Nonprofits launch ‘Roots & Recipes’ project in Cedar Rapids to celebrate, instill culture through food

CEDAR RAPIDS — For some students in Cedar Rapids, recipes are more than instructions for a dish, and food is more than something to eat.

For most families, it’s a given that family histories can be passed down through written records or storytelling. But for first-generation Americans and their immigrant families, food is one of the most immediate ways they preserve culture and memories as they embark on a new life in Iowa.

The pilot project “Roots & Recipes: Stories of Culture, Migration and Memory,” which debuted Dec. 18, guided middle and high school students through their family history, food traditions and culture through interviews, photos and more to compile stories shared through multimedia presentations.

The project uplifts the lived experience of African immigrants and first generation Americans, in particular, by revealing the continuity of culture, adaptations and memory carried through ancestral foods.

The first presentation, funded by the National Geographic-supported 2893 Miles to Go, debuted in December as a collaboration between three Cedar Rapids organizations: the Academy for Scholastic and Personal Success, Empowered Solutions Collective and United We March Forward. With funding already secured for next year, organizers hope to return annually with new cohorts in storytelling workshops that help teenagers and preteens explore their identities.

“This opportunity, it’s not just a human approach to culture and identity, but it’s a community impact. Food brings us together, food has no boundaries,” said Mugisha Gloire, executive director of United We March Forward, a social service nonprofit that helps immigrants and refugees in Cedar Rapids. “There’s a strong sense of giving students an opportunity to speak and share what brings them alive when they’re at home, what connects them with their parents and at the same time share with the community.”

The stories are inside of each student. Now, they have the tools to express them with pride.

For Charity Oduor, 18, chapati has been her link to Kenya since coming to the United States at age 10. The flatbread, made in a long process that requires extra care, is a beloved go-to for funerals, holidays and weddings in her family.

It’s a labor of love that, while inexpensive to make in the United States, is costly in the African country with higher costs for flour and other required ingredients.

“You knew it was a big event because preparation of the food starts the night before,” she said. “It seems like a luxury food in Kenya.”

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While the food is made, family dynamics play out in conversations that last just as long — food is simply the vehicle to unlock them. Unlike in America, where convenience and speed are often prioritized in many meals, slower is better there.

“It’s just a talking session,” Oduor said. “I always see (food) as a connection between the past, the present and the future.”

Tamara Marcus, founder of Empowered Solutions Collective, has overseen other gardening programs that engage youth with food in culturally competent ways. She wanted to use Roots & Recipes to elevate untold narratives from youth with an emphasis on food systems.

The project’s workshops, led by filmmaker Alan Murdock, gave students ranging in age from 11 to 18 years agency over the format of their presentations.

Marcus enjoyed seeing young people speak truths that are unvarnished by the filters an adult develops in storytelling.

“I really feel like there’s value in reminding people that they are experts in their life history. I think that’s something that, at any age, you kind of forget,” Marcus said. “What I personally loved about this project was the ability (of students) to own that and believe that about themselves. They’re experts in these stories they’ve lived.”

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That element, she said, is not just for personal satisfaction. It’s a practical skill that transfers to other sectors of life by helping people understand the power of cultivating their identity.

Food — consciously or subconsciously — is an easy access point to culture that everyone shares. In telling food stories to others, organizers hope first-generation Americans realize how much the community can value their unique perspectives.

“My daughter can barely speak Swahili, but food she can carry on. She might forget the language, but she’s going to remember the recipe,” Gloire said. “I know if my children are able to take that on and continue those recipes and share with the whole world, that’s a blessing.”

As other nonprofits focusing on diverse voices face systemic funding cuts, Marcus and Gloire hope others can see differences as a positive.

“For me, it feels like it’s giving a human face and a story to something we’ve heard about in a lot of numbers this year,” Marcus said.

Comments: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or elijah.decious@thegazette.com.

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