Setting the Table

For the season finale of Setting the Table, Deb explores one of her favorite topics, Black bakers and baking. From biscuits to yellow cake, baking has always been a huge part of Black foodways. On this episode, Baker and cookbook author Cheryl Day shares her thoughts on the legacy of Black bakers and preserving recipes, then chef, baker, and TV personality Carla Hall joins us to share her thoughts on biscuits, and representing Black baking in media.

Setting the Table is part of Whetstone Radio Collective. Learn more about Setting the Table here.

Find show notes here.

And transcript here.

During the civil rights era, Black women to used their skills as chefs and cooks to support social movements in this country. On this episode, Deb is joined by scholar and writer Suzanne Cope to explores the legacies of two such heroes, Aylene Quin, who helped feed and support the Civil Rights movement in Mississippi, and Cleo Silvers, who helped create the Black Panther Party's Free Breakfast for Children program. Deb also checks in with Arley Bell, a millenial baker who believes she can make a difference in food and activism though her beautifully decorated cakes and pastries.

Setting the Table is part of Whetstone Radio Collective. Learn more about Setting the Table here.

Find show notes here.

And transcript here.

One of the lasting effects of the Great Migration is the movement of Black foodways, and one of the best examples of this movement is barbecue. On this episode, Deb explores the legacy of Black barbeque in Los Angeles with food journalist Mona Holmes and BBQ pitmaster Lonnie Edwards.

Setting the Table is part of Whetstone Radio Collective. Learn more about Setting the Table here.

Find show notes here.

And transcript here.

On this episode, we take a deeper dive into the time-honored American tradition of Barbeque and its beginnings in Virginia by exploring the history of early pitmasters and the barbecue traditions that spread throughout the South and beyond with food historians Adrian Miller and Joshua Fitzwater.

Setting the Table is part of Whetstone Radio Collective. Learn more about Setting the Table here.

Find show notes here.

And transcript here.

Where does Black food go from here? How are today’s chefs pushing the narrative of Black food forward? This episode takes a look forward be talking to prominent chefs on the cutting edge of African American cuisine. Food influencer Scotty Scott and chef Adrienne Cheatham share their influences and visions for what Black food can be, with a foreword from Washington Post food writer Aaron Hutcherson.

Setting the Table is part of Whetstone Radio Collective. Learn more about Setting the Table here.

Find show notes here.

And transcript here.

Down home cooking, also known as soul food, is African American cuisine stemming from the days of enslavement, spread throughout the country through the Great Migration, and enjoyed everywhere as comfort food. This episode explores the complicated relationship between Black chefs and soul food. Chef & culinary historian Therese Nelson shares her thoughts on soul food as a concept, and then chefs Chris Scott and Mashama Bailey share their individual experiences with making soul food.

Setting the Table is part of Whetstone Radio Collective. Learn more about Setting the Table here.

Find show notes here.

And transcript here.

It’s been a few generations since the Great Migration, and we starting to see a resurgence of African-Americans deciding to return to agriculture and take up farming. On this episode, Deb speaks to current farmers about the reasons they farm, and how they are working to change the difficult relationship between Black Americans and farming. We hear from Ashlee Johnson-Geisse of Brown Girl Farms about why she decided to start a farm in the middle of the 2020 lockdown, Kamal Bell of Sankofa Farms about how his farm's youth programs support his community, and finally Olivia Watkins of the Black Farmer Fund about how she's helping Black farmers become financially sustainable.

Setting the Table is part of Whetstone Radio Collective. Learn more about Setting the Table here.

Find show notes here.

African Americans have always had a complicated relationship with farming, despite being the backbone of America’s early agricultural industry, only 1% of farmers in the country are currently African American. On this episode we hear from African American Studies professor Dr. Valerie Grim, policy expert Eloris Speight, and renowned writer Natalie Baszile, as we explore the history of African Americans and agriculture, from enslavement and sharecropping, to the systemic challenges that Black Farmers still face today.

Setting the Table is part of Whetstone Radio Collective. Learn more about Setting the Table here.

Find show notes here.

To understand African American foodways, we must first understand The Great Migration. From the 1910’s to the 1970’s, over six million African Americans moved from the rural South to the urban North in one of the largest mass movements of people in American History. On this episode, we hear from history professor Dr Frederick Douglas Opie, and culinary historian Adrian Miller, about how this critical phenomenon not only affected African Americans economically and socially, but also brought the spread of Southern food across the country, influencing regional cuisines for years to come.

Setting the Table is part of Whetstone Radio Collective. Learn more about Setting the Table here.

Find show notes here.

Find out what's in store from the newest upcoming podcast from the Whetstone Radio Collective, Setting the Table, a podcast about African American cuisine and foodways hosted by Southern Food Writer Debra Freeman (@audiophilegirl). Launching March 8, 2022