The African American food culture of Harris County and its history are shared by many places in the Deep South. Slavery had a deep impact on food access for blacks, and many of the foods slaves ate are still part of black food culture today. African Americans took pride in eating what they grew, and this pride continues to exist today despite the incorporation of food from other cultures. My family provides a great example of how social and economic issues affect the food culture of Harris County, Georgia.

During the era of American slavery, African Americans had to be creative and resourceful to survive. They were often denied the better cuts of meat and responded by creatively using lower-end food products. Even after emancipation, many blacks still could not afford the better cuts of meat or other more expensive foods. Fortunately, more blacks attained land in the 1930-1940s and began to farm for themselves, and they tended to grow foods that reflected the racial and economic oppression they endured.

The product of this oppression is what we call “soul food.”  Soul food takes those inexpensive, easily accessible food products and puts them to use in inventive ways. Many of these foods, like chicken, hogs, and greens, were commonly grown and raised on African American farms, though soul food also makes use of often-rejected animal parts, too. Many black families in our county used the usually undesired ham hock, for example, to season boiled collard greens, turnip greens, and green beans. We all know of the dually loved and hated “chitlins” or chitterlings, which are boiled or fried pig intestines.

My own family has followed many of the mainstream traditions of African American cuisine in this corner of the world. In the 1950’s, my grandmother and grandfather owned and lived on a farm in Harris County, and my family proudly ate what they worked hard to grow. As my family helped to form the West Georgia Farmer’s Cooperative, these traditions and their associated sense of pride grew even stronger. To build interest and funds for the co-op, my grandmother held fish fry parties every Friday, using fish that our family caught.

At home, she was proud to cook fried chicken, chicken feet, pig’s ears, chitlins, ham, fried fish, turkey, lima beans, black-eyed peas, collard and turnip greens, green beans, squash, mac and cheese, cornbread, dressing, and much more. Today she still cooks all of these foods, but as the accessibility of food changed, she began to add more dishes to our family’s diet. She now cooks steak, ribs, hamburgers, Mexican food, salads, spaghetti, etc. My family loves our “soul food” traditions but is never afraid to incorporate food from other cultures.

Many African Americans in Harris County share our commitment food traditions. Most black families today may not have the strong agricultural ties that ours does, but they retain a genuine taste for soul food because they grew up eating it, and because soul food recipes and traditions are passed down from generation to generation. Most Harris County African Americans are proud that their ancestors could create such a creative and powerful food culture out of a time of great racial and economic oppression. That doesn’t mean that African Americans in Harris County aren’t open to new things, but we will always have a soft spot for the soul food that “grandma used to make.”