What Has Influenced Your Eating Habits?
Dr. Alvenia M. Fulton,
I have been talking about what I call Food Rebels, specifically black scholars, nationalist, and culinary activist like Dr. Alvenia M. Fulton and Dick Gregory who in the 1960s opted for creating food systems that would protect their people from a caste system dedicated to the exploitation, control, and destruction of black bodies. They called the standard American diet and food system a diet and system that denied black folks access to inexpensive nutritious food. However their views made limited inroads in most African American communities across the country. Most did not hear their message in African American media outlets nor had consciousness about the culinary debates and schisms that existed between them. The information did reach black folks among those who read, attended lectures and workshops and tuned into progressive shows. My parents did and exposed me to alternative views that continue to influence my eating habits.
