DC Food History: A Four-Week Study with Dr. Kelly Spring

Class meets Sept. 15, Sept. 22, Sept. 29, and Oct. 6.

ABOUT THE COURSE
Led by Dr. Kelly Spring, over the course of four weeks students in this class will explore the food history of Washington, D.C. through the lens of three key groups that have shaped the city and its food: African Americans, Chinese, and Salvadorians. Students will develop their knowledge through lectures, readings, audio/video interviews, group discussions, and focused writing.

See, Hear, Smell, and Taste DC through its food, while researching the chefs, cooks, restauranters, bartenders, and consumers who live and work in the DC foodscape. This course will introduce students to DC food and the people who make it, both past and present. Specifically, we will examine three major ethnic communities that call DC home and who have had an impact on its foodscape: African Americans, Chinese, and Salvadorians.

We will analyze how each of these groups has put its unique stamp on the city through food spaces and comestible contributions that give the District its distinct personality, vitality and commensality. We will also look at the foodscapes of these communities over time, examining how issues such as cost of living, gentrification, and political views have impacted them.

Sample readings include:

• Ashanté M. Reese, Black Food Geographies: Race, Self-Reliance, and Food Access in Washington, DC
• Smithsonian's Anacostia Community Museum, “The Past and Future of DC’s Chinatown”
• Karla Tatiana Vasquez, The SalviSoul Cookbook: Saladoran Recipes & the Women Who Preserve Them

Class will meet Sept. 15, Sept. 22, Sept. 29, and Oct. 6 from 6:30-8pm at Bold Fork Books.

One scholarship slot will be made available to a student with a deep interest in food history and research. Please email events@boldforkbooks for more information.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

Dr. Kelly A. Spring is a food historian with over a decade of experience as an author, researcher, and lecturer. She owns and operates The Fork Front, a DC company which offers food history services ranging from consulting and researching to creating curated narratives, workshops, and themed menus and events. Kelly also co-hosts the food history podcast, The Hungry Historians, which is sponsored by the Bloomsbury Food Library. To find out more about Kelly’s current projects, sign up for The Fork Front newsletter and follow her on Instagram @theforkfront