There is a long-standing association between phenology and traditional foodways. Arguably, all phenology is connected to foodways, in that whether hunting, fishing, foraging, propagating, and/or cultivating food, all food based in the landscape is inextricably connected to natural processes, ecological conditions, and seasonal cycles—whether or not they are explicitly and obviously food-related.
Feature Article
Fairy Tales for the Queer Desi:
Fairy tales have been retold, rewritten, and reproduced across media for centuries. Although traditionally, fairy tales have championed reproductive future by celebrating the heteronormative “happily ever-after,” indicated by the union between heterosexual couples, Queer rewritings of fairy tales and scholarship on this matter are not completely scarce in the West. There is, however, a dearth of Queer fairy tales for the Desi audience, and naturally, therefore, limited scholarship available on the matter….The absence of Queer fairy tales in traditional Indian folklore keeps Queerness invisible in the cognitive landscape of children while perpetuating heteronormativity.
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Ancient Art in New Contexts:
The Caribbean-themed mural was one of several culminating activities, which were developed and implemented through a NEA “Our Town” placemaking grant for 2023–2024. Conceived by Veena Chandra and Devesh Chandra, as a partnership with New York Folklore (NYF), the intent of the project was to recognize the connections of North Indian classical traditions with the Guyanese community in Schenectady.
Lament
The first prahara is spent in ploughing,
The second in harrowing.
Then you strike me with a stick—
Have you forgotten your Lord,
Oh dear farmer?
I owe you nothing at all,
I graze on the wild grass!…
Korovainytsia from Seventh East Street
This study investigates the re-creation of the korovai baking tradition within the Ukrainian diaspora in New York, offering a detailed case study of how the cultural practice has been adapted and revitalized in a new environment. Although korovai, a traditional Ukrainian wedding bread, is deeply rooted in the culinary practices of Ukraine, its continuation in the diaspora reflects a dynamic process of cultural adaptation. The research explores the establishment and operation of korovai baking classes in The Ukrainian Museum in New York and the personal baking practices of Mrs. Larysa Zielyk, demonstrating how these efforts contribute to the ongoing re-creation and transmission of the tradition.
Grilled Cheese
There is no shortage of paeans to
New York diner culture. Sliding into
a slightly sticky faux leather booth, nursing
a hot cup of coffee, poring over an endless
menu. A good diner does not surprise
but rather delights you with the comfort of
familiarity. Diners dot the memories of my
Long Island upbringing,…
The Demand Calls for It:
In her poem “Exodus and Consumption,” Audrey Rodríguez traces a mango’s movement away from its Tapachulan soil. The fruit is “sun-kissed and watered” for five years, “thrown into a basket by tiny hands / Taken for a hot bath” before being sent to the US/Mexico border for agricultural inspection. “Kill the invasive Mexican fruit flies / The demand calls for it.”
Italian American Foodways in Pigtown
I was born and raised in Pigtown, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, that is located, roughly speaking, between Empire Blvd. to the North and Kings County Hospital to the South. It also spans Rogers to Schenectady Avenues….Some people tended small gardens, and some, like my neighbor across the street,
kept rabbits in their yard and occasionally grilled them. Others had pigeon coops, and there was an endless array of street peddlers selling all manner of things.
Resilience & Nostalgia:
Foodways are one of the most resilient forms of intergenerational cultural expression in diaspora communities, playing a central role in expressing group identity in historic ethnic communities across the United States—including Niagara Falls, New York. This resiliency is magnified in Rust Belt cities like Niagara Falls, which has been grappling with significant decline and population loss, following its industrial boom in the early-mid-20th century: a population loss that includes many members of its vibrant Armenian community.
Feeding the Ancestors:
Śrāddha is a Hindu calendrical ritual involving the offering of food to one’s ancestors. In this article, I trace the adaptation and diffusion of this ancient ritual in the context of diasporic and generational shifts. My paternal aunt, Shanta Nimbark-Sacharoff, described the migration from her small Indian village to New York, in the 1960s, where, together with her beloved elder brother, she discovered a newfound fascination with her family’s traditional foodways. Particularly, since her brother’s sudden passing, she has revived the annual observance of śrāddha, during which she always prepares “okra bhaji” to propitiate his soul.
Stories That Cook:
GLOW Traditions is excited to announce the upcoming release of Stories That Cook: Art, Memories, and Recipes, a bilingual English–Spanish cookbook centered on the foodways of our western New York agricultural communities… GLOW Traditions conducted fieldwork to collect recipes, stories, and other background from our artist instructors, farmers and families, farmworkers, and arts and service organizations involved with migrant communities.
Dynamic yet Fragile:
Archives, historical societies, and museums
today have inherited the task
of caring for a swelling mass of audiovisual
materials. A 2005 Heritage Health Index
survey calculated a staggering 2,423,568
moving image collections and 2,189,992
audio collections safeguarded within the
United States alone. Alarmingly, more than
40 percent of audio and video collections
are maintained in unknown conditions. The
same report concluded that many cultural
institutions lack essential resources to care
for these artifacts. These collections are
in peril if left unattended, as over time the
fragile plastic-coated tapes can deteriorate
and fail to play.
Set in Stone
Stonework must surely rank as one of
the oldest of folk arts, if only for the
longevity of the material used—hence its
presence in the historical record. While an
immense but finite supply of wood drew
Europeans to the shores of North America,
once they had exhausted local forest stands
through clearing, burning, ship building,
and construction, stone became the material
of choice. The ensuing works in stone
have been the longest lasting remnants of
vernacular architecture.
Chicago Folklore Prize Winner:
On behalf of the New York Folklore Society’s executive board and the editorial
board of Voices, I want to congratulate Faye McMahon for winning the American
Folklore Society’s 2008 Chicago Folklore Prize with her outstanding book Not Just Child’s Play: Emerging Tradition and the Lost Boys of Sudan, published by the University Press of Mississippi in 2007. It brings all of us great happiness to see Faye receive this richly deserved award….According to the American Folklore Society’s web site, the Chicago Folklore Prize, “awarded to the author of the best book-length work of folklore scholarship for the year, is the oldest international award recognizing excellence in folklore scholarship.”
Mikvah Musings
The Friday before my wedding in November
of 2007, I drove to Mayyim
Hayyim, a new-style mikvah, or ritual bath,
in Newton, Massachusetts. Accompanying
me were my sister Lois and one of my oldest
friends, Roz, who had flown in from Seattle
for the event. Mayyim Hayyim (Living Waters)
was founded by Anita Diamant of Red
Tent fame. She had once visited a mikvah and
been underwhelmed by the experience. She
knew that there had to be a reason why this
tradition of dunking oneself had persisted
through the millennia. It couldn’t just be
about purifying oneself for one’s husband.
There had to be more.