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Category: Foodways

What’s That Smell? Highlighting Cabbage in the Archives

Posted by: John Fenn

This guest post is from Meg Nicholas, as Folklife Specialist on the staff of the American Folklife Center. National Cabbage Day is this Saturday, February 17th. The oft-maligned and overlooked cabbage is loaded in important nutrients, comes in a variety of shapes and colors (did you know there is a purple Napa cabbage?) and aids …

Group of people laying long poles across lit barbecue pit in ground

Caught My Eye: Buckaroos and Barbecues

Posted by: Allina Migoni

This is a guest blog post by Drew Holley, a master's student in the Folklore Studies program at Utah State University with a particular interest in food and film. Drew completed his internship at the American Folklife Center earlier this year. Today’s blog will showcase foodways collections (traditions and practices surrounding food) found at the American Folklife Center.

Ivan Castillo serving food and smiling at the camera at the Project Neutral Grounds Launch in New Orleans in November 2022

2023 Homegrown Foodways Film Series: Baltimore and New Orleans: Bringing Two Cities in Dialogue with Each Other through Mexican Food

Posted by: Michelle Stefano

A guest blog post by Professor Sarah Fouts, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, on this year’s AFC Homegrown Foodways Film Series: Baltimore and New Orleans, which features two films premiering on the Folklife Today blog: El Camino del Pan a Baltimore on Tuesday November 7th @ noon ET; and El Camino del Mole a New Orleans on Tuesday November 14th @ noon ET.

2018 National Heritage Fellows on-stage at the Library of Congress

AFC Announces New Research Guide on the NEA’s National Heritage Fellowship

Posted by: Douglas D. Peach

The American Folklife Center (AFC) is proud to announce a new research guide, which highlights AFC collections related to the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. The National Heritage Fellowship is the highest honor for the traditional arts in the United States. Since 1982, the award has recognized lifetime achievement among traditional artists and advocates for the traditional arts. On Friday, September 29, 2023, the American Folklife Center will be hosting a public ceremony to honor the 2023 recipients of the National Heritage Fellowship. Awardees of the 2020, 2021, and 2022 National Heritage Fellowship will also be celebrated, as the COVID-19 pandemic inhibited their in-person recognition. Find about about the new guide and the ceremony in this blog post!

Sally Van de Water and Hamza Masood pack Share Your Foodways kits at the REPLENISH warehouse.

AFC’s Homegrown Foodways Film Premiere: REPLENISH: Nourishing Neighbors through Community Food Equity

Posted by: Michelle Stefano

As part of our collaboration on the Homegrown Foodways in Central New Jersey film series, today is the premiere of the series' final film, REPLENISH: Nourishing Neighbors through Community Food Equity, which you can watch in this blog post or on the Library's YouTube channel. REPLENISH: Nourishing Neighbors brings viewers into the world of community food banks and food pantries, sharing the ways in which organizations, staff, and volunteers serve and strengthen their neighborhoods through food distribution and access to social services, such as housing support, job searches, health care, and more. This film also takes a deeper look at Middlesex County's Share Your Foodways program, detailing its inception during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Two people cook in a kitchen

AFC’s Homegrown Foodways Film Premiere: Multigenerational Ukrainian Foodways with Roman Kovbasniuk

Posted by: Michelle Stefano

As part of the AFC’s Homegrown Foodways in Central New Jersey film series, this blog premieres the film "Multigenerational Ukrainian Foodways with Roman Kovbasniuk," which honors New Jersey's vibrant Ukrainian communities and their rich foodways traditions. Watch it in this blog post, or on the Library's YouTube channel!

Nasrin Rafiq (center) chats with Sally Van de Water (right) and Isha Vyas (left), in her home after filming an interview.

AFC’s Homegrown Foodways Film Premiere: Afghan Food and Women’s Empowerment with Nasrin Rafiq

Posted by: Michelle Stefano

The following is a guest post by folklorist Sally Van de Water, Folklife Programs Manager, Division of Folklife and Cultural Heritage at the Arts Institute of Middlesex County, New Jersey. The AFC’s Homegrown Foodways in Central New Jersey film series is a collaboration with Van de Water and colleagues at the Division of Folklife and …