Food for Thought: African American Soul Food

By Joseph Dorsey

The documentary “Soul Food Junkies” follows the cultural history of soul food and its influence on unhealthy eating habits and current health crisis among African-Americans. It is a film that shines a light on the burgeoning “food justice movement” which aims to provide lower income areas known as “food deserts” with quality fresh fruits and produce.

Film director Byron Hurt’s film was heavily influenced by his personal life: his own father died in 2007 from pancreatic cancer at the age of 63. Shortly before his death, he had slowly begun changing his unhealthy eating habits, however it was too late.

Soul food is a staple of Black and Southern cultures and is home to many classic American comfort foods such as fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, chicken-fried steak, etc. However, the common theme is that many of these dishes are high in fat, starch, cholesterol and sodium. Many of these dishes are being fried in fat and butter. These factors contribute to the epidemic levels of high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and stroke in the black communities. Soul Food Junkies, rather than blaming, looks into the many contributions on why African Americans in low-income areas have poor access to fresh produce from culture to economic racism.

After the film and a soul food sample buffet, a discussion was held among students and faculty about how to bring about the necessary changes. Students agreed after seeing the film they would take a second look at soul food from making it healthier to integrating more organic fruits and vegetables into their diets. Among the topics they looked at afterward were the food deserts of Chicago and whether there are any food deserts here in the south suburbs and where in the suburbs quality fresh produce is available.

During the discussion Professor Tina Parks gave a brief lecture on the why it’s important to moderate things like soul food with healthy choices while dining out, saying that it’s not a bad thing to enjoy the history, culture, and love that comes with these foods. They are great in moderation, but the goal is to beat the everyday cycle that unhealthy eating has become.

“[Soul Food] is the cheapest way for people to be proud...when people tell you it’s good, it makes you feel good,” Parks began. “[The older generations] didn’t have degrees, they didn’t have the big house, they didn’t have the car, they didn’t have anything else to be proud of but the fact that ‘I know I can throw down.’” 

She continued on how to make healthier eating habits more attainable through small steps to making positive health decisions.

“We’re really trying to change the face of our world,” she said, “not only with the types of food we eat, but our relationship with food the way we understand it and making it in a way that our children will like it so it’s not so drab.”