Foodways change with time and history. National events like Slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the migration West have prominently affected the way people cook, eat, and use food to commune and visit with one another. The influx of modern influences like technology, industry, convenient transportation, and nationwide communication has also made a significant impact on food. These circumstances have necessitated a great deal of improvisation on the part of African-American families and individuals in order to cook and eat using their culture's traditions.
This ability to adjust and benefit from extreme and often devastating conditions has resulted in innovative cooking styles, the ability to make almost any kind of food appealing, strong family traditions, and the stamina and determination to maintain and even market cooking traditions in the commercial sector. We hope Food Way has illustrated the evolution of food within African-American culture and how it echoes a strong sense of history, the complexity of race relations within the South, the strong social connection between family members and friends, personal expression, and the endurance of traditions that can be traced back to a completely different time and place.
