Skip to content
Search
Cuisine Noir Magazine
Support Our Work - Donate
Support Our Work - Donate
  • Food & Drink
  • Travel
  • Lifestyle
  • Recipes
  • Book Grub
  • Events
  • Marketplace
  • Print
  • Podcast
  • More
    • The Culinary Scoop (blog)
    • Black Wineries
    • Videos
    • CN Review
    • Donate
Cuisine Noir Magazine
  • Food & Drink
  • Travel
  • Lifestyle
  • Recipes
  • Book Grub
  • CN Review
  • Marketplace
  • Print
  • The Culinary Scoop (blog)
  • Events
  • Black Wineries
  • Videos
Support Our Work - Donate
Support Our Work - Donate
Search
Cuisine Noir Magazine
Support Our Work - Donate
Support Our Work - Donate
  • Food & Drink
  • Travel
  • Lifestyle
  • Recipes
  • Book Grub
  • Events
  • Marketplace
  • Print
  • Podcast
  • More
    • The Culinary Scoop (blog)
    • Black Wineries
    • Videos
    • CN Review
    • Donate
Cuisine Noir Magazine
  • Food & Drink
  • Travel
  • Lifestyle
  • Recipes
  • Book Grub
  • CN Review
  • Marketplace
  • Print
  • The Culinary Scoop (blog)
  • Events
  • Black Wineries
  • Videos
Support Our Work - Donate
Support Our Work - Donate

Eat The Culture’s Pursuit to Build Tables for Black Creatives in Food Media

Eat The Culture - Sense & Edibility food creator Marta Rivera Diaz
Pictured: Marta Rivera Diaz, food creator of Sense & Edibility | Photo credit: Marta Rivera Diaz
February 21, 2022
Ashia Aubourg
Share this article
       

Meiko Temple, a prominent food creative at Meiko and the Dish, birthed Eat The Culture – a community-centered safe space for Black culinary creators and entrepreneurs after seeing the lack of representation in food media. By convening some of the most passionate food creatives, Eat the Culture employs three pillars: elevate, activate, and teach to amplify Black entrepreneurs in food. This February, the organization is taking its efforts to new levels by hosting an Afro-futuristic virtual potluck celebrating Black History Month.

“It's really about Black people in food who empower content creators, storytellers, and tastemakers that champion Black foodways,” shares Marwin Brown. Brown leads the food and music blog, Food Fidelity, and serves on the board with five other members passionate about Black food creators getting the opportunities they deserve.

Eat the Culture - Meiko Temple, food creator at Meiko and the Dish
Pictured: Meiko Temple, food creator at Meiko and the Dish | Photo credit: Meiko Temple
Elevating Black Food Creators

Eat The Culture established roots in the summer of 2021, after an intense year dealing with reactionary food media publications. With increased murders of Black people at the hands of police officers, a larger question surrounding equity in Black communities and what it means to be an ally rose to the surface, igniting various brands to want to target Black food creators.

Marta Rivera Diaz, another board member at Eat The Culture, shares, “When it comes to who media outlets will hire or even pitch to, it really is reactionary based on the social environment in the United States.” Diaz is the chef and founder of Sense & Edibility, and for years has witnessed the disparities in opportunities for Black professionals in food.

Diaz continues, “Part of our goal at Eat The Culture and through these virtual potlucks is to show media outlets that there's a wealth of Black food talent that they are missing out on.”

Eat The Culture - Marwin Brown, food creator at Food Fidelity
Pictured: Marwin Brown, food creator at Food Fidelity | Photo credit: Marwin Brown

One of the most significant efforts that Eat The Culture initiates are virtual events to elevate various Black food creators. This February, for instance, Eat The Culture is collaborating with more than 30 Black recipe developers to honor Black History Month. Kenneth Temple, chef, author, and contributor to Eat The Culture, shares, “It's fun for me to collaborate with all these creators…this year, I love the whole concept of Afrofuturism, it's just a way to take it to the next level in how we can elevate food.”

Activating Black Food Creators

Knowing that Black food creators deserve more opportunities, instead of waiting on conventional food media publications to activate these food entrepreneurs, Eat The Culture takes matters into their own hands.

Jessica Lawson, contributor to Eat The Culture and founder of Big Delicious Life, shares, “I'm one of the baby bloggers out here, and there's a lot of people in this group that have provided me with a lot of support, community and encouragement… it's crowded out here. It's a lot to navigate…especially a lot to navigate if you're a person of color.”

Eat The Culture - food creator Jessica Lawson at Big Delicious Life
Pictured: Jessica Lawson, food creator Jessica Lawson at Big Delicious Life | Photo credit: Jessica Lawson

Eat The Culture deployed a challenge for its contributors to submit delicious recipes for their Holiday E-book to facilitate confidence and overall skill development opportunities. And, not just for emerging food bloggers, but veteran food bloggers well. Zainab, the creator of A Classic Twist, has been food blogging since 2012 and reflects on what it means to contribute to Eat The Culture. “It introduces me to new food creators and pushes me to elevate as much as I can.”

Teaching Black Food Creators & Reshaping Media

What sets Eat The Culture apart from other organizations aimed at professionally developing food creators is the mutualistic teaching relationships that they facilitate and encourage. When creating equitable and anti-oppressive spaces, one of the most common practices is collectivity —or in other words —no one knows everything, but collectively groups know a lot. Eat The Culture is intergenerational, international, and diverse in the Black Diaspora, yet they still learn from each other.

Eat The Culture - Kenneth Temple, chef and author
Picture: Kenneth Temple, chef and Eat The Culture contributor | Photo credit: Ashley Lorraine

“We're doing a reverse crabs-in-a-barrel instead of pulling each other down. We are all lifting each other up,” shares Temple.

To continue, the collective has dreams to rewrite narratives and expand on the boxes that Black food creatives are traditionally put in. Lawson reflects on how Black food creators are typically called upon to collaborate by sharing recipes for particular holidays but would love to see more Black creators contributing everyday recipes and food content.

RELATED: Dine Diaspora’s Black Women in Food Initiative Showcases Female Industry Champions

“For the virtual potluck, people really showed out, and it demonstrated so much creativity, artistry, and the diversity across the diaspora…I found that I learned so much just as a participant,” shares Lawson.

The Future of Eat The Culture

While Eat The Culture has made many strides, there is still a lot of work to tackle systemic inequities that contribute to the lack of representation of Black people in food media. Nevertheless, the collective is very excited about adding more contributors to their organization, hosting more out-of-the-box events and continuing to give Black creatives their flowers.

Eat the Culture -Zainab, food creator at A Classic Twist
Pictured: Zainab, food creator at A Classic Twist | Photo credit: Jen Tilley Photography

Diaz shares, “It costs nothing to encourage another person. We are always keen on giving people their flowers. We know what a struggle it is to put yourself out there… we take that collective struggle that we are familiar with and turn it around to encourage Black food bloggers to keep going.”

For more information on Eat The Culture, its board members, contributors, and happenings, visit their website, Instagram, and Facebook. Learn more here about Eat The Culture's 2022 Black History Month Virtual Potluck.

  • under Food & Drink Rhonda McCullough-Gilmore: Memories of Bernie Mac & Cooking with Love
  • LaTocha Scott-Bivens - Xcape’s and vegan enthusiast
    under Food & Drink Why Xcape’s LaTocha Scott-Bivens Wants to “Veganize” Your Menu
  • Celebrity chef and The Great Soul Food Cook-Off Champion Razia Sabour
    under Black Chefs , Food & Drink Celebrity Chef Razia Sabour Honors Soul Food’s History with Competition Win
  • Soul Food Restaurants by Felicia owners Joselino Neto Lima de Barros, Feliciana de Ceita Neto de Lima and Jose Feliciano Lima de Barros
    under Black Chefs , Food & Drink A Mother’s Dream Inspires Soul Food Restaurant by Felicia in Lisbon
Share this article
Ashia Aubourg

Intrigued by food since a young girl, Ashia aspired to be a professional chef, but after testing out the waters, realized that was not her path. Still passionate about food, she became the first to declare Food Studies as a major at Syracuse University where her research and passion focused on community empowerment through food. When Ashia is not writing or analyzing data about food, she loves to practice cooking and developing recipes at home for her food blog.

Related Articles

Loading...
R&B singer Bobby Brown with Bobby Brown Foods products
Featured Food & Drink

Singer Bobby Brown is Spicing Up New Edition’s The Legacy Tour

Kitchen designer Caren Rideau
Food & Drink Lifestyle

Kitchen Designer Caren Rideau Creates Spaces Inspired by Food, Culture and Wine

Célébrez en Rosé festival attendees
Black Winemakers Food & Drink

Célébrez en Rosé Wine & Music Festival Announces 2023 Spring Dates

Be the first to know about the latest online, industry updates, world news, events and promotions that connect the African diaspora through food, drink and travel.

    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising

    #IAmCuisineNoir

    This site participates in affiliate programs. See our full disclosure for more information.

    Copyright© 2023 Cuisine Noir and The Global Food and Drink Initiative. Privacy
    Site by ACS Digital

    Any unauthorized duplication, download or reprint of images or content from this website for promotional or commercial use is strictly prohibited without written permission from The Global Food and Drink Initiative. Violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Trademark pending.

    YES!  We’re excited you are signing up too!  

    Get ready to receive our weekly newsletter about:

    • New articles online
    • World news and industry happenings throughout the African Diaspora
    • Mouthwatering recipes
    • Promotions and giveaways

    Right in your inbox!