Michigan Chronicle
Feb. 4, 2023
Taste the Diaspora Detroit (TDD) is returning for its third year with shoebox lunches, merchandise, community collaborations, pop-ups, cooking demonstrations, and more! This year’s theme of Black Food as Resistance will foster a consciousness around food and its critical role in the fight for Black liberation.
Black Food as Resistance is seen throughout history and today through a variety of Black narratives. From Georgia Gilmore, a cafeteria worker who fed civil rights workers and raised critical funds to sustain the movement, to the Black Panther Party, who formed a free breakfast program, and various other programs providing nourishment to the community, ensuring their “survival pending revolution.” It is food that has been the source of not only comfort but strength to fight against systemic oppression. Taste the Diaspora will acknowledge the historical role food has played and still plays in nourishing the fight for freedom, justice, and equality today.
Taste the Diaspora is expanding its impact to hundreds of households across the city, thanks to the generous support of: Detroit Food Policy Council, Support And Feed, ProsperUs Detroit, Wana Brands, Planted Detroit, and Comcast. TDD is also partnering with several community organizations that will aid in the distribution of free shoebox lunches. In partnership with The Chip Bag Project, Everybody Eatz, Marygrove School, and Eastside Community Network — TDD will address the increase in food insecurity in Detroit. According to the 2021 Detroit Food Policy Council Food Metrics report, 69% of households in the city of Detroit are food insecure, a hike from 41% in 2020.
TDD is introducing new collaborations, pop-ups, merchandise, and cooking demonstrations to their 2023 programming:
- Feb. 1 — TDD will collaborate with Breadless on a limited-time offer of a blackened chicken wrapped in collard greens and a blackened chicken grain bowl all month.
- Feb. 1 — The Resistance Chote is a waterproof, insulated reusable grocery tote made from 100% up-cycled materials and available on the TDD website. It’s a collaboration with The Chip Bag Project, an organization that turns foil-lined products like chip bags and turns them into sleeping bags for houseless individuals. Thirty percent of this bag’s proceeds support employment for displaced and nomadic folk in the community.
- Feb. 1 — TDD’s website will also be gaining a limited t-shirt that honors the Black-owned farms within Detroit. A percentage of those profits will be donated to the Detroit Black Farmer Land Fund to continue their efforts to support Black farmers and growers in purchasing their own farmland.
- Feb. 7 – A scavenger hunt in partnership with the City Institute will highlight some of the most innovative and inspirational Black-owned food spots throughout the city. Some have been around for decades while others are just launching their dreams. Participants will not only have a great time supporting small businesses but they’ll discover new favorites they will want to return to again and again. The scavenger hunt will run Feb. 7-28 and clues can be found online at the City Institute website.
- Feb. 19 — Chef Jermond Booze, TDD’s co-creator will host his popular “Vinyl Tasting”, a five-course dinner inspired by an album, on Sunday, Feb. 19 featuring Detroit’s own J Dilla.
- Feb. 22 — Join Keep Growing Detroit for a cooking demo with Taste the Diaspora on Wednesday, Feb. 22, at 6 p.m. More info can be found at the Keep Growing Detroit.
- Feb. 26 — Closing out the month on Sunday, Feb. 26, TDD is hosting a Resistance Showbox Lunch at Freya from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets for the event, and shoebox distribution will be available for presale beginning Feb. 1 at noon. It will be a celebratory experience featuring Detroit Black artists, a DJ, and cocktails. A percentage of proceeds from the shoebox lunch sales will be donated to Hospitality Included Full Hands In, Full Hands Out — a program created to provide opportunities and skills training for young Black adults interested in entering the hospitality industry.
For more information, visit https://www.tastethediaspora.com/.
