Soul Food and Veganism: Alumnus Writes on Race, Faith, & Food

2010 and 2016 alumnus, the Rev. Dr. Christopher Carter’s new book, The Spirit of Soul Food: Race, Faith, & Food Justice, was inspired by a combination of forces. In a course titled “Animal Theology and Ethics” with Professor Grace Kao, Christopher began to explore his growing interest in the topic of food justice.

Although Christopher grew up in a home where he experienced food insecurity, and had worked with nonprofit organizations that addressed those needs, it wasn’t until that course that he realized he could point his academic research toward food justice. This class helped him make vital connections “between the exploitation of nature, the exploitation of black, indigenous, and other people of color, and the exploitation of animals,” he explained.  

Christopher then quickly discovered that much of the literature written about this topic came from a Euro-American perspective, a perspective that would leave many black people to view it as irrelevant. Because Christopher recognizes food justice as crucial for liberation in his community, he knew he needed to write about it.

In The Spirit of Soul Food, Christopher argues for a form of contextual veganism that sparks the imagination and takes seriously one’s values and culture. Eating is communal, and alienating people from familiar and traditional dishes will not allow for long-term change. He says, “Eating has an affective quality. It takes us back to happy times, family times, and connects us with people and places. It is about recreating traditional foods in new ways that still taste familiar.”

For Christopher, it is also important to create “a way of eating that takes seriously the value that I believe God places on all life, and not operating in systems of exploitation.” He never wants to berate people into a new way of eating; rather, he extends an invitation to an expanded imagination, a reconnection to the way people have eaten for thousands of years, and ultimately an invitation to build community. He asks, “How might we shift away from these patterns of excessive consumption to think more in alignment with a balanced, ecologically friendly way of recognizing the interconnectedness between us and the rest of the world?” 

When he became a vegetarian, Christopher said that the hardest part for him was the sense of isolation he felt from his community. He explained, “I wasn’t sure how to be a part of my community if I wasn’t eating from a black midwestern perspective.” At the same time, Christopher was also feeling isolated because he was the first in his family to go to college, the first to get a graduate degree, and the first to get a PhD. He was undergoing so many changes, and he struggled with how to stay connected. 

Christopher dug deep into the agricultural and culinary history of black people beyond slavery and studied the heritage of the black community, defined in this context as a group of people who are deeply agricultural and who took their well-being seriously — which included the way they ate. Christopher then began to explore how he could recreate dishes that were meaningful to him and his community in such a way that they could allow a way of eating that honors life and evades exploitation, while still maintaining the community’s affinity for the food. 

He is confident this is similar to what his ancestors would have done when they were first brought to the Americas. Because they would not have had access to the same plants or the same resources, they would have had to recreate the way they made food in this new environment. In his book, Christopher also provides recipes to help spark readers to experiment with food in ways that are meaningful for them. For Christopher, cooking is a “contemplative practice” which combines cooking, storytelling, and spirituality, and which ultimately builds community. 

As an ordained elder in The United Methodist Church, Christopher sees churches as instrumental in helping challenge food injustices. For example, there are places in the country which have become known as “food deserts,” but Christopher explains these are actually places of “food apartheid.” They are not naturally barren areas, but places where intentional human behavior and profit-driven ethics have denied people access to nutritional food such as fresh fruits and vegetables. Churches can be instrumental in turning this around; they can become “anchors for food sovereignty” by providing land where they can grow (or allow people to grow) the food they need. 

For more information on Christopher and his new book, please visit drchristophercarter.com.