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Release : 2015
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Kind : eBook
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Book Synopsis Getting Something to Eat in Jackson by :

Download or read book Getting Something to Eat in Jackson written by . This book was released on 2015. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation illustrates the heterogeneity of black life in the American South by ethnographically investigating the foodways (food access, choice, and consumption) of four strata of blacks: homeless, working poor and upper middle-class. It finds that food access is more about what people are able to make themselves available to than about what is available in the immediate surroundings. This finding challenges popular explanations of food availability that rely on writings about food deserts. The homeless men in the study maintained a relatively consistent access to food by abiding by a strict routine, following the rules of service providers, and accepting their place in homelessness. While popular explanations often rely on the shared food traditions of blacks to explain food choices, I argue that past food traditions are differently translated into the contexts of the varying life experiences of blacks in the south. For the working poor, the demands of living in poverty takes most of their attention and leaves them with little time to think through what they are going to eat, so they rely on whatever foods are within their reaches. These are often foods that required the least amount of preparation. Looking at food consumption-what people actually ate, and how they ate, especially among the upper middle-class blacks, provides a close look at the intersections of race and class among blacks in the south. The upper middle class often used food to ease the tension between their privileged class position and their subordinated racial identity. Outside of working hours-when they had more leeway in where they ate, they chose foods that are considered staples of (black and poor) southern diet and are associated with blacks of yesteryear-chicken, greens, corn bread, and fruit pies. These choices were a way for upper middle-class blacks to affirm their racial identity. Even those who frequented fine dining restaurants asserted their racialized and classed food tastes. The setting in which they ate, the plates on which they ate, and the utensils with which they ate were "classier" for the upper-middle class than for the two other groups