Independent Lens: Soul Food Junkies
Soul Food Junkies
Filmmaker Byron Hurt sets out to learn more about the soul-food tradition and its relevance to black cultural identity. His exploration was inspired by his father’s lifelong love affair with the high-fat, calorie-rich traditional soul-food diet and his unwillingness to give it up even in the face of a life-threatening health crisis. Hurt discovers that the relationship between African Americans and culinary dishes such as ribs and grits and fried chicken is culturally based, deep-rooted, complex, and often deadly. Through candid interviews with soul-food cooks, historians, and scholars, as well as with doctors, family members, and everyday people, “Soul Food Junkies” puts this culinary tradition under the microscope to examine both its positive and negative consequences.
Watch Soul Food: Good to You vs. Good for You on PBS. See more from Independent Lens.