Ethnographer - Grandma's Hands Cookbook

Black Food Sovereignty Coalition Case Story

Introduction

Black Food Sovereignty Coalition (BFSC) is a mission-impact non-profit organization based in Oregon. They serve as a collaboration hub for Black and Brown communities to confront the systemic barriers regarding food, economic, and environmental inequalities. Their mission is to ignite Melanated communities to participate as owners, movement leaders, and culture bearers within food systems, placemaking, and economic development.

According to census.gov, in Portland, Oregon, African Americans make up 5.6% of the city's population and Latino Americans make up 10.3% of the city's population. According to portlandoregon.gov, the median household income for African Americans is $33,968, for Latino Americans, it is $40,163 and for White Americans, it is $60,801.

Due to the economic and social disparities that people of color face, such as rapid gentrification, the Black Food Sovereignty Coalition believed that the community and the organization could be a part of the positive change that the city of Portland claims to be.

The Grandma's Hands program is a platform for Black grandmothers to share family recipes, and food traditions with future generations, and reclaim their history. The program provides a bag of fresh produce grown by Black farmers and brings everyone together virtually and in person to learn how to prepare the featured recipe. Due to community interest, the program created and planned a Grandma's Hands Cookbook dedicated to Black Portland.

Challenges

BFSC is an organization that thrives and depends on volunteers and community professionals. Because of the global pandemic, the demands for the program grew, and there was a need for an ethnographer, writer, and editor immediately. I assisted with grant writing and following such, I was onboarded as a freelance ethnographer, writer, and editor.

Goals

To connect the older and younger generations of Black Portland together through storytelling, sharing food recipes, collaborative cooking, organizing, and active listening, via Grandma's Hands Cookbook.

Deliverables

For the Grandma's Hands Cookbook Project Quinn:

• Researched the history of Portland's Black and Brown communities.
• Consulted with program directors about the intricacies of Melanated communities.
• Consulted with program directors about the direction of content for the cookbook.
• Volunteered at local community service events to learn more about individuals and the community.
• Interviewed Grandmothers in the Portland metro area about their family heritage, culture, and cooking traditions.
• Proofread and edited the transcribed interviews.
• Wrote short-bio profiles on each Grandmother's story and their shared recipe for the cookbook.
• Assisted the program director with writing and editing the introduction and index sections.
• Offered a 30-minute follow-up video meeting after submitting project assignments.



*The Grandma's Hands Cookbook has been an ongoing project for two and a half years. The project will be completed by Spring 2023.*

Outcome

The current outcomes are as follows:

• Outreached to all the participating Grandmothers.
• Recorded ten audio interviews with different Grandmothers in the community.
• Completed ten written profiles about the Grandmothers.
• Proofread and edited ten transcripts.
• Writing an ongoing project report.
• Provided clarity and direction for the Grandma's Hands Cookbook project.



A draft copy of a community member's profile for the Grandma's Hands Cookbook.

A draft of a grandmother's profile.