Relishing a grandmother’s almost perfect baos.
When a Food’s Poignant History Is Hard to Forget
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Cooking with the Spirit of My Ancestors
Student chef cooks Southern family traditions via modern recipes.
How to Manage Diabetes Simply in a Not-So-Simple Program
The Cray Diabetes Self-Management program at the University of Kansas treats, informs, and connects participants.
Stark Climate Realities Affect Native Food Gathering
How climate directly impacts the author’s habits and what far-reaching impacts may be.
Cherry-Picking Food from One’s Past
Why did his grandmother decide some dishes should remain behind after they immigrated?
What I Weighed: Reflections on a Lifetime of Dieting
Later life lessons in wresting some of that time back from thinking about dieting.
Resurgence of Indigenous Food Traditions Helps Heal Bodies and Spirits
Stories of Indigenous peoples across the country welcoming and benefiting from Native food programs demonstrate their effectiveness.
Tomato Season
A simple sandwich helps one hang onto memories.
Let’s Break this Bread and Eat
On how culinary traditions click with chosen family.
Food as Culture and Cure
One journey from native food to American and back to nearly an ancestral diet.
About Generations Today
Generations Today A bimonthly digital publication covering current trends and people impacting the field of aging through OpEds, feature articles, profiles, and first-person pieces.
Inside This IssueStories on Food and Our Relationships with Food
Generations Today, vol. 45, no. 2 (Mar-Apr 2024)
When a Food’s Poignant History Is Hard to Forget
As I bite into her pillow-soft baos—stuffed buns—Grandma recounts her days from China in the 1960s when she ate nothing more than tough grains of rice with soy sauce. Served only on celebratory days like the Lunar New Year or Mid-Autumn Festival, steamed fish with...
Cooking with the Spirit of My Ancestors
Growing up, the aromas of my grandmother's kitchen were my first foray into the captivating world of culinary arts. Whether it was the secret ingredient in her orange-flavored candied yams, the tender richness of her collard greens, or the irresistible allure of her...
How to Manage Diabetes Simply in a Not-So-Simple Program
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2020, 10% of the U.S. population had diabetes, the percentage of adults with diabetes increased with age (reaching 26.8% in those ages 65 and older), and those rates are rising. Considering these...
Stark Climate Realities Affect Native Food Gathering
I am an indigenous chef instructor from the Deg'itan Athabascan tribe in the interior Alaska villages of Shageluk, where I was born, and Grayling, where I grew up. I promote organic, traditional and local food in contemporary recipes adapted to be gluten and dairy...
Cherry-Picking Food from One’s Past
My father's side of my family is from a small fishing village called Hanehalli in the state of Karnataka, India. My grandparents grew up in this village, and when they moved to America, they brought many of their customs with them. While my grandparents have...
What I Weighed: Reflections on a Lifetime of Dieting
“Honey, can you take a look at something? My husband looked anxious. “I think something's wrong.” What he wanted me to look at was his belly. His middle-aged man potbelly. “What is that?” he said, completely seriously. “It came out of nowhere!” It's true. My...
Resurgence of Indigenous Food Traditions Helps Heal Bodies and Spirits
Prior to European contact, American Indians (AI), Alaska Natives (AN), and Native Hawaiians (NH) had relatively low prevalence of chronic disease. Over many generations, these populations respected, cared for, and depended upon the plants and animals of their lands,...
Tomato Season
My grandmother's cooking is legendary in my family. My mother's mother delighted in hospitality. Her dinner parties featured curated menus and beautiful place settings. With the first chill in the air came slow-cooked roast beef that fell off the bone into a...
Let’s Break this Bread and Eat
In my family, we start each meal with a saying many of you have heard: “Let's break this bread and eat!” It's a phrase deeply embedded in my meal-time traditions, but it spans history. A phrase that encapsulates the power of food to bring us together in the present...
Food as Culture and Cure
My relationship with food has been one of nurturing, resilience, cultural connection and occasional indulgence. My earliest memories of food are tightly entangled with my childhood in México. My grandmother did most of the cooking during the week and on occasion on...