African Foodways and Health Honors Seminar Experience

When I chose to take African Foodways and Health I wasn’t sure what to expect, and as a first-year student, I knew little of the class or the University Honors Program. I am passionate about cooking and enjoy trying all kinds of food, which is what inspired me to select this class. I anticipated that African Foodways and Health would educate me about various cooking techniques and ingredients; not only did the seminar do this, but it also taught me much about health disparities, social determinants of health, the Social Ecological Model, and the experiences faced by African American individuals. This aspect of the class is so applicable to my future career as a nurse, and I look forward to future opportunities to educate myself about health disparities as I enter the healthcare field.

 

In addition to studying health disparities within the African American community, this seminar gave me the opportunity to perform four cooking labs, during which we made foods ranging from Tilapia Fish and Jerk Chicken to Collard Greens and Red Red (a stewed dish with black eyed peas). These cooking labs also allowed me to explore new spices and cooking techniques. 

 

Trips to a local community garden were yet another aspect of this class. We planted, grew, and harvested foods such as okra, green beans, habanero peppers, and butternut squash, which we later incorporated into our cooking labs.

 

Attached below is my final presentation for this class, which was created by myself and three others. Although it was a group project, I personally researched the Social Ecological Model as well as changes that can be made at the Policy, Institution, and Community levels to improve health within African American communities. This research was important to me because as a future nurse it is my responsibility to understand challenges faced by minorities within the healthcare system.