History at The Table: Join the Conversation

In April,  I'll be joining a dozen or so historians in a convening of the Public Historians and Local Food Movement Working Group at the National Council on Public History annual conference in Ottawa, Canada.  The working group is led by Michelle Moon and Cathy Stanton, who've encouraged us to begin the conversation through a series of entries on Cathy's blog.  Mine, inspired by a photo that came through by Facebook feed one morning (thanks Katya Kuchar)  explores the connections between the personal and the political as we think about food--in Ukraine, in the United States, and in museums.  For the full post (and other great posts as well) please go here.

And of course, remember that your photos: of your lunch in Ukraine, of your mom's pickles,  or old family dinners,  can inspire us to.  Please share!

Back Then: Historic Food Photos

It always seems a bit disconnected when you visit an antique show or flea market--those objects and photos are untethered, let loose from the people and places that gave them meaning.  However,  it's always worth a look to see what you can discover and what you might learn.  Last weekend I went to the antiques market here in Kyiv, and amidst the great textiles, the guns and swords, the icons, and the paintings of Lenin, I found some piles of photographs. Searching through, I found some related to food and food production and began my own small collection.   I really don't know anything about these photos, other than the fact that several seem to relate directly to collective farming, and I hope some of the Pickle Project readers will both share what they know, if anything, about the content of these photos and share your own photos of foodways from Ukraine or the diaspora--from any time period--with us.  

Understanding the historic context of Ukrainian foodways, in particular throughout the rapid, complicated change of the 20th century,  is critical to our understanding of foodways today.  So tell us more!