Heirloom Meals: Savoring Yesterday's Traditions Today

Natasha Bowens on Heirloom Meals Radio



Natasha Bowens is an amazing person. She grew up in southern Florida with her Mom and for a time her Cuban step dad. Her food memories are diverse because her heritage is diverse. She is biracial with connections to southern soul food, Cuban food, and her working mom’s weeknight concoctions. Natasha found herself called to the soil to farm, and what she discovered while sowing seeds was that she needed to address some deep feelings. She says her book, The Color of Food: Stories of Race, Resilience and Farming, "But as I began to feel rooted in my life as someone who worked the land, I quickly realized all the cultural and historic baggage that came with that. My father's ancestors worked in the fields as slaves; in fact, they were slaves owned by my mother's ancestors. I'm literally the product of ownership and oppression reuniting, as if to rewrite the story. So when I ended up in the fields myself, I felt deeply conflicted. It was as if all my feelings about my family history and this country's agricultural history were converging at once. It was as if my agrarian story was already written."

Natasha’s story is truly beautiful, and I hope you enjoy it was much as I did!

Enjoy!