Black Health and Wellness: Past and Present Implications of the “Slave Diet” for African Americans

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12 | BLACK HISTORY BULLETIN VOL. 84, NO. 2 84 No.2 BLACK HEALTH AND WELLNESS: PAST AND PRESENT IMPLICATIONS OF THE “SLAVE DIET” FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS By Michelle B. Pass and Sharon K. Bullock The transatlantic slave trade has affected every aspect of the African and African American experience. As such, through the lens of critical race structuralism (CRS), a theoretical framework that analyzes racial and ethnic relations in social and institutional systems in terms of patterns and relationships between race, culture, gender, and social structures , this article explores the evolution of African Americans’ dietary consumption and its impact on their health and wellness . CRS is composed of five tenets: (a) critical analysis of societal structure; (b) addressing dominant cultural indoctrination in education practices and policies; (c) utilizing social justice to advocate for equitable representation, access, and resources; (d) synergizing institutional change by being a catalyst for deconstructing racism and bias; and (e) engaging in intercultural collaborative communication and actions of change.1 Thus, this article seeks to answer the following question : How has the “slave diet” impacted the health and wellness of African Americans? Considering CRS, the social and historical context for the nutrition of African Americans is a central aspect of Black health and wellness. Furthermore, social studies knowledge can stimulate critical dialogue regarding the past and present, and it can help nurture a diverse society.2 The diet of enslaved Africans and African Americans in the colonial American South has been well studied through zooarchaeology, which is the study of the remains of animals (or humans) recovered from archaeological or other sites. 3 In light of zooarchaeology, there are some reports that suggest that slaves were generally well fed to ensure high levels of productivity on plantations. Other reports suggest there were differences in the nutrition of slaves based on their status .4 Slaves who worked in the fields or otherwise had a heavy workload were fed a little more, while slaves who did not have the heaviest workload, like women and children, were not as well fed. As a result, malnutrition was the leading cause of death for babies and children of slaves. 4 Since much of the land was reserved for agriculture, meat was an expensive rarity on colonial plantations. Children were considered important assets , but not as valuable as adult males. Consequently, meat was often not included in the diets of enslaved children until age ten, at which time they were allotted a serving of pork on most days.5 This included leftover parts the slave owners did not consume, like the feet, tail, tongue, intestine, etc. Per CRS, those who suggest that adult male slaves were “well fed” may be exaggerating the amount of food slave owners allotted to the enslaved. A more accurate suggestion is that adult slaves who labored in the fields were sufficiently fed. The rations of pork, a generally parasitic meat often consumed by European slave owners, and corn provided to adult slaves were sufficient to prevent death from malnutrition, but failed to provide all the necessary calories and nutrients for the labor-intensive work of a field slave. 6 Although the quantity of food given to slaves remains a subject of debate, what seems to be agreed upon is that its quality was poor. The inadequate diet forcefully imposed upon enslaved Africans was the precursor for the poor eating habits that have been traditionally found in the African American community, putting them at higher risk for chronic illnesses. Pre-Colonial African Diet Prior to slavery, the pre-colonial West African diet consisted primarily of vegetables, as many people were farmers and ate the produce generated from their farms.7 Fruits, BLACK HISTORY BULLETIN VOL. 84, NO. 2 | 13 84 No.2 vegetables, grains, and nuts were common foods in the West African diet. Meats were largely used as supplemental nutrition during times in the agricultural cycle when harvests were not available. 8 According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Dietary Guidelines for Americans, a healthy diet consists of nutrient-dense foods from the following groups: vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy, protein from lean meats or plant...