This multi-generational story begins before the transatlantic slave trade in West Africa and ends with a discussion of contemporary African American vegans. Demonstrating that food has been both a tool of empowerment and a weapon of white supremacy, this study documents the symbolic power of food alongside an ongoing struggle for food access.

Jennifer Jensen Wallach is associate professor of history at the University of North Texas. She is the author, most recently, of How America Eats: A Social History of U.S. Food and Culture and Richard Wright: From Black Boy to World Citizen. She is also the editor of the University of Arkansas Press' Food and Foodways series.