American Food Stories

We’ve talked a little about the absence and fragility of historical archives about what people actually ate. It can be hard to know! So let’s make life easier for future food historians.

Why we’re doing this

• Consider the nature of food archives
• Document NM food history
• Basic experience with sound editing
• Participate and reflect on a collaborative public history project

What you will do

• Record ~6 minutes of someone or yourself discussing a dish or food tradition or experience. It doesn’t really matter as long as it’s meaningful to the speaker
• Use basic sound editing software to clean it up (this takes about 30 minutes)
• Write up a ~500 word analysis based on course themes to contextualize your audio clip
• Use AI to generate some goofy image related to your food topic
• Create a simple webpage to host your interview clip and your blurb and image
• YOU WILL HAVE DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS FOR EVERY STEP

Questions to keep in mind for your analysis

• Does the story related to identity, gender, community, authenticity, heritage, etc.
• What kind of larger themes appear (exotic, health, comfort, economy, speed, etc)?
• What kind of assumptions can you detect about cooking/cuisine/food?
• Are the various “national” or “ethnic” influences of the recipes or instructions?
• How much does tradition or originality or authenticity matter?
• Do you think your blogs help construct an American, regional, or family identity?
• REMEMBER: You’re READING BETWEEN THE LINES to learn about American culture and cuisine.

Questions

Writing is hard enough, and virtually impossible when you’re not sure what you’re trying to do. Please get in touch!