Has Soul Food become junk food? Ask Aretha

"They're off my diet. They just really don't fit with (health food store) Whole Foods. I had it for enough years that I don't miss it. You can't continue to eat things that are not good for you."

Aretha Franklin

 

Just what is off her diet, no one actually knows.  According to recent news reports, the 'Queen of Soul' appears to have swore off eating soul food, alluring to years of thriving on fat that originates from the pig.  I can this be interpreted?--no more ribs, no more beacon, no more chitterlings, no more sausages, etc. 

 

What is really lost in a health scare (it's been denied that pancreatic cancer is involve) episode is the question "Should soul food be classified as unhealthy"?  Or, is soul food  the same as junk food?  Or, just what is soul  food?

Healthy Soul food Cooking Solutions

Soul Food and Southern Cooking.com

Let me introduce you to the concept of preparing and enjoying healthier soul food meals. It's definitely possible to cook your traditional soul food favorites in a more nutritious way. The foundation has already been laid by others, you just need to know where to star

The many possibilities for cooking healthier soul foods are limited only by your imagination. Key to the process is minimizing your consumption or removing your exposure to unhealthy substances which over time cause major health problems.

Here are four steps you can take to promote a healthier lifestyle by eating the right foods.

• Substitute fats, salts, sugars and oils for healthier alternative.

• Change your cooking methods.

• Decrease your meal portions (portion control).

•  Minimize use of products that are high in cholesterol, fat, salt, sodium and sugar.

 

Let's start with the latter.  I like the definition of 'soul food' given in the WiseGeek online site:  Is used to refer to a type of cuisine that is associated with African-American culture in the southern United States. Recipes for chicken fried steak, cracklins, hoghead cheese, chitterlings, Hoppin’ John, and other popular soul food dishes were first created by slaves who needed to cook hearty and substantial meals to enjoy after a long day of strenuous physical labor. After President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1865, soul food became an inexpensive way for the newly freed slaves to feed their families as they struggled to build a new life.

 

From that readers are able to deduct means that greasy is to soul food as soul food is to greasy. Historically soul food gets high douses of salt and and sugar. If this is true, and aligns to what Aretha says, soul food is unhealthy concoctions of greasy, salty, refined carbohydrate offerings.  So, too much (or any of) this stuff equals unhealthy--right?

 

Let's cut to the chase.  Soul food is a part of the history of the great African American cuisine.  To throw out the baby with the wash is not what preserving cultural history is all about.  It's not inevitable that greasy, sugary stuff should be exclusive to soul food, and to any other ethnic cuisine for that matter.

 

What is needed to be said by those labelling soul food as junk or unhealthy is that all foods can be labelled as unhealthy whether it be Italian, European, Indian, Latino, Greek, etc.  So the solution should be simple, the preparation of all foods should be conscious of preparation, healthy ingredient substitutions, and portions.

 

There's no need for Aretha to come off so vague, especially by her on admission, she's been doing soul food most of her life. She has even promoted her desire to have some her soul food offerings to be published.

 

So I would invite Aretha to join me in a healthy soul food celebration.  I will have some of the most prized offerings, including:  peach cobbler, banana pudding, greens, sweet potatoes, black eyed peas, pinto beans. lima beans,  potatoes salad, dressings, corn bread,  chicken, and, yes, pig and more. 

 

This would be just a sampling of soul food, but revised to accommodate nutritional and healthy elements.  There you have it.  Soul Food remains a icon in the archives of African American History while fighting against diabetes and high blood pressure at the same time.  It's not junk food or unhealthy if it is done right. Most African Americans should concern about their health and how food affects it. However, most African Americans (Hopefully) are not inclined to indict their cultural offerings.  Amen.