19 – America Eats: A Hidden Archive

The *America Eats* project, a massive 1930s WPA initiative, sought to document the diverse food culture of the United States through the eyes of writers, housewives, and field workers. By collecting recipes, photographs, and oral histories, the project revealed how food serves as a lens into American identity, immigration, and social history. Notable contributors like Zora Neale Hurston and Stetson Kennedy captured the realities of the Great Depression, documenting everything from chain gang diets to political barbecues and "gospel bird" traditions. Although the project was sidelined by the onset of World War II, its archived materials remain a vital record of the country's culinary heritage. These accounts demonstrate that food acts as both a form of sustenance and a cultural sacrament, bridging divides and reflecting the complex, often painful, history of the American experience.