Nourishing Narratives: A Latinx Foodmap of Community Comida in Otter Tail County
- A Story Mapping Project-
From September 2020 through May 2021, I sought and gathered stories from restaurant owners, grocery store workers, and home cooks about their connections to Latinx foods in our region. While tracing journeys of food, culture, and conversations, I highlighted the important Latinx foodways of Otter Tail County, Minnesota through painting, photography, and storytelling.
*If you’d like to share your story, please contact me. I’m gathering stories to reflect our diverse communities through January 2022.
Defining Foodmapping
A method of tracing and tracking the role of food in the ways Latinx community members make home in their rural communities.
Adapted from Lidia Marte’s 2007 article “Foodmaps: Tracing Boundaries of ‘Home’ Through Food Relations”
Key Questions
Where do you buy your ingredients? What is your favorite meal to cook, eat, share? How does it feel to feed yourself, your family, your community? What is difficult? What brings you joy in the foods you make?
Methodology
Scheduling and conducting interviews with grocery/restaurant owners/workers and home cooks in the region I photographed them or their establishments or accepted images related to their food stories. I then wrote up a brief story as told to me about their relationship to Latinx food. After drafting the story I shared it with the participant who then provided new insights to inform the story, marking the process as a truly collaborative effort.
“There is unlimited potential for using food as a means to communicate.”
Stories
This activity is part of the Otter Tail County Story Mapping Project, a partnership between Rethos, The Otter Tail County Historical Society, and Springboard for the Arts with support from the Minnesota Historical Society. This project was made possible in part by the people of Minnesota through a grant funded by and appropriation to the Minnesota Historical Society from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.