Heritage Foodways

Cultural, historical, social, and economic forces influence the ways people connect with food – and considering these links may enhance your students’ experiences with food in the classroom. What can students learn from their peers’ families’ food traditions? How do indigenous foodways influence our current food system? What do our attitudes about food reflect about our society? What is unique about the food landscape in Baltimore - and what does it show about our city?

Resources and Opportunities:

• • 1. • USDA Nutrition.gov has a collection of links exploring foods and customs from different cultures including activities and recipes.

       • Growing Minds Farm to School has an Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Bias Resource Page with a collection of literature, resources, books, and videos.

       • African American History Month, February, is another opportunity to connect food-focused activities with themes of culture, history, and heritage. Food influencers participate yearly in a Black History Virtual Potluck in February.

       • Raddish has a lesson plan for Cocina Latina that can be adapted for different ages delving into the food culture of Latin America. The Raddish blog Bonus Bites has other lesson plans delving into a variety of cultures. *(PRINT READY RESOURCE)*

       • Native American Heritage Month is celebrated in November. Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health hosts lectures, food demonstrations, and more. Be sure to check out their website for information on the next Native American Heritage month events.

       • Learn about Traditional Foods Stories of American Indian and Alaska Native communities including traditional recipes.

       • The Cooking Gene: The Journey Through African American culinary History in the Old South by Michael Twitty, who traces his ancestry through food from Africa to America and from slavery to freedom. Listen to an interview with Twitty on the podcast “The Nod”.

       • City Blossoms is a nonprofit in DC working to connect youth to their environment and green spaces. Its website offers a list of books for ages 2-10 years including classroom books around gardening, food and culture, among other topics, as well as educator resources. *To note, they have listed books that are available in Spanish and English.

Maryland Foodways

• Learn about the history of the Baltimore Arabbers, who sell fruit and vegetables from a horse-drawn wagon. There are many resources available but here is an article as well as some videos about their history.

• A Taste of History provides historic Maryland, based recipes.

• A blog called Old Line Plate explores Maryland food heritage.

Recipes:

• • 1. • The Spruce Eats includes many recipes, searchable by region, occasion, ingredient, etc. They also list in their “How To: Ingredients” section different region-based pantry items, e.g., the South Indian Pantry.

       • Author Toni Tipton-Martin is a food and nutrition journalist working to connect cooking and social change. She has a few recipe books that celebrate the history of African-American cuisine.

       • Decolonize Your Diet: Plant-Based Mexican-American Recipes for Health and Healing is a cookbook incorporating healthy, vegetarian Mexican foods and plants indigenous to the Americas.

       • Bryant Terry is the author of Afro-Vegan, a cookbook filled with globally-minded recipes and highlights how black people are coming back to their heritage.