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Nutrition: Food & Culture

Today I introduce you all to my incredible, astute grandmother, Mary.

Hi Granny, I’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

My name is Mary. I am Lesley’s grandmother, and I am happy to be included in this. I grew up in a small town in Arkansas and my upbringing shaped my experience with food and with cooking.

Okay. I understand the influence of small town living but do you mind expounding on that for my readers who may not?

Firstly, everything was fresh because we grew our own food. We really didn’t shop for anything. We were self-sufficient.

Did you grow up on a farm?

No, but we did own our land. The town I lived in was special because it was an all-black town, and everyone owned their land. No one rented. That was a big deal back then, especially in the rural South. Everyone in my family that lived in that town owned their land. I come from a large family, and we kept the land in the family. There was always somebody around. It was a special, little town.

How large of a family?

Well, I’ll just tell you about my aunts: Aunt Onia had 28 children; Aunt Bernice had 21 children; Aunt Minnie had 11 children; and Aunt Liza had 8. My cousins and I were close. Some of my family members were teachers at my school. I couldn’t get away with anything. [laughs]

Wow! So, did you all work together to grow food or did you all share what was grown?

Not really. Everyone had chickens running around, some hogs, and a big garden in their own yard. If you wanted a vegetable you didn’t grow, you would exchange or swap it for something else. And that didn’t have to be with your family members: it could just be your neighbor. We looked out for each other.

What vegetables did your family grow?

We had the common garden vegetables: all types of greens, butter beans, cabbage, peas, tomatoes, okra, and sweet potatoes. We would harvest a lot of sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving to make sure we had enough pies for everyone. Having gardens was natural for us. When we would get ready to prepare supper, we would go pick and pull what we needed from the garden. A big garden was a very natural thing.

You mentioned hogs. Granny it is hard for me to imagine you around hogs. [laughs]

It is hard for me to imagine me around some hogs now too. [laughs] But back then, most everybody had hogs. Slaughtering hogs and preserving pork is how it was done. There were smokehouses with slabs of bacon, and you would go in and cut the slices off yourself. I couldn’t really eat pork after they killed my friend.

Killed your friend!

I made the mistake of naming one of the little pigs Joe. The day they killed Joe, I had a fit. Hearing Joe die did something to me. He was my pet – my first and last pet. I was about 8 or 9 at the time. I said, “How dare y’all kill Joe?” He was my friend. I learned why they said: “You don’t make pets out of something you gone eat.”

Oh no! Granny, I’m so sorry.

It’s fine. I learned. Killing Joe taught me.

Please share three meals that were common when you were younger.

• Garden vegetables and preserved pork
• Salmon croquettes were a very good dinner, and we’d have it with rice.
• Rolls, baked chicken, and potato salad.

I loved me some salmon croquettes. I was so happy when I learned how to make those for myself.

In those times, the girl child knew how to cook by 8 or 9. I have been cooking on my own since I was 9. A whole dinner would be my responsibility. Dad died 5 days before my eighth birthday and Mother had to work. It took her away from the house, so family dinner was on me. I was the head of the family until Mother returned home from work.

Well, Granny, you know we have that in common. Different circumstances but we both were cooking at 9 years old. Tell me more about the type of meats you all would eat.

Just about everyone had hogs and chickens but we ate a lot of fresh fish. We ate fish caught fresh from the lake on the same day. Fresh lake fish was common. You might not be able to grasp this but at 8 and 9, I would chase the chicken, kill the chicken, wash and season the chicken for dinner.

Granny, let me get this right. You handled the chicken from the beginning to end – from a live chicken to a cooked chicken on the dinner table? At 8 and 9 years old?

Yes. [laughs] Can you imagine that?

No ma’am. [laughs] How have meals changed from then to now in your opinion?

You talkin’ ‘bout fresh! It was fresh. They put “fresh” on food packages now and I just laugh. They must think we’re stupid.

Granny! [laughs]

I’m for real. We didn’t have to worry about poisonous stuff in our food back then. Food wasn’t harmful. We didn’t go to the store for cookies, biscuits, or rolls. We baked them ourselves. We ate biscuits often. If we were going to be fancy and have rolls, I would simply add yeast to the biscuit recipe. I was baking pies at 10. It was natural for us to bake, to preserve, and to grow our food.

What did you all preserve? Did you all preserve foods often?

Yes, we did. We preserved fruits, vegetables, and meat. We’d put it in a jar, and it lasted for months. Before we got a freezer, we had to preserve our food. Some people call it canning. We preserved just about anything, and it was alright.

Eventually, you left the rural South for a city up North. Why was that?

I didn’t like being in the field. I loved reading. My mother would be calling me, and I wouldn’t hear a thing. They used to always tell me I was somewhere with my head stuck in a book. That motivated me even though it frustrated them. Direct me to the library where I can find fascinating books. I found that up North in the city.

That’s the Granny I know. Tell me more.

Yeah. I was born on and worked on farmland, but I desired to pursue education. When I moved to the city, I realized that education was available to me: down South, it wasn’t. In those days they called it a “gift for picking” when it came to picking cotton. My youngest sister Rosie had a gift for picking and would pick 200 lbs., take a nap, and pick the remaining 200 lbs. in time. I would have to work the entire day to try and pick the same 400 lbs. as Rosie. My sister Pie, po’ thang just couldn’t do it. I would put some of my cotton in her bag so she could at least have 260 lbs. That way we can all come back and help Mother earn in the fields. I didn’t like picking cotton and lugging cotton sacks. I wanted to read and learn.

I told you my “picking cotton” story from when I was down South, right? My mother was livid.

Yes, you did. That’s why I went looking for greener pastures in the city, I wanted more. I desired to pursue education and I did: it then became the norm. Up North I was able to work, go to school, and take care of my family as a wife and mother. I earned 2 bachelors, a masters, and started my PhD while maintaining an A average all in five years. Even though school came last because I had to be a parent and wife first, I made it happen. I learned to cook all kinds of casseroles and wrote my term papers early.

That is so awesome Granny. Your journey is so inspiring. Those casserole recipes were handed down generation to generation. How was the food in the city versus the food in the country?

In the city, chicken was expensive. Keep in mind this is around the late 60s and early 70s. We went out to eat at a restaurant and chicken was expensive, but I didn’t understand why. I was shocked because down South everybody had plenty chickens in their yards. I thought to myself that I could ring the chicken by the neck and cook it if they needed me to so it wouldn’t cost so much. That took some getting used to.

Granny don’t make me laugh. [laughs] I can see how that would have been surprising for you.

What does a typical day of meals look like for you now?

• A veggie omelet for breakfast. That’s my favorite. I don’t have to collect my own eggs now. [laughs] Back then we ate rice and chicken with gravy or sausage from the hogs we butchered with biscuits for breakfast but now I mainly eat omelets.
• For lunch I eat soup. Nothing too heavy.
• For a snack I eat roasted pecans or cottage cheese with some fruit like strawberries, peaches, or banana.

I like to bake food wrapped in foil to keep the juices. I don’t eat pork anymore. I can enjoy ham every now and then, mostly on holidays. I make my greens using turkey now instead of pork. I have to remind myself to eat now. I’m not usually hungry.

Let’s talk about the food of now – what do you love? What do you not love?

Back then everything we ate was fresh. We preserved food for winter, but it was normal for us to eat fresh food. Every single thing was fresh. I love it that more health markets are popping up and you can have your fruits and vegetables delivered.

So, has the biggest adjustment for you been the lack of fresh food that isn’t harmful?

Yes.

Thank you for taking the time to talk with me about this topic.

You’re welcome. You know I’m proud of you girl. Love you.

Love you too, Granny.

Photo credit: Erik Mclean via Unsplash

This image reminds me many of the houses in that special, little town, especially the wooden steps.