, is America’s Best BBQ by Ardie Davis and Paul Kirk, ISBN 9780740778117. I’m a little miffed that they didn’t include either of Massachusetts’ best barbecue joints, but what can you do? Us northerners are behind the curve…)

Yeah, I’d feel pretty honored to be given more info, Jesse.  I know it sounds stupid, but I really like hearing about these things.  Hey, if you don’t know, you can’t fight the battle, right?

I like how in our neighborhood we have the fancy safeway as well as Chinese, Indian, and Japanese markets.  But the Vietnamese market and Mexican markets are still considered to be on the seedy side of town, unfortunately.  The Chinese markets really try hard to be upscale whether they are or not, but the Indian markets are caught between.  The second biggest Japanese deli is down with the biggest Mexican markets, tho.

One real advantage of living in silicon valley, even if the rest of it isn’t so good for my health.

I have mainly stopped buying processed food at all, because I can’t spend the time reading the ingredient list on every shopping trip, and I can’t trust that they aren’t going to suddenly add something I can’t eat.
hp on 07/01 at 10:34 PM

It’s not just the processed food either, hp.  Fresh chicken and lots of pork is now “pre-brined - so your paying for water weight and can’t cut out the salt.  Red meat is “wet-aged” instead of dry-aged, so it tasted either metallic or flavorless, calling for the addition of lots of other heavy tasting spices, yet you end up eating more because there isn’t that umami taste for satiation.  They also don’t list that it is feedlot or cornfed/finished which changed that actual composition of the meat fats.

Samantha:

Not only that, but biscuits and fried food can happen on top of whatever heat source you want if you have a few big pots and lids. (proper biscuits need an oven, but you can fake it with a dutch oven or even a skillet if you have to.)

One of the big things that’s killed fresh vegetables is the growth of suburbia. I don’t know about other parts of the country, but there used to be truck farms in Queens, let alone the rest of long island and new jersey. But thanks to subsidies on big agriculture, gasoline and interstates it’s cheaper to ship stuff across the country now.

One factoid I have read, which is backed up for me by experience, that even poor Asians and Hispanics can afford to eat lots of vegetables. Now the produce is not the freshest in these stores, but if you take it home and cook it right away, you’re in good shape.
Hector B.  on 07/01 at 11:32 PM

Gotta be careful though, Hector.  A lot of that is imported frm countries where even the less than ideal USDa bans on certain pesticides don’t exist and inspection is well, let’s just say… MELAMINE!!!!

One of the big things that’s killed fresh vegetables is the growth of suburbia. I don’t know about other parts of the country, but there used to be truck farms in Queens, let alone the rest of long island and new jersey. But thanks to subsidies on big agriculture, gasoline and interstates it’s cheaper to ship stuff across the country now.
paul on 07/02 at 09:41 AM

And zoning laws in the ‘burbs, too.  Yeah, it’s happened here.  Did you know that at the turn of the last centruy, Kenwood/Hyde Park where Obama lives was the truck Farm area for CHicago?

my opinion one of the greatest of the great American cuisines

except that it is also(and has been for many, many years) the way a lot of Filipinos cook their food over charcoal as well, and they use such ingredients as lemon juice and palm sap vinegar in the marinade, along with soy sauce and brown sugar sometimes.

Hell, the Staten Island borough of NYC was truck farms until the 1960’s.  When the Verrazano Bridge was built, Staten Island became suburban.

Red meat is “wet-aged” instead of dry-aged, so it tasted either metallic or flavorless

I was a vegetarian for quite a while and have only been eating red meat for the past year.  I guess this might explain why, more often than not, the beef I’ve been eating tastes awful.  I thought it was just me.

It’s weird how in this country, the food that poor people can access and afford tends to be so very unhealthy, whereas in Central America and the Carribbean, “peasant food”—beans, rice, whatever fish your friends or family catch and whatever herbs and vegetables you’ve been able to grow or trade—are obviously healthier fare than the big, fatty steaks and lamb chops favored by the wealthy.

My husband’s ex-in-laws owned a fancy Chinese restaurant in Canada; he said the very best and healthiest food there was not on the menu, but rather, in the selection of “staff dinners” that the chef would put together for the various Chinese folks who worked there, and that’s what he’d always ask for: Whatever you’re serving the staff today.  It usually meant rice, vegetables, unusual fish baked whole, and tofu, with lots of spice; the regular menu offered much more meat, fried foods, and rich sauces.

I keep saying this over and over: let’s subsidize fruits and vegetable growers instead of corn, cattle, and cattle-feed growers.  It would make such a difference, over not-that-long a period of time, to the nation’s health.  Oh!  And bring back mandatory home-ec in high school, for boys and girls; teach how to shop and eat frugally and healthfully, what equipment is essential versus what is extravagant, etc.  It shouldn’t take anyone more than 30 minutes to make a healthy, tasty meal, but as my nieces and nephews have demonstrated, a lot of twentysomethings don’t even know how to sauteé garlic.  Or even peel and chop it.  Or buy it!

This is slightly off topic but I highly recommend the Marlon Riggs film “Black Is Black Ain’t” to anyone who is interested in the subject of food as it relates to identity. The film is not specifically about food but gumbo is used as a metaphor throughout. And Marlon Riggs was amazing so I’ll take any opportunity I have to spread the word.

  There are also quite a few books on this topic. One of the best introductory texts is “Kitchen Culture in America: Popular Representations of Food Gender and Race”.

  Thanks, Jesse, for bringing up one of my favorite topics!

Southern Fried Chicken, haven’t.had.any.forever. *whimper*

I miss the fried chicken that I used to get at Morehouse.

the beef I’ve been eating tastes awful.  I thought it was just me.

Don’t buy big chain meat. Try to get “certified Angus.”

I was a vegetarian for quite a while and have only been eating red meat for the past year.  I guess this might explain why, more often than not, the beef I’ve been eating tastes awful.  I thought it was just me.
keshmeshi on 07/02 at 01:42 PM

They actually stopped dry-aging meat in the 60’s and 70’s ( a lot of my older customers think they lost their tastebuds.)  Dry aged is usually really expensive, comparatively, because there is @ 20% loss associated with doing so.  But you also get minimal shrinkage when you cook it.  The inexpensive way to get good, aged beef is to find a farmer or processor who sells freezer beef and buy a side or quarter if you can afford the initial outlay and the cost of the freezer.
Try www.localharvest.org to find one in your area.  This is a great site for finding CSA’s and farmers markets too.

Hector, “certified Angus” means diddly squat.  go look at the official Angus site.  The cattle have to be at least 51% black and show Angus characteristics to be certified angus - it could be a Hereford Simmental cross.  Means nothing to taste, means nothing for health.  Marketing ploy by the Cattlmen - it’s still crappy feedlot beef.

Good beef is grassfed, free-range, small processor processed and dry-aged at least 3 weeks.

it’s still crappy feedlot beef.

If she can find better beef, sure. Where I live, I wouldn’t know where to begin to find it. Angus is available locally, and is wagyu beef compared to “ranchers reserve” or the like, which tastes exactly like wet kleenex.

Hectos, if you’ve had it and it tastes better, it was luck of the draw is what I’m trying to tell you.  It is no more or less consistent than almost any other marketing ploy. Aging and marbling are the two real variables in USDA beef.  (AS well as processing stress and age of animal).  The first two you should be able to find out at the grocery store, though the answer on aging will likely be “none”. The second two ywill be unknowns unless you buy direct from the farmers or really high end, like Lobels.

if you’r ein th eUS Hector, try www.localharvest.org. Yes, you can find it.

if you’re in the US Hector, try http://www.localharvest.org Yes, .you can find it.

Maybe, maybe not. This is what I got when I searched at localharvest.org:

Your search on our Beef department, within 250 miles of [my zip code], came back empty.

Where the heck do you live?  What @ eat wild.org.  I mean, unless you’re in the wilds of the Dakotas, or West Texas or the strip in between, we should be able to find you something.  Seriously, if you want to give me some parameters, I’ll do a little hunting for you.

“Funky cheeses, expensive teas, nice chocolates (I hadn’t even really understood how little dark chocolate is liked by many black people)… “

I’m sorry what is wrong with not liking dark chocolate, does liking it make you superior? I can’t eat chocolate dark or not, I’m allergic to it. So what does that make me?