Seminar Week 7

Jennifer Diaz

February 20, 2017

SOS Com Alt

Sem Pre-Write

Word Count: 287

 

Passages:

 

“Rose is taught not to leave the bread to burn: “I must give my whole mind to it…[I] sat watching over it all the while it was in the oven till I was quite baked myself.”

 

“Christies declaration of independence and Rose’s concern to be able to support herself, are materialized in the kitchen, where making bread requires intellectual labor and willpower as well as the correct ingredients.”

 

“Though much changed between 1837 and 1876, Alcott remains rooted in the original Grahamite racial imaginary linking body to place, attesting for the fact that, brief as his appearance was in the public eye, his work laid the foundation for food discourse that was foundational to the nation.”

 

(Tompkins 2012: 134, 142)

 

News Media Context:

 

Immigrant Moms Were Told They Can’t Have Jobs-So They Started Their Own Tamale Co-op

 

Employment options can be extremely limited for undocumented immigrants who can’t work legally. These single moms are relying on each other.

 

“On a broader level, the tamales and coffee represented the mothers’ efforts to create an opportunity for self-sufficiency, to foster collective economic empowerment, and to forge a path forward for themselves and their families.”

 

http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/gender-justice/immigrant-moms-were-told-they-cant-have-jobs-so-they-started-their-own-tamale-coop-20160531

 

I strongly believe that cooking is one of the most empowering activities an individual can partake in, no matter what genitals you carry. It is a way to directly support yourself. You are building yourself up, nurturing your body, whether you are in love with yourself at the moment or not, you are loving yourself.

 

I really appreciate how Alcott highlights the need to be present when you are cooking. Rose watched the bread until “she was quite baked herself.” She embodied the bread before consuming it. She was with the bread before it was within her. These practices of being present and staying committed to your nutrition could be healing and transformative practices.

 

Rose’s family were opposed to her leaving and becoming independent. The United States were opposed to these single immigrant mothers becoming independent, and yet both groups ended up finding a way to find self-worth. In the media context article, the women prepare traditional tamales from Mexico and Guatemala, and traditional coffee from Ethiopia. Our bodies are always going to bring up an image for whoever perceives us. These womens bodies and livelihood are still linked to the place where they came from. I feel like the United States has a different perspective on body and place when it comes to Latin food, at the very least. We have taco trucks and Mexican restaurants everywhere. At some point the idea that eating someone elses food will make you like them was forgotten in order to enjoy the satisfying and budget friendly tacos. It is a social phenomenon now to consume tacos with your loved ones. I am curious about where the lines are drawn now a days in regards to food, body, and place.

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