Exploring the World through Foods

In season 4, episode 4 of Developing Global Citizens we discuss the connection between food and culture in teaching the Humanities. And several SF students and faculty talk about their personal experiences with some of the foods highlighted in the Florida Heritage Foods Initiative, www.floridaheritagefoods.com. 

The Florida Heritage Foods Initiative at Santa Fe College aims to stimulate the heritage food economy in Florida farmers' markets in partnership with Florida Organic Growers and Consumers, by providing public education about heritage foods for consumers and providing farmers' markets with tools to reach culturally diverse communities already purchasing heritage food.

Funding for the Florida Heritage Foods Initiative: Connecting Local Food with Local Culture in Florida Farmers Markets was made possible by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service through grant Agreement Number 21FMPPFL1026-00. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the USDA.

Transcript

Vilma (00:00):
Welcome to Santa Fe College. My name is Vilma Fuentes and this is our podcast on developing global citizens. Today, we are joined by a couple of faculty members and three students who will speak to us about how we are exploring the world through food and culture in humanities and foreign language classes. Specifically, I'm being joined by Bahkti Gibson, a student in our AS in Information Technology. Luis Sandoval, an AA student from Miami. Gabriel Frank, a local student graduate from Santa Fe High School, who's also completing his AA. Dr. Sarah Cervone, Professor of Humanities, and Dr. Marcella Murillo, Professor of Spanish and Humanities. Thank you all for being here. So, Dr. Cervone, let me start with you. You've been teaching students about food in your religion and humanities classes for quite some time. Why? And how are students learning about the world through the study of food?

Sarah (01:05):
Well, I've been involved in the local food movement for more than a decade, so food has always been important in my life. And then my training in cultural anthropology, I've always known that food and culture are inextricably linked. Food is also a great way to teach the humanities because everyone engages with food. We share food. And so, through that, we can take real life experiences and integrate them into the classroom to make what we're teaching in the classroom relevant to the students' lives, but then also relevant to the outside world.

Vilma (01:39):
So let me get this straight. Do you mainly teach about locally grown food or are you teaching about foods grown in other parts of the world?

Sarah (01:48):
Well, initially, when I started integrating the food and culture, it was foods grown in other parts of the world. But then as I was developing the lessons, it became very apparent that a lot of the foods that I eat are from other parts of the world. And so that's where it really ties into one of the objectives of the courses. To situate the food within its global context. Looking at culture and, particularly, international culture as globalized. That we're not in these discrete separate areas, but that we're all connected and have been for all of humankind. And so, with that, that's when I really started taking a closer look. A lot of the foods that are familiar to me. Where are they from? Okra, for example, from Africa. The sweet potatoes from Latin America. And just highlighting the multicultural and international history of Florida. Hundreds of years of not only people coming together, but also our food systems. And that's what we're seeing today is that we can see our food systems are a reflection of our local history. By exploring our food, we can explore ourselves, but then we can also connect with each other.

Vilma (02:58):
Bahkti, you were enrolled in Dr. Cervone's religion class a few semesters ago. But before we talk about that, tell me a little bit about you. Where are you from? Where were you born?

Bahkti (03:10):
I was born in Mumbai, India.

Vilma (03:12):
When did you come to Florida?

Bahkti (03:15):
When I was 20 years old, I got married, then I moved to America.

Vilma (03:20):
Okay, excellent. And now you are in an IT program? I may have gotten it wrong. It's the AS in what?

Bahkti (03:27):
Information technology.

Vilma (03:28):
Oh, it is information. I got it right! Okay, perfect. So here you are taking this religion class. I didn't even know IT students did that. Must be the humanities requirement in the AS?

Bahkti (03:39):
Yes, it was. But I was attracted to this class because I'm Hindu. I was raised as a Hindu. And so religion is important to me. I wanted to also learn about other religions as well. That's what attracted me to the class.

Vilma (03:54):
So you enrolled in this class about religion and then you started learning about food. Talk to me. What was that about? What did you study? What did you learn? And did it surprise you?

Bahkti (04:08):
Yes, actually. I learned the basis or celebration of all religion is food. Food is a very big part of religion. When there's a celebration in each religion, food plays a very major part in that. So learning about different foods and how it connects people together is interesting. That was something I didn't realize.

Vilma (04:39):
Give me some examples from your perspective. Coming from the Hindu background. Give me examples of times when there's a religious event, ceremony, whatever holiday, and the role that food plays. Can you be more specific and perhaps describe some foods that you might use?

Bahkti (04:57):
Kheer. For my project in my class, I made kheer. It's an Indian dish. It's a sweet rice. It's cooked with milk and cardamom and cashews. And it's used in many different... It's actually not just made on festivals, but if you're celebrating graduation or stuff like that. It's a dish that's used for all celebration.

Vilma (05:23):
Excellent. And so what about other crops like turmeric or rice or... I don't know. I've seen my... I have Indian neighbors that make great okra. Do you use these? Because I'm used to thinking about okra as a southern food.

Bahkti (05:43):
One thing I learned in this class is that Ayurveda is related to Indian food. The majority of the foods like turmeric and okra has medicinal properties and majority of the Indian foods do. Turmeric is used as a spice in Indian cooking a lot and it has anti-inflammatory properties in it as well. So yeah.

Vilma (06:11):
Interesting. And I think you shared with me earlier that you're vegetarian?

Bahkti (06:15):
Yes. Yes.

Vilma (06:18):
Do you pay attention... When you're putting your dishes together, are you thinking about, like, and this one has protein and this one has vitamin C? Are you thinking along those lines or are you just cooking things that you grew up cooking?

Bahkti (06:29):
Sometimes. Now that I have kids, I do think about those things, but sometimes it's more for flavor as well.

Vilma (06:38):
Thank you. So, Dr. Murillo, you've been exploring Florida heritage foods in your Spanish classes and I think your Latin American humanities classes. Is that correct?

Marcella (06:47):
Correct. I've been working with the Latin American crops for almost two semesters now. It started because I got involved with the USDA grant project. It's been going wonderful because food is that delectable, palatable way to access one's identity. In this case, Latin American identity.

Vilma (07:10):
You say you've been working with Latin American crops. Give me some examples. What's a Latin American crop?

Marcella (07:15):
Well, let me tell you. Chaya, chayote, potatoes, and so more. My students can talk more about it very soon.

Vilma (07:24):
Okay, excellent. So, have you... I'm sorry. To clarify, have you been talking about food in your foreign language classes or in your Latin American humanities classes?

Marcella (07:35):
Yes. Well, I have been talking... I have been involved in this project in my two classes, Spanish and Latin American humanities. So in the Spanish classes, we have a similar angle. We focus on the cultural side, the nutritional benefits, and to see any background stories about the plant or the crop that we are experiencing in terms of mythology. Students that are taking the language classes, they have an added value, which would be to include these cultural sense in the grammar structures. We try to review some grammar structures that are from Spanish using vocabulary that is related to, for example, planting or cooking.

Marcella (08:24):
In the Latin American sections, we are working on two... Well, on two projects. The main one is the research project in which the students are tasked to research nutritional planting, cooking, aspects of a certain crop, and they have to create a research poster. And the second element that they do in these classes is they actually get to have an experiential activity, which is a cooking demonstration. The students are required to cook the crop that they research and create a video with it for the rest of their classmates. Thus far, that's been the activity that's received the most glowing reviews.

Vilma (09:09):
For a second, I want to talk about Spanish. Your Spanish classes. I'm trying to understand what you do. Many, many moons ago, when I took French as a college student, we always had a unit on food. And so we would learn to say different words in French, whether it's [foreign language 00:09:28] or [foreign language 00:09:31] or whatever. Whatever the word is. Of course, we would learn things like, how do you call a bakery? [foreign language 00:09:40] But I think what you're saying is that you're not just teaching students how to say things like apple, cheese, eggs, in Spanish. You're now also asking them to look at additional crops.

Marcella (09:54):
Exactly. We are focusing on crops that are from Latin America that grow in Florida. They have a specific set of crops that they can use for their project. The Spanish project that they work on in Spanish II, it's also a cooking demonstration, but in Spanish. They have to narrate what they are doing. They are cutting the potatoes. They are sauteing. They are frying. So the unit is on cooking and they do all of this in Spanish, but they use a Latin American crop for this purpose. And for some extra credit, they have to provide the nutritional and some background on the plant.

Vilma (10:36):
So, the student... I'm sorry. This is still your Spanish class we're talking about.

Marcella (10:40):
This is my Spanish class.

Vilma (10:40):
So, in your Spanish class, students are cooking a dish, explaining it in Spanish, and taking a video of themselves?

Marcella (10:48):
Yes, they do.

Vilma (10:48):
How fun. Nobody ever made me do that in college. Okay. Okay, so I'm going to turn to some of your students. Or your recent students. I have here, again, Luis Sandoval. Luis, what are you majoring in?

Luis (11:02):
Accounting.

Vilma (11:03):
Okay, perfect. And Gabriel Frank. Gabriel, what are you majoring in?

Gabriel (11:06):
Computer engineering.

Vilma (11:07):
All right. But both of you enrolled in a Latin American humanities class? No?

Luis (11:14):
Yes.

Gabriel (11:15):
Yes, ma'am.

Vilma (11:17):
Let me begin by asking why. Why Latin American humanities? Why not African humanities? Why not Asian humanities? Why not plain old humanities?

Gabriel (11:25):
Well, my grandmother is from Costa Rica. And so I just kind of wanted to get a little bit more in touch with my roots. I wanted to maybe understand the history a little more and just kind of enrich my learning.

Vilma (11:39):
So, Gabriel... I'm saying Gabriel. Maybe you prefer Gabriel.

Gabriel (11:42):
No, Gabriel is perfect.

Vilma (11:44):
Okay. Gabriel, you're from Alachua County?

Gabriel (11:48):
Yes, ma'am. I'm from Gainesville.

Vilma (11:50):
But your grandmother is Costa Rican. Out of curiosity, in your home, did your family speak Spanish?

Gabriel (11:57):
No, ma'am. Okay my grandmother.

Vilma (11:59):
Only your grandmother. But if I speak to you in Spanish, do you understand me?

Gabriel (12:03):
For the most part.

Vilma (12:04):
Can you respond in Spanish?

Gabriel (12:05):
If you're pulling my arm.

Vilma (12:08):
[foreign language 00:12:08].

Gabriel (12:09):
[foreign language 00:12:09].

Vilma (12:10):
And then, Luis, what about you? Why did you enroll in Latin American humanities?

Luis (12:15):
I got to know my professor. I was interested in her class. Coming from Nicaragua and having Hispanic background got me interested for the most part.

Vilma (12:29):
You were born in Nicaragua?

Luis (12:30):
No, I was born in El Salvador, but my parents are from Nicaragua.

Vilma (12:36):
Excellent. Great. Obviously, what I'm hearing is you're trying to connect with your own family, your own past, better understand who you are. What did you learn in her Latin American humanities classes? Specifically, what did you learn about food? And what kinds of... Well, let me just start with that question.

Gabriel (12:58):
Well, I learned just in the class in general how important it is to understand different perspectives, just all these different things, and how... At first, I thought everybody in Latin and Central America were very connected, but they're very unique. They're super unique to themselves. It kind of broadened my understanding in a positive way to look into why certain things happen and why traditions occur. And so I felt very happy to learn that through the class. More specifically, with chayote and a heritage food, I learned that it's something that I've been eating all my life and not necessarily enjoying until I [inaudible 00:13:41]

Vilma (13:40):
Chayote is great. What are you talking about?

Gabriel (13:45):
Oh, no. I don't know about that. It's a little... Very watery and almost tasteless, in my opinion. Some people just enjoy eating the seed. But I really enjoyed learning about it. To be honest with you, it made me start enjoying it. When I sat down and cooked with my grandmother, chayote, I really started to have an appreciation for it.

Vilma (14:04):
Well, I have to say. I'm part Honduran and my Honduran grandmother used to cook chayote all the time. In fact, in Honduras, they don't call it chayote. They call it patastillo. Because that's also really important. You can have a crop that is called one thing in Mexico and a totally different thing in Argentina or whatever. But anyways. I'm not trying to lecture. When I eat... I've loved chayote my whole life, but I think my grandmother made it in a super fattening way. With lots of cheese, it can't go wrong. I've started cooking it recently in a healthier way and I just love it. And interestingly, my kids love it. They're a little confused. I don't think they know what it is because I'll put it in a soup and I think they think it's a potato or something. They're like, "This is great." Anyways, I digress. You said you cooked chayote with your grandmother. What did you cook?

Gabriel (14:59):
Yes, ma'am. It was sort of like a mixture. When I ask her for the recipe, it's guarded. She will not tell me. So I had to sit down and learn it with her. It was kind of... We just sauteed some onions and put a little bit of garlic and mixed in cut chayote with it. To give it a little bit of moisture, we added a little milk and we just let that simmer and cook. And it was delicious.

Sarah (15:21):
An interesting thing about chayote... I only recently learned about chayote in recent years, but in doing the research for this project, I also found out that it's been consumed in Florida for centuries. And that the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings historic site actually has a chayote garden that has been there since she wrote The Yearling. You can find other American recipes for the chayote in her Cross Creek Cookery recipe book. And so this shows the linkages between Gabriel's grandmother and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and American history and those Latin American and Florida connections.

Vilma (16:02):
That's interesting because, when Bahkti was talking about how she's used turmeric and okra, part of me thought, huh, okra, I thought that was like a southern food. I thought you eat it fried. When I think of okra, I think of the deep south in the US. In your classes... I mean, is that what your research has shown? Is that what your students have discovered, Sarah?

Sarah (16:30):
The global and worldwide-

Vilma (16:32):
About okra. I mean, I knew a little bit about how okra is used in South Asia by Indians, but where else is it used?

Sarah (16:43):
So when we look at okra in Florida, we think of it as part of soul food. As part of southern culture. Many students in the class and African humanities have no idea that it originated in Africa. When we look at the history of okra, okra actually came to the United States with enslaved African people. So not only does it have the Africa connection, but then that's its connection here in the United States, which has shaped southern cuisine. And then, through the European imperialism and trade routes, okra has this global life in India, in Asia, in Latin America, here, and then as well as in Africa. And it's taken on a myriad of different forms.

Sarah (17:27):
That's one of the outcomes in the humanities courses is not to approach the humanities or international humanities as the other or as an object that's somewhere else and we're looking at it, but it's seeing that this has the globalization component. And that there are African influences worldwide. There's Latin American influences worldwide. And that, through food, we can see the way that okra has then interacted with Indian culture and then created new forms. Has come here to the United States and create an different form. That's one of the important learning components that the humanities classes end with is seeing the relevance, but then also the way that culture is dynamic, it's changing, and it's global.

Vilma (18:12):
Were there any other crops in the class that maybe you didn't cook but that were really meaningful to you?

Luis (18:19):
Yes. One of them was yuca or cassava. In my country, they used to cook it as a dish and it's called buñuelos, which is fried cassava or yuca with cheese. Per pound of cassava, you add pound of cheese. So it's very cheesy.

Vilma (18:42):
Any kind of cheese?

Gabriel (18:43):
It's fresco cheese or semi hard soft cheese.

Vilma (18:50):
Like a white cheese. It's not cheddar cheese.

Gabriel (18:51):
No. It has to be a little harder.

Vilma (18:54):
Hard white cheese.

Gabriel (18:55):
Yes.

Vilma (18:55):
Okay.

Gabriel (18:56):
You mix it together. You add baking soda. One tablespoon. And then you mix it around until it's well blended. And then, in a frying pan with hot oil, you make a little ball and throw it in there.

Vilma (19:16):
And you fry it.

Gabriel (19:16):
Yeah.

Vilma (19:17):
So it's basically fried balls of yuca and cheese is basically what this is.

Gabriel (19:23):
Yes. And then you make your own syrup, which is one cup of sugar and one cup of water and cinnamon.

Bahkti (19:36):
We eat that dish on [foreign language 00:19:38]. It comes twice a month. We don't eat any grains. So that's one of the dishes we eat.

Vilma (19:44):
The yuca? [inaudible 00:19:47]

Bahkti (19:46):
Yeah, it's a root vegetable.

Vilma (19:48):
Yes. I didn't know Indians ate that.

Bahkti (19:51):
No, not really. It's not an Indian dish, but they make it here in the Hare Krishna temple.

Vilma (19:56):
Ah.

Bahkti (19:59):
[inaudible 00:19:59] We do eat that. We don't eat any grains or lentils or legumes on that day, so we eat root vegetables.

Vilma (20:06):
So you eat root vegetables like cassava, which is called yuca in most of Latin America.

Bahkti (20:11):
Yeah.

Luis (20:11):
In Nicaragua, these buñuelos are always seen around fall. By October and the start of November.

Vilma (20:21):
Is it street food or do you see it in restaurants or..?

Luis (20:25):
It's more likely a street food, but people adapt it to their lifestyle.

Vilma (20:32):
Great. Thank you. So, Luis, I haven't forgotten about you. Don't think you're getting off the hook here. Because I was just talking... I was asking the two of you what you had learned in the Latin American humanities class. So in your case, tell me what did you learn specifically with regards to food and the role it's played in Latin American culture and humanities?

Luis (20:55):
Firstly, I've learned about the historical and culture significance of these crops into our society and our diets, its nutritional information, and how they play a role nowadays.

Vilma (21:11):
Did you do research on any particular crop?

Luis (21:13):
Yes. I did a research on a plant called chaya.

Vilma (21:18):
Chaya?

Luis (21:19):
Yeah. That is originally from Mesoamerica. From the peninsula of Yucatan to countries in Central America like Belize, Honduras, and-

Vilma (21:30):
Nicaragua.

Luis (21:31):
... Guatemala. Yeah.

Vilma (21:32):
And your own Nicaragua?

Luis (21:35):
Yes. Something that is crazy about it is that, coming from Nicaragua and Central America, I had never heard of this plant that has amazing properties.

Vilma (21:46):
Had you eaten it in Nicaragua? Chaya?

Luis (21:48):
No, never. I didn't even know its existence.

Vilma (21:52):
Wow. But what about chayote or patastillo, I think is what it's called in Nicaragua or Honduras.

Luis (22:02):
No, in Nicaragua it's called chayote. It has played an essential role in Nicaragua cuisine. For me, growing up, I had to eat it, but I never really liked it.

Vilma (22:13):
I don't understand you people. Chayote is so good! Dr. Murillo.

Marcella (22:18):
I think it should be noted that students did two assignments on research with a database that was curated by the Santa Fe Library. By Santa Fe librarians. They accessed these resources that are academic sources and they also practiced how to use citations with the MLA format. So on top of getting this cultural value, they are also gaining these skills.

Vilma (22:47):
Yeah, research skills. Okay, thank you. And thank you, Santa Fe College librarians. Especially, I think it was Dana Matthews that was particularly instrumental.

Marcella (22:58):
Yes.

Vilma (22:58):
Thank you. Okay, so, Luis. You didn't know that chaya was really essential to Nicaraguan or Mesoamerican cuisine. And so did you get daring and try a new dish or something?

Luis (23:11):
Yes. When I had to do my cuisine project, I decided to try a scramble, which is making regular scrambled eggs with chaya, which is very similar to spinach.

Vilma (23:27):
And did you like it?

Luis (23:29):
I did like it, although I'm not such a fan of spinach in scrambled eggs.

Vilma (23:36):
But maybe chaya, yes? Or we're still working on this?

Luis (23:39):
We're still working on it.

Vilma (23:41):
Okay. Okay.

Sarah (23:43):
Can I ask a...

Vilma (23:43):
Yeah.

Sarah (23:44):
So what did you learn about... You've never heard about it. So what did you learn about the historical or cultural significance of chaya?

Luis (23:52):
First, I learned that it first appeared within the Mayan Empire in the Pre-Colombian times. And that it play an essential role within Mayan people. It was used as a food resource to fight against famine when the prices of meat were high.

Vilma (24:14):
Very cool. Actually, I want to go to Dr. Murillo. So you are Bolivian. In Bolivia, did you eat chayote or chaya?

Marcella (24:25):
No, I did not. I did not. I am learning this with the USDA grant. I don't know. I didn't try chayote, chaya, but now with my students projects I can taste it.

Vilma (24:38):
So from your perspective, thinking about your own cultural background, when you think about the crops that you're assigning to students, are there some that you identify more as a Bolivian?

Marcella (24:51):
Well, of course. Potatoes.

Vilma (24:54):
Potatoes.

Marcella (24:55):
Potatoes, yes. I identify with potatoes because they grow in Bolivia and in Peru. We have a wide variety of potatoes.

Vilma (25:05):
And because potatoes come from the Andean region, yes?

Marcella (25:08):
Yes, they do.

Vilma (25:09):
So it's indigenous from there. Who knew that then it would go and expand to Russia and Eastern Europe. I can't imagine having a Polish cuisine without potatoes, but it's not indigenous to Poland.

Marcella (25:24):
Nope. Bolivia and Ecuador.

Vilma (25:24):
That's right.

Marcella (25:26):
Bolivia and Peru.

Vilma (25:29):
Yeah. Peru, Peru, Peru. With the Incas. Okay. So as individuals... I mean, our community as I'm hearing all of you... Bahkti, you... You live in Gainesville?

Bahkti (25:44):
In Alachua.

Vilma (25:45):
You live in the city of Alachua.

Bahkti (25:47):
Mm-hmm.

Vilma (25:47):
But you are from Mumbai. From India. And then Luis and Gabriel, I'm hearing... So the two of you have Central American roots, but today, you're here in Gainesville. It just makes me think how many other students do we have at Santa Fe College that come from a multicultural background. Actually, I know statistics. But do you think this kind of class work and research has helped you connect more with your roots, your culture, maybe your history?

Gabriel (26:24):
Most certainly. I really felt connected to my grandmother. I actually go to Costa Rica every year. Or at least try to. COVID disrupted that a little bit. After taking this class, I understood a little bit more about some of the significance in the area and the surrounding countries. And so some of the things that I noticed there, it was almost a little bit more explained. This class just kind of helped me get what I was looking for in that manner.

Luis (27:00):
For me, the idea of acknowledging these crops within the Central or Latin American cuisine was great. Looking at many of these crops like tomatillo, yuca, papa, that have played an essential role when growing up.

Vilma (27:23):
I'm curious. Tomatillo. Coming from Nicaragua, had you eaten tomatillo before?

Luis (27:28):
I have. My dad studied in Mexico, so it played an essential role within my diet since most of the Mexican dishes my dad used to cook used tomatillo as a sauce. They put it in everything.

Vilma (27:47):
But do most Nicaraguans use tomatillo?

Luis (27:50):
No, rarely.

Vilma (27:51):
No. So it's a Mexican thing. Okay. And Bahkti, in your case, through this religion class that you took, did you feel more connected to your own faith, your culture?

Bahkti (28:03):
Certainly. Yes, I did. And I did get to also learn about other religions as well.

Vilma (28:14):
Dr. Cervone, I'm going to go back to you. How is this focus on food and culture connected to our community?

Sarah (28:24):
First and foremost, food is an excellent platform for people to engage and connect with the community because everyone consumes food. This is only the first year of a three year project. Because of the significance of food, particularly with our local food economy in Alachua County and as well as in Florida, there's going to be a broad range of opportunities for students to engage in service and engagement in the upcoming years on this project. And so we've built several partnerships. Florida Organic Growers, for example, which works worldwide. There's also Working Food, the Southern Heritage Seed Conservancy. There's the Alachua County Farm to School Initiative. There's a local food systems initiative. We have local politicians who have also signed on. I mean, the network is broad.

Sarah (29:18):
And so, through this, students can only learn in the classroom. The food is also helping students apply what they've learned in the classroom to the real world, but that students can also engage in service that will provide a more meaningful line, say, on a resume and that will help a student become more competitive when it comes time to enter into the job market. And so those are some things to look forward to in terms of these upcoming events and activities. And that we'll also have subject matter experts in our community who will be coming to campus to share their knowledge directly with students. So the students aren't just going to be limited to books and the internet, but there'll be people from our community coming and sharing their expertise. And so that's another way that students can have direct learning experiences from the community.

Vilma (30:08):
I know you shared with me earlier that people can visit the website to learn more. Floridaheritagefoods.com. There'll be information there about upcoming events, plant specific information, and maybe we'll get to see a little bit about what students have researched and developed. Thank you all for coming here and sharing your time with us. For explaining what you're doing in the classroom to learn more about the world, our community, and your history.