Share Your Foodways

Promoting Food Equity by Celebrating Food Traditions

Foodways are the context and meaning around food: why, when, and how we eat what we eat.

On these pages, you’ll discover videos and recipes from cooks around Central New Jersey, recipes that carry meaning across generations and across town.

The Arts Institute of Middlesex County, in partnership with REPLENISH, Middlesex County’s food pantry network, begin the Share Your Foodways initiative in 2020 as a way to promote food equity, celebrate the culinary richness of Central Jersey, and to destigmatize the use of food pantries. For every episode in the Share Your Foodways series we produce, we distribute 100 free recipe kits to families through the REPLENISH partner pantry network.

Watch the videos at the links below, and try out the recipes in your own home!

EPISODES

Carolina Jerome’s Jammin’ Chickpeas and Corn Salsa

Maha’s Mujadarah “Lentils & Rice” and Labaneh

Dayci’s Black Bean Soup & Black Beans & Rice

Tim Wong: Lunar New Year: Nian Gao & Zha Jiang Mian

Estela & Lourdes Rojas: Tortillas, Chilaquiles & Oaxaca Mole

Michelle Washington Wilson: Mac & Cheese, Fruit Cocktail

Homegrown Foodways in New Jersey: Share Your Foodways Collaboration with the Library of Congress

Nasrin Rafiq: Afghan Food and Qabuli Pulao (Library of Congress collaboration)

Roman Kovbasniuk: Ukrainian Cabbage Rolls (Library of Congress collaboration)

Chef Curtis McNair at Elijah’s Promise: Chicken & Yellow Rice

Emily Arrisicato: Cashew Chicken, Pink Sauce & Sauteed Broccoli

How can I participate?

Watch the videos and try the recipes yourself! Share your own recipes and food stories on social media with the hashtag #ShareYourFoodways and tag the Arts Institute @MiddlesexCountyCulture.

Access REPLENISH’s network of food pantries

Want to donate? Reach out to Feeding Middlesex County

What are Foodways?

“Foodways” refers to the cultural, historical, and social context surrounding food. We use food to mark important times in our lives, use specific dishes to celebrate important holidays, and make meaning through sharing food with others.

Access for all

We want to make sure that everyone can enjoy this program to its fullest extent. Thanks to coordinated efforts by REPLENISH, Nourishing Neighbors, in cooperation with Chef Sank, we are able to supply local food banks with kits that include all the ingredients to make the dishes we’re featuring here. We will provide a limited number of meal kits for each featured video we post. To find a kit in your local area, contact MCFOODS. If you are interested in helping to support your community food banks, learn how to donate here.

This program was also made possible with support from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, the Folklife Program for New Jersey, and the Middlesex County Board of County Commissioners.

Enjoy, Bon appétit, Manga, Buen apetito, Bil haná wal shifá, Mànmàn chī, Guten appetite, Kali órexi, B’tayavon, Buon appetite, Douzo meshiagare, Jal meokkesseumnida, Nooshe jan, Afiyet olsun, Ăn nào, Smacznego, Bom apetite, and Es gezunterheyt!