Gastronomy and the social justice reality of food | Michael Twitty

Summary

In a powerful talk, culinary historian Michael Twitty explores the intersection of food, race, and justice, sharing his personal journey from self-loathing to embracing his identity as a Black, gay, Jewish historian. Twitty emphasizes the impact of racism on our food systems and the difference between culinary appropriation and justice. He highlights the significant contributions of his ancestors, enslaved Africans, to sustainable eating and culinary traditions. Twitty's inspiring message calls for empowerment through food, encouraging us to continue cooking, eating, and dreaming to create a table of Brotherhood and mutual respect.

Highlights

• Michael Twitty shares his journey from self-loathing to love and empowerment through food. 🌟
• He distinguishes between culinary appropriation and justice, emphasizing mutual respect. 🤝
• Enslaved Africans' food traditions have the potential to empower and restore cultural capital. 🌾
• Cooking and eating together allows for dreams of a united, respectful table of Brotherhood. 🌈

Key Takeaways

• Culinary justice is about recognizing and valuing the gastronomic contributions of oppressed people. 🌟
• Culinary appropriation takes from cultures without giving credit or respect, unlike culinary diffusion. 🌍
• Twitty's ancestors, enslaved Africans, mastered sustainable eating and their knowledge remains valuable today. 🌱
• Building mutual respect through food can transcend racial and cultural differences, creating dreams like Dr. King's vision of the table of Brotherhood. 🌈

Overview

Michael Twitty opens up about his experiences as a Black, gay, Jewish culinary historian, navigating the complexities of identity and culture. His childhood curiosity led him down a path of culinary exploration, rooted deeply in the traditions of his ancestors, enslaved Africans.

Twitty provides a critical examination of culinary justice, contrasting it with culinary appropriation. He stresses the importance of honoring the contributions of marginalized communities to the culinary world, and how these contributions can enrich lives today.

Through his project, The Cooking Gene, Twitty explores his ancestral food roots, promoting mutual respect and dialogue through cooking. His work exemplifies the power of food to bridge divides and fulfill the dream of a harmonious, inclusive table of Brotherhood.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Personal Background The chapter introduces the speaker's unique personal background, humorously describing themselves as a 'weird kid' who grew up to be a black, gay, Jewish culinary historian. The speaker embraces their identity, making a playful connection to a bar mitzvah, suggesting a sense of celebration and belonging.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Childhood and Culinary Curiosity The chapter begins with a mention of the narrator's cherished possession, a collegiate Webster's dictionary, highlighting the narrator's early love for words and learning. Despite this intellectual curiosity, the narrator enjoyed typical childhood activities such as eating fast food, watching cartoons, and wearing superhero-themed underwear. A specific memory is recounted where the narrator got into trouble for attempting to boil water to make packaged ramen, illustrating a blend of innocent curiosity and mischief.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Struggle with Racial and Culinary Identity The chapter, titled 'Struggle with Racial and Culinary Identity,' explores the author's journey through understanding and embracing their racial and culinary heritage. Despite initially growing up with discomfort towards their African-American identity and soul food, the author reflects on their experiences as a culinary historian. This involves experimenting with food and navigating the complexities of race and culinary traditions. The narrative delves into the emotions and realizations that accompany a life lived at the intersection of racial illusion and culinary reality.
• 01:30 - 02:00: Racial and Culinary History This chapter explores the transformative journey of changing perceptions and attitudes towards race and food over the past 500 years. It highlights the dynamic evolution of these relationships, particularly emphasizing the faster shift in racial attitudes compared to culinary ones. The narrative situates these changes within the context of the Colombian era of exchange and contribution, which brought about significant cultural and social transformations.
• 02:00 - 02:30: Culinary Justice The chapter 'Culinary Justice' tackles the issue of racism within the food system, highlighting its impact in various forms from chronic diseases to culinary appropriation. It discusses the difference between culinary appropriation and culinary diffusion, focusing on how exploitation occurs when people are stripped of their culinary heritage while the best elements are taken and utilized elsewhere.
• 02:30 - 03:00: Lessons from Ancestors The chapter discusses the concept of culinary appropriation and its solution through culinary justice. Culinary justice is defined as the right of oppressed peoples to be recognized for their contributions to gastronomy and to benefit from those contributions through upliftment and empowerment.
• 03:00 - 03:30: The Cooking Gene Project In this chapter titled 'The Cooking Gene Project', the narrator reflects on the rich culinary traditions and practices of their ancestors, the enslaved Africans in America. They highlight the sophisticated food culture that involved local eating, organic and sustainable foraging, fishing, hunting, and whole animal cuisine. This chapter sheds light on the underappreciated culinary contributions of these individuals, emphasizing their influence and practices that would be admired in any gourmet restaurant today.
• 03:30 - 04:00: Vision of Unity through Cuisine The chapter titled "Vision of Unity through Cuisine" explores the culinary knowledge passed down from ancestors who were slaves in Alabama and Virginia. It emphasizes how this historical culinary wisdom has the potential to save lives, empower the oppressed, and restore financial and cultural capital to people of color.
• 04:00 - 04:30: Conclusion The chapter discusses the author's journey to becoming the first black annabellum chef since the Civil War, highlighting the challenges faced in the Old South, a region resistant to change as symbolized by its controversial flags and statues. The author, as part of a project called 'cooking Jee,' had a firsthand experience of picking cotton for 16 hours, emphasizing the harsh realities of such labor.

Gastronomy and the social justice reality of food | Michael Twitty Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 [Applause] wow you see that little knuckleheaded boy on the screen he was a weird kid that kid was me which makes a really great upbringing for a future black gay Jewish culinary historian and I'm not making up the last part I really am one of the chocolate chosen so this feels like a bar mitzvah to me
• 00:30 - 01:00 at any rate that that was my best friend on the table that was the collegate Webster's dictionary which gave me my first big word I was very proud of the word was her Maite but of course I did actual kid things like like fast food and cartoons and superhero underwear and one time I got in trouble for trying to boil water water to make package Ramen with heated
• 01:00 - 01:30 Stones like it was a stone age that's what you do when you're going to be a culinary historian you experiment but you know something like a lot of African-American children I grew up not liking who I was I didn't like soul food I didn't like being black for most of my life I've lived the intersection of the illusion of race and the reality of food and I'd like to tell
• 01:30 - 02:00 you today how I changed my address from loathing to love and revolutionize my approach to both for the past 500 years we have changed our relationship we have changed our relationship with race and food in multiple ways we turn our our relationship with race to faster than our food and that has been endemic of this so-called Colombian era of exchange and contribution which is full of
• 02:00 - 02:30 exploitation and oppression so how do we solve that through culinary Justice here's the problem our tables are impacted by the multiple ways that racism has fed into our food system from chronic diseases to culinary appropriation now to be clear culinary appropriation and culinary diffusion are two different things but when you exploit a people for their culinary heritage take the best from them and
• 02:30 - 03:00 leave the rest that's culinary appropriation the solution to which lies in culinary Justice I Define culinary justice as the idea that oppressed peoples have the right to not only be recognized for their gastronomic contributions but they have the right to their inherent value to derive from them uplift and empowerment so 33 years ago I learned by
• 03:00 - 03:30 this amazing people any Gourmet restaurant would love to have teach them all about their food and their food culture they practiced local eating they ate organically they sustainably foraged you know they gathered they fished they hunted they practiced whole animal Cuisine you know who I'm talking about you guessed it them my ancestors the enslaved Africans of the American
• 03:30 - 04:00 South one side my great great great grandmother Hattie born a slave in Alabama the other side my great great great grandfather Edward born a slave in Virginia now what the slaves have to teach us about food in 2016 their culinary knowledge has the power to save lives to empower the impressed and restore financial and cultural cap Capital to people of color
• 04:00 - 04:30 living today to learn this tradition I spent 10 years to become the first black annabellum Chef since the Civil War I had to go to the Old South which is not very different from the new South but we'll leave that alone you know the place where flags and statues don't come down without a fight but the bottom line is I began a project called the cooking Jee yes I picked cotton for 16 hours it sucks
• 04:30 - 05:00 I began a project called the cooking Gene where I explored my food and family routes across the Old South and I thought if I cooked for people if I actually had them cook and argue and fight and not have a kumbo moment but actually work through their differences we could actually come up with something new and you know what when you call your Cuisine Soul after something metaphysical I figure it has the power to transcend difference and work its magic so our theme today here is dream I
• 05:00 - 05:30 can't think of a bigger dream than Dr King's vision of the table of Brotherhood and that's not a metaphor I've actually seen it see that's one of four remaining slave cabins on a historic Plantation North Carolina where in 2013 myself and a group of other black interpreters cooked a meal for 150 people of all different colors and backgrounds and you know what the main ingredient that day was
• 05:30 - 06:00 mutual respect we sat down with southern white folks as cousins rather than combatants you know what the ancestors who lived in those cabins they could never have dreamed of a day when they would be honored by a group of people of different background sitting together at the same table of Brotherhood so the message today is you have to keep cooking and eating and dreaming thank you
• 06:00 - 06:30 yeah