The Rise and Fall of Food Studies

3min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

The field of food studies has just exploded now more than ever. There's an edge that shows different types of chefs and cooking styles are being introduced. Now you've got kids cooking. And gone is the sort of June Cleaver perception, and you're starting to see all these other avenues.

What’s the difference between Southern cooking and “soul food?” Is there a correct type of mac and cheese? And whose business is it what you eat? (Hint: no one’s). Culinary historian, scholar of African American life and culture critic Dr. Psyche Williams-Forson is a professor at University of Maryland College Park and department chair in the Department of American Studies. She also authored the books “Eating While Black: Food Shaming and Race in America” and “Building Houses out of Chicken Legs: Black Women, Food, and Power.” We chat about everything from oral traditions to “soul food” in popular culture, gendered roles in cooking, hyperlocal produce, systemic oppression and why someone would make chicken without seasoning it. On national television.

Visit Dr. Psyche Williams-Torson’s website and follow her on Instagram and Twitter

Buy Dr. Williams-Torson’s books: Eating While Black: Food Shaming and Race in America and Building Houses out of Chicken Legs: Black Women, Food, and Power

A donation went to: Cultivate Charlottesville