The Lincoln Avenue Cookbook:
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
This project is an outcome of the Harvard Graduate School of Design Option Studio titled Great Migration and Memorial Highway: Culture Heritage as Inspiration in New Rochelle led by Gina Ford and Rhiannon Sinclair. Designed by Scarlet Rendleman and Colleen Sloan, this project is inspired by, and dedicated to, two community members of New Rochelle, New York: Linda Tarrant-Reid and Walter Brown.
Table of Contents
4
Table of Contents
Foreword Chapter 1: Introduction to the Lincoln Corridor
p. 6-7 p. 8 - 21
Chapter 2: Planting and Community Frameworks
p. 22 - 31
Chapter 3: Spring
p. 32 - 41
Chapter 4: Summer
p. 42 - 51
Chapter 5: Fall
p. 52 - 61
Chapter 6: Winter
p. 62 - 71
Call to Action
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
p. 72-73
5
Foreword This cookbook is for the Lincoln Avenue neighborhood in New Rochelle, New York. The reasons for focusing on this neighborhood are twofold: data driven analysis and, more importantly, the lived experiences of two community advocates, Linda Tarrant-Reid and Walter Brown. This book focuses on issues of inequity, cultural identity, and food insecurity among the black community. Through an analysis of the districts with the highest concentrations of black population paired with low-income density, see figure below, the most critical areas of inequity in New Rochelle are identified, which includes the Lincoln Avenue neighborhood.
6
Linda and Walter’s stories of the Lincoln Avenue neighborhood brought to life the importance of the area as a historic black community. Their experiences speak to the displacement of people and businesses of the community by Memorial Highway in the 1960s, after the desegregation case verdict then demolition of Lincoln Elementary School. This cookbook illustrates the rich histories and experiences of Linda and Walter to demonstrate the potential of the Lincoln Avenue neighborhood to be once again a vibrant place for blackowned businesses, community gathering, and cultural celebration through a new urban food system.
Foreword
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
7
Chapter 1: Introduction to the Lincoln Corridor, Food and Culture
8
Chapter 1: Introduction
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
9
Community Contributors
Linda started the grow! Lincoln Park Community Garden and is Executive Director of the Lincoln Park Conservancy.
10
Chapter 1: Introduction
Walter worked as a social worker at New Rochelle High School for over 20 years is a volunteer coach at the Remington Boys and Girls Club.
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
11
12
Chapter 1: Introduction
African-American and Caribbean contributions to ‘Soul Food’
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
13
Regional Extents
14
Chapter 1: Introduction
15
Walter’s Ingredients of Home 1960-70
16
Chapter 1: Introduction
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
17
Inequities in Food Access and Health is a National Issue As evident in the experiences of Walter and Linda, the inequities in food access, health and financial well-being are not an anomaly to New Rochelle, but speak to a nationwide crisis. The map, at right, depicts the larger national context of this issue where black majority communities, seen in the pink dot density, tend to face higher rates of food insecurity as well as being concentrated largely in the southern and eastern states facing generally higher rates of obesity and other health risks.
18
Chapter 1: Introduction
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
19
The Lincoln Corridor: Past and Present
20
Chapter 1: Introduction
Linda’s Recipe for grow! Lincoln Park Community Garden Left: Today, Lincoln Park holds grow! Lincoln Park Community Garden and is adjacent to the Remington Boys and Girls Club, currently under renovation. Also notable is the food bank across the street, which Linda and Walter describe as often having long lines of people waiting outside to receive food.
Right: The existing grow! Lincoln Park Community Garden, is shown as addressing food insecurity, education, sustainability, and community cohesion through many different activities and programs onsite.
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
21
Chapter 2: Planting and Community Frameworks
22
Chapter 2: Planting and Community Frameworks
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
23
A Food and Culture Network
24
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
25
Phasing the Network Over Time
26
Chapter 2: Planting and Community Frameworks
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
27
Ingredients for Transforming Space Seen here are potential spatial design ingredients that may be used on a variety of existing site typologies. This list of ingredients is not exhaustive but, rather, is meant to inspire a range of possibilities to rethink spaces in New Rochelle, or even at home. For example, Little Free _____ could be a Little Free Library, a Little Free Food Pantry, a Little Free Recipe Repository, etc. depending on the wants and needs of the community.
28
Chapter 2: Planting and Community Frameworks
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
29
Four Sites of Design Potential
30
Chapter 2: Planting and Community Frameworks
The remainder of this cookbook is organized into chapters by season. The following framework demonstrates the proposed designs for 4 sites across the New Rochelle Lincoln Corridor area that each chapter explores. These designs utilize some of the spatial ingredients from our framework to reimagine what these spaces may look like in the future.
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
31
Chapter 3: Spring
32
Chapter 3: Spring
“To plunge your hands into this rich, dark, healthy soil, and then to actually put your seed in the soil and cover it...and then to water it — it’s an act of love, really...you’re birthing something, and...when whatever you are planting reaches maturity, you’re going to use it to nourish yourself and your family.” - Linda Tarrant-Reid
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
33
The Spring Schedule
34
Chapter 3: Spring
Spring Peach Blooms
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
35
36
Chapter 3: Spring
37
Spring in the Lincoln Park Hub Planting season commences, the weather is warming, people gather in the park. 38
Chapter 3: Spring
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
39
The Legacy of Lincoln Elementary School
40
Chapter 3: Spring
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
41
Chapter 4: Summer
42
Chapter 4: Summer
“The black community would have these big dances and annual galas, all the parents would go to those... our parents were really generous about letting us [the kids] have parties, too...they would make snacks for us...We were very social.” - Linda Tarrant-Reid
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
43
The Summer Schedule
44
Chapter 4: Summer
Summer Peppers
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
45
46
Chapter 4: Summer
47
48
Summer at Rochelle Park Rochelle Park is used for seasonal events such as barbeques and farmer’s markets.
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
49
History of Social Events
50
Chapter 4: Summer
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
51
Chapter 5: Fall
52
Chapter 5: Fall
“We would also have pancake-eating contests under “nanny’s” supervision...amongst my cousins which I ALWAYS won!! My highest total was 13.” - Walter Brown
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
53
The Fall Schedule
54
Chapter 5: Fall
Collards in Fall
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
55
56
Chapter 5: Fall
57
58
Chapter 5: Fall
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
59
Historic Black Churches
60
Chapter 5: Fall
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
61
Chapter 6: Winter
62
Chapter 6: Winter
“Large meals were prepared during large family gatherings, especially the holidays. My paternal grandmother who emigrated from Jamaica would prepare meals during Christmas and Thanksgiving consisting of turkey, honey-glazed ham, collard greens, string beans, yams, beans and rice...Since I was a finicky eater, Grandma would break protocol and make certain dishes...rice without beans, and stuffing without celery, just for ME!” - Walter Brown
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
63
The Winter Schedule
64
Chapter 6: Winter
Witch Hazel in Winter
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
65
66
67
68
Chapter 6: Winter
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
69
History of Entrepreneurship on Lincoln Avenue
70
Chapter 6: Winter
Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
71
Call to Action There are several organizations and resources in New Rochelle that are working to preserve and promote sustainable, equitable infrastructure, public space, and cultural enrichment and education. Grow! Lincoln Park Community Garden Phone: (919) 224-4243 E: growlpcg@gmail.com T: @growlincolnpark F: http://www.facebook.com/growlincolnpark New Rochelle Municipal Housing Authority 50 Sickles Avenue, New Rochelle, NY 10801 Phone: (914) 636-7050 E: afarrish@nrmha.org
The Lincoln Park Conservancy, Inc. 177A East Main Street #341, New Rochelle, NY 10801 Phone: (914) 224-4243 E: thelincolnparkconservancy@gmail.com T: @the_conservancy F: www.facebook.com/ thelincolnparkconservancy GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/d032d716
New Rochelle Community Action Program 95 Lincoln Avenue, New Rochelle, NY 10801 Phone: (914) 636-3050 E: http://www.westcopny.org/community-action-partnerships-2/
Additional information and resources can be found on the Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) webpage dedicated to the Lincoln Avenue Corridor of New Rochelle: https://www.tclf.org/sites/default/files/microsites/landslide2021/locations/lincoln.html 72
Sowing the future Lincoln Corridor Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity
73