Soul Food Junkies-New Documentary

[EvesDilemma]

I've been on a bit of a documentary kick but this one looks really good.

http://vimeo.com/6227116

He has a facebook page for the documentary-looks like they are setting up to begin screenings:

http://www.facebook.com/SoulFoodJunkies

[Vavoon]

im def gonna look into this...looks good!

[CottonCrown]

Looks good, but I couldn't watch the trailer all the way through. I'm too hungry!

[ImNotMyHair]

^^^ me too !!!! i was drooling over the fried chicken !! I might have missed the message cuz I'm hungry ! It looks like a great documentary though

[azalee]

where can you watch the whole documentary? I really like what I watched so far

[Basal]

Looks like a great documentary. Def hits alot of points that the black community needs to hear, and just america in general really. I can't wait to see the whole documentary.

[EvesDilemma]

where can you watch the whole documentary? I really like what I watched so far
I think he's still wrapping it up and prepping it for screening-at least that's the impression I got from his facebook page.

I'm looking forward to it though-I did email him to find out when it would be released-if I hear back I'll let you know.

[chachadiva]

Looks like a great film. However, I don't think it's necessarily breaking any new ground. People have been talking about the connection between health and soul food for years. People have been discussing the processed food industry and corporate farming for years.

Maybe the impact will be that all of the voices and talking heads are Black people. Maybe Black people will listen and think about these issues since it's our people doing the talking.

[Micheli]

That one lady makes me want to be a vegetarian. That seaweed roll looked hella good, and here I am eating some dern steak. This is going to be the last steak i eat...ever!8)

[Soul Rebel]

Looks like a great film. However, I don't think it's necessarily breaking any new ground. People have been talking about the connection between health and soul food for years. People have been discussing the processed food industry and corporate farming for years.

Maybe the impact will be that all of the voices and talking heads are Black people. Maybe Black people will listen and think about these issues since it's our people doing the talking.

I think that is the difference, yes. And showing that veggie food is yummy and can be adapted to 'our' kind of diet. This is actually what I work with in my Food Equity & Education work.

Sent from my iPad using Forum Runner

[GalaxyGirl2012]

the documentary looks like it'll be interested. i'd be interested in seeing it. this topic is much more in my mind since i recently moved to a neighborhood where the only food choices (save the 1 small korean grocer) within a walking distance are fast food, corner stores or liquor stores

i've had the vegan soul kitchen cookbook on my wish list for a while. i think it'll be perfect for me since when i was growing up on soul food, i was all about the sides..

i need to try that seaweed roll!

[ladykpnyc]

I'm definitely going to take my family to see this. I get teased for eating healthy--my family calls my house the Kill Zone b/c it's full of veggies and non processed foods that they won't eat. Hopefully it has an impact. Thanks OP for posting this!

[missladee622]

Loved the excerpt. This looks good!!(:-)

[Allnaturalsista]

This looks pretty good. Personally, I don't eat soul food as often as I used to. I don't even know if I really ever ate it that often. I may be the only black person who doesn't care for fried chicken (j/k, I know there are more). I mean, I'll eat it but maybe like once ever few months, if that.

Ok, I don't know if it's the actual food that we eat or rather the stuff that we put on it....

I'll be sure to watch this!

[jorjeni]

This looks pretty good. Personally, I don't eat soul food as often as I used to. I don't even know if I really ever ate it that often. I may be the only black person who doesn't care for fried chicken (j/k, I know there are more). I mean, I'll eat it but maybe like once ever few months, if that.

Ok, I don't know if it's the actual food that we eat or rather the stuff that we put on it....

I'll be sure to watch this!

I only eat my mom's fried chicken since she no longer lives with me I have not had any in over a year. I stopped frying everything but Catfish and green tomatoes a few years ago. If I eat something fried now I get sick. It don't even taste good fried anymore.

did anyone notice that woman spooning melted butter on the mac and cheese I almost got sick just watching that.

[tjolims]

Has anyone seen this yet?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8Pgpr5EoVM

Looks interesting...I saw another clip where a gentleman said that soul food is not the bane of Black health, the industrialization of the food industry is...(:-)

[ChandraNH]

slightly off topic, I used to have Norma Jean Darden's cookbook (with her sister) Spoonbread and Strawberry Wine. It is an excellent cookbook and glimpse of history (stories about black people traveling on highways and bringing their own food for picnics since there weren't places for us to stop and eat).

Lost it to my mother who borrowed it and won't give it back. it had the best mac and cheese recipe ever.

[chachadiva]

Here's a thread on the doc: http://www.nappturality.com/forum/showthread.php?t=143478

One part of the discussion is folks unwillingness to actually cook at home. We've become a culture of fast, cheap, and easy. Yet folks have time to watch reality TV. People have to be willing to put in a little work to get the good quality ingredients they need.

I'm glad to hear of places like Harlem Shambles (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/21/dining/harlem-shambles-a-butcher-shop-opens-uptown.html) which is an old fashioned butcher shop selling grass fed beef and other quality meat. Let's hope our people support it.

[Msretta]

Wow. My daughter and I were just talking about this and we agree with the sentiment of the gentleman that says Soul food isn't the bane of Black health...the industrialization of the food industry is. I was telling her that I grew up 'eating clean' as did she.
In my house there is always a skillet and pot on the stove, we rarely eat out/fast food and my grandchildren are always letting me know what they want me to cook.
I agree that folks don't want to cook at home yet it is fun and fulfilling even!
Amazon here I come for the cookbook mentioned.

[chachadiva]

I agree that folks don't want to cook at home yet it is fun and fulfilling even!

Cooking is totally fun!! It's like a work of art and an act of creation all at the same time. The BIGGEST fallacy is that cooking is time consuming. Make use of the oven. With 30-60 prep time, you can put enough food in the over that will last a week or more. You don't have to watch things bake or roast. Just set the timer and go do something else while the food is cooking.

[Msretta]

Chacha.....exactly. The art of cooking. Gives new meaning to 'can't boil water'!

[Princess Pamplemousse]

I don't even get the obsession with fast food. It doesn't even taste like food! My ONLY exception is Chipotle. When I'm home for short breaks I have a hard time divvying up which days I'll eat my parents cooking and which days are for burritos :*\ It just tastes soooo good. Nothing like McDonalds and co in my opinion.

[GalaxyGirl2012]

I don't even get the obsession with fast food. It doesn't even taste like food! My ONLY exception is Chipotle. When I'm home for short breaks I have a hard time divvying up which days I'll eat my parents cooking and which days are for burritos :*\ It just tastes soooo good. Nothing like McDonalds and co in my opinion.
but it's owned by mcdo's so they got ya :-))

i agree about fast food. last week i really really wanted a bacon cheeseburger and onion rings and i'm so glad i went to a "real" place where I actually saw them chop the onions and bread them, shape the beef, etc. that burger and rings tasted way better than anything i've ever had from BK (which used to be my favorite fast food burger chain)

[Michele4905]

I blogged about soul food here:

http://sisterescape.blogspot.com/2011/07/in-defense-of-soul-food.html

Is soul food unhealthy? A lot of it is, yes. Is it more unhealthy than Thai or French food? No, its not. Many cuisines across the globe contain of a lot of fried food; a lot of butter or lard; and are meat heavy.

[Princess Pamplemousse]

but it's owned by mcdo's so they got ya :-))



Nope, not any longer. They haven't been a majority investor since either 2006 or 2009. Can't remember which now.

[Moderator Q]

http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff512/Moderator_Q/merged.gif

[tjolims]

Thanks Mod Q!

[AfroIsland]

ITA with the posters who commented that soul food isn't the problem, the industrialization of food is the issue (:-). Flour coated fried chicken and these Paula Dean desserts would not have been a part of a traditional soul food based diet because, in the past, wheat flour and white flour, specifically, was something only white people with decent income could afford. Industrialization made both white flour and sugar cheap, and that's how they became staples of modern soul food. Traditional soul food would have involved lots of dark leafy greens, root vegetables, beans, and meat in small quantities but predominately organ meats (actually very good for you). Think of the vegetables, fruits, and animals that are native to the South. That's mainly what black people would have had access to, or would have been farming. Also humans have been (and some still do) living and thriving while cooking with lard (simply animal fat) forever. People are better built to digust natural fats than anything else. I have yet to see any study or report say that people who eat traditional foods (butter and meat included) in traditional ways don't suffer from less to almost nonexistent cases the Western diseases we're dying from.

I find what people eat, how people eat, and the ways it effects the body fascinating (continuing school to study it). After chewing over ( :-)) ) so much information and so many varying viewpoints, I've personally found that the traditional way seems so right.