Finding Our Way Back To The Table

I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome Roberta Rosa, the newest member of the growing Farm to Table family. Roberta has some exciting posts in store for us here, for instance, she’ll be cooking her way through some 80 year old recipes that are family heirlooms of hers, and writing about the experience. Welcome Roberta, it is so nice to have you here.

While walking our dog Otis through our neighborhood today I couldn’t help but imagine what this section of town looked like 100 years ago. I live in Danbury, CT, a city well acclimated to a wide spectrum of cultures. The source of this diversity has, in a most American way, evolved over the years. The Danbury of today is so diverse, in fact, that I proudly live amongst Indians, Pakistanis, Portuguese, Lebanese, Mexicans and Chinese. Of course, I am probably leaving a few immigrant populations out of this mix. But far and away the biggest immigrant community in Danbury hails from South America in general, and Brazil in particular. I love this cultural mélange and it has influenced me in important ways. Just today I was treated to the aroma of foods from nearly every corner of the globe. I’m proud to live among this little ‘United Nations’ and could not imagine my two boys growing up without exposure to so many different customs, belief systems and world views.  Despite this incredible diversity, and honestly, what other country on Earth could have such amazing range in its communities; I believe that there is hope in the commonality of our lives. What binds us is that we all eat. One source of wisdom inherent in these immigrant communities is the link between food and table, wisdom that many Americans have so clearly lost. These communities seem to recognize, possibly even more than third and fourth-generation Americans, that food is the most defining characteristic of a community.

I wish that more Americans would look upon these immigrant communities not as interlopers, but as valuable members of our society. I wish Americans would look upon our immigrant communities with less derision and suspicion, and with more curiosity. I think we may find that these populations can teach us a lot about being American! Perhaps one way to begin healing our attitudes from this slow drift away from the wonderful life of the table is to realize that we’ve been down this same path before. And to take solace in the knowledge that we have found a way through it.  We are told that our country has changed. But has it really? The way we work, commute, spend our time and money has certainly changed, but our belief system, our shared principles as Americans has remained steadfast. If we could tap into that desire for connectivity that fueled our nation just 100 years ago, think what we could accomplish.

Gertrude May Johnson, Juddy to all who knew her, was a close family friend, dear to myself and a ‘grandmother by courtesy.’ I recently came across a paper Juddy wrote during her matriculation at Simmons College in Boston in the early 1920’s. The paper concerns the assimilation of immigrants in America during that era.  Reading over this 90-year old essay about interacting with foreign born neighbors through the exchange of information and ideas, I was struck by how relevant her advice seemed today. Juddy wrote,

“The exchange may be of language, lace-making, or something in the culinary line.  Show the foreign born woman the proper method of disposing of garbage, for instance, but let her teach you how to cook spaghetti.  These women can contribute much to your town in music, art, and handicraft.”

In the 1920’s, immigrant populations felt a strong desire to assimilate into the wider culture, often by secularizing and adopting English as their language. This is missing today. In our neighborhood there are many beautiful homes many with front porches. When they were built, as single family homes, families would sit on their front porches after dinner and read the paper, or enjoy a game of cards or enjoy conversations with friends strolling by. Dinners were lovingly made and required all-day effort to construct. This was seen as worth it because the family meal was a robust celebration at the end of the day, a refuge.  Today, these homes intended for single families, often house much more than that with residents who work around the clock in order to put food on the table. Nowadays, neighbors rarely leave their homes or mix outside their direct connections. We live in a different time and our country has changed in appreciable ways, but that need to assimilate remains. We all have to adapt once again.

Often it is the practice of sitting down to meals together that has become obsolete. This is done in the name of convenience and economy. But in trading one thing for another we’ve become sicker both physically and emotionally.  As we reach out to our neighbors and honor their traditions and foods, a world of acceptance will open the minds of our children before.

I was inspired by Barbara Kingsolver’s book, “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle,” in which she writes,

“Better food – more local, more healthy, more sensible – is a powerful new topic of the American conversation. For the first time since our nation’s food was ubiquitously local, the point of origin now matters again to some consumers.”

And as we begin to appreciate place again, especially the farms that produce our food, we should also recognize the places we all live, the communities that make up our worlds.

Many of us have stories from our families about recipes and food traditions. These are our heritage and we need to do a better job of preserving them and drawing attention to them. There is treasure all around us. Some of us have been lucky enough to have these recipes handed down to us like cherished heirlooms. As a starting point, start telling stories about food you love to people you know.  We all have these stories and what fun they are to recount!! I’ll be cooking and blogging about a recipe collection I have from the 1920’s and 30’s and some especially wild ones from the 1950’s!

As we connect with our neighbors, and more importantly reconnect with our families, the table will become what it always was – a gathering place.  Come with me on an incredible journey as I attempt to explore how food can once again bring us to a point where we value where our food comes from, the hands that grew it and those that prepared it.  I hope you’ll join me for this amazing ride!

Roberta Rosa is a public school substitute teacher in Connecticut. She is married and the mother of 2 sons. She can be found on twitter @Roberta87

I’ve submitted this post to Food Renegade’s Fight Back Friday’s, because Roberta deserves it!

Tagged as: communities, Conventional Wisdom, Guest Bloggers, immigrants and food culture, Local, reconnecting the table