“We woke up one morning, and there was this bag of really limp looking collards floating in a milky liquid on our front doorstep, and I thought it was a prank,” she said. “It turns out, it was collard kraut and it was, in fact, a gift. This led to me spending the afternoon with four 60-plus-year-old men in their back shed making kraut, and I was lit up by this experience.”
Howard and Ben Knight, chefs who star in the cooking show, “A Chef’s Life” on PBS, spoke alongside their producers Cynthia Hill and Malinda Maynor Lowery in a keynote lecture Saturday night. The lecture was a given during the State of the Plate gathering — part of the 10th annual Global American South conference.
“A Chef’s Life” showcases different farmers primarily from rural eastern North Carolina where many small towns struggle with poverty. Howard said the show sets out not only to teach people about southern cuisine, but also to empower local communities.
“Being able to shine a light on the culture of eastern Carolina and showing that culture in a positive way to the people that live there has been incredibly powerful and gives them a sense of pride,” she said. “It’s been the most positive thing to come out of this show, in my perspective.”
The show also raises awareness for farmers in a time when most people go to the grocery store instead of growing their own food.
“The whole notion of farm-to-table is sort of exotic now, but that’s how we grew up,” Hill said. “We grew everything in the backyard and killed animals, and that’s what we ate.”
The group has also been involved in bridging the gap between rural and urban communities. Knight, who grew up in Chicago and now lives in Kinston, North Carolina, sometimes found it hard to transition to rural life.
“You have your preconceptions of rural Southern life, but over the years that has melted away,” he said.
