doesn’t qualify me to see how we as Black people prepare the food, then ‘nothin can save ya’…..
No, it doesn’t qualify you to
sterotype soul food or to assume that because your family restaurant overcooks their greens they must have got that habit from the ancestors. The question I asked you was how do you know they (the slaves) overcooked their greens. You said because your family owns two soul food restaurants. I say so what, that doesn’t give you the authority on what was done back in the 1800's. Okay?
Did we make it healthier? Or just ‘tastier’ (usually done with more sodium).
Wrong… usually done with herbs and vegetables and spices. They undoubtedly used sodium too, but that wasn't the thing that made the dish a soul food dish. There was more too it than sugar and salt.
I said:
As for the highest obesity and congestive heart failure and diabetes rates, I’m not so eager to start pointing fingers at SOUL Food as the main culprit because there are so many other foods such as McDonald’s type food that we are famous for indulging in that could also and probably are bigger contributors to these problems.
Then you said:
I agree which is why I started this discussion talking about the destructive dietary habits (not just soul food) we picked up living in the west.
Actually you jumped in on this discussion with a comment that directly points a finger at SOUL FOOD as the culprit. So you
DO NOT AGREE. Here is what you said when you supposedly started this discussion which I believe Devinone actually started:
It's not just the black folks who are big, white folks are too.
That's who we got this over eating stuff from. Our people were traditionally lean and fit back home in Africa until they brought us here and we adopted their destructive diet. That slave food (soul food) that we call "good eatin' is killing us.
That is not in agreement with what I wrote above to which you are now agreeing. You were directly
blaming soul food as our people’s killer. That does not sound anything like what you are agreeing to now… or maybe I’m not seeing what I’m seeing.
You do know that excercising isn’t necessarily a trait of American culture. Get out of your own little world of healthy eating and exercise and look at what’s going on in the rest of the country. Namely your community. We are the most unhealthiest community living in a country that boast the highest obesity rates in the developed world.
Of course.
My point is that it’s not what you eat, it’s how you over indulge and fail to exercise that determines your health for the most part. I can eat 1 twinkee and exercise and it will not have the same affect as eating 12 twinkees and not exercising. Don’t over indulge on ANY kind of food and make sure you exercise and then you cannot blame SOUL FOOD for all of these ailments. Again, I eat SOUL FOOD, the supposed killer and I’m not dying. Why? Because I don’t over indulge and I exercise. That’s the point I was making.
As for exercising not necessarily being a trait of American Culture, that may be true, but I think it is more so a trait of BLACK AMERICAN Culture, afterall we lead the pack in sports and athletics, there's no question about that. I'd say more athletic scholarships are given to black college atheletes as compared to white overall. So it may not be a trait of American Culture but that's not NECESSARILY true for black americans.
We were kept strong enough to work but no so strong (physically and mentally) that we could (or would even want to) overpower our masters.
Uhhh right
… that’s why we are all still enslaved right? That’s also why there were Harriet Tubmans, Frederick Douglas’s, Nat Turners in the world, …that’s why there was a NY Slave Revolt
The New York Slave Revolt of 1712 was an uprising in New York City of 23 enslaved African Americans in which nine whites were shot, stabbed, or beaten to death and six other whites were injured….The blacks got together in the middle of the night on April 6, 1712, and set fire to a building on Maiden Lane near Broadway.[2] While the white colonists tried to put out the fire, the enslaved African Americans attacked them and ran off.That’s also why there was the St. John Slave revolt…
The 1733 slave insurrection on St. John in the Danish West Indies, (now the St. John, United States Virgin Islands) started on November 23, 1733 when African slaves from Akwamu revolted against the owners and managers of the island's plantations. The slave rebellion was one of the earliest and longest slave revolts in the Americas. The slaves captured the fort in Coral Bay and took control of most of the island. The revolt ended in mid-1734 when troops sent from Martinique defeated the Akwamu. [1]That’s also why there was Cato’s Rebellion
The Stono Rebellion (sometimes called Cato's Conspiracy or Cato's Rebellion) is one of the earliest known organized acts of rebellion against slavery within the boundaries of the present United States. On September 9, 1739, South Carolina slaves gathered at the Stono River (for which the rebellion is named) to plan an armed march for freedom.That’s also why there was a Nat Turner Rebellion:
Nat Turner's Rebellion (also known as the Southampton Insurrection) was a slave rebellion that took place in Southampton County, Virginia during August 1831. Slaves in the rebellion killed approximately 60 white people before the rebellion was put down a few days later, but leader Nat Turner remained in hiding for several months afterwards.That;s also why there was the Denmark Vesey rebellion
Denmark Vesey (originally Telemaque,1767? – July 2, 1822) was an African American slave brought to the United States. After purchasing his freedom, he planned what would have been one of the largest slave rebellions in the United States. Word of the plans was leaked, and Charleston, South Carolina authorities arrested the plot's leaders before the uprising could begin. Vesey and others were tried, convicted and executed.And then there is this one with some 500 Soul food eating slaves:
The 1811 German Coast Uprising was a slave revolt that took place in parts of the Territory of Orleans on January 8-10, 1811. The revolt took place on the east coast of the Mississippi River in what are now St. John the Baptist and St. Charles parishes, Louisiana.[1] While the slave insurgency was the largest in U.S. history, the rebels killed only two white men. In confrontations with militia and executions after trial, ninety-five slaves were killed.
Between 64 and 125 enslaved men marched from sugar plantations near present-day Norco on the German Coast toward the city of New Orleans. They collected more men along the way. Some accounts claimed a total of 200-500 slaves participated. During their two-day, twenty-mile march, the slaves burned five plantation houses (three completely), several sugarhouses, and crops. They were armed mostly with hand tools.[2] So...
All of these people ate your so called “slave” food meant to supossedly enslave yet that didn’t stop them and they did indeed try with all their might to get out from under the control of Massa. Now how is it that Massa would continue to toss out this slave food with the purpose of enslaving the mind, body and soul when all evidence showed not only did it not work at as you say KEEPING them enslaved , but appears to have done just the opposite. Me thinks the Massa would have gotten wise to that.
You said here that they remained enslaved and imply that they did not try to emancipate themselves because they continued to eat the slave food passed on by the Massa. Well if this doesn’t constitute TRYING to emancipate yourself, then I don’t know what does. Now you’re going to tell me well those particular slaves didn’t eat SOUL FOOD right
. Right.
Still not convinced… how about the NY Conspiracy of 1741, how about the Haitian Revolution
The Haitian Revolution (1791–1804) was the only successful slave revolt in history. It established Haiti as the first republic ruled by blacks. At the time of the revolution, Haiti was known as Saint-Domingue and was a colony of France. Through the revolution, people of African ancestry freed themselves from French colonization and from slavery. Although hundreds of rebellions occurred during the slave era, only the revolt on Saint-Domingue, beginning in 1791, was successful[1].What about Gabriel Prossers rebellion…
Gabriel (1776–October 10, 1800), today commonly if incorrectly known as Gabriel Prosser, was a literate enslaved blacksmith who planned and led a large slave rebellion in the Richmond area in the summer of 1800. I would suppose he ate that "SLAVE" FOOD too… had no effect on him either. Hmmm... had no effect on a whole lot of slaves as demonstrated by the number of rebellions. And I haven't even listed them all.
Whatever it was it couldn’t have been much because the majority of them still stayed on the plantation and remained subjected to the physical and psychological system of bondage that took place.
This statement and the previous one make no sense. When you look at the history of black slave revolts, there’s evidence to the contrary. We did fight to emancipate ourselves. We did eat SOUL FOOD. And soul food did not enslave us, physically, spiritually or otherwise because if it did do all you say it did then we would not have any rebellions to note in history now would we?
I don’t need to read those authors you posted. The history speaks for itself! We fought to emancipate ourselves and today we are FREE and TODAY we still eat SOUL FOOD, so if your argument is that the food enslaved, the food keeps you in bondage, the food spiritually defeats you then how come we have all of this history that shows another story?
Again. food does not enslave and cannot emancipate, it simply provides nourishment. Obviously enough nourishment to feed the clever minds of a Frederick Douglas, a Harriet Tubman, a Nat Turner and a slew of others in their quest for freedom for us all. I’m sure they all ate SOUL FOOD so
Stop hating!!! 
Consuming a natural and organic diet free of pesticides, hormones and other carcinogens (and participating in other nourishing activities such as like excercise, meditation, etc.) contributes to a clear mind, heightened energy levels and actually elevates one spiritually.
Eating food that you
enjoy 
eating actually contributes to a happy disposition, hightened energy levels (because that’s what food does, provide energy) and elevates one spiritually as well.
Sista you are in THE NILE . Our food has too much more sodium and sugar. You never saw the sodium that goes into greens? How about the sugar in yams? The dairy in mac and cheese?
Like I said before, it all depends on how the cook prepares it. You cannot broadly generalize (Stereotype) SOUL FOOD because it’s really up to the cook how the food is seasoned and salted. You keep saying OUR FOOD and then following it with these blanket statements. You are in the Nile if you believe that everybody prepares SOUL FOOD unhealthily. We are capable of adapting SOUL FOOD recipes that do not have too much salt and sugar. It all DEPENDS ON THE COOK. Stop generalizing, stereotyping and acting as if because your family restaurants do it that way then they have the patent on how SOUL FOOD is prepared.
Black folks are the only ones who would let another race start a Black cultural restaurant in a Black neighborhood and support it in strength while other black owned soul food spots struggle and shut down.
I have personally never seen a business that was giving the people what they were looking for go under from lack of support. When it comes to restaurants especially, if the food and service is slammin, and there is a market for the business, the business will not shut down, I don’t care who is running it. When one competing business fails it is usually because it falls short of expectations and fails to meet the customers needs. I don't know what kind of black folk you are dealing with, but when I patronize a business, the one that is serving my needs gets my business. If there's a choice between going to the black owned one and the white owned one and they are both meeting my expectations as a customers then I give my business to the black one. If the black business is falling short of my expectations and there's someone out there doing it better then they are (which shouldn't be the case with soul food) then the better man gets my business regardless of what color the owner is. My first loyalty is to the black soul food restaurant, but they've got to be giving me what I want, otherwise I take my business elsewhere. It's a simple as that. It's a free enterprise. Ain't nobody stopping the black business from doing it "THE BEST". If they go under it is usually because they fell short and the food wasn't slammin. At least that's how it goes with the people I deal with, give me good food and service and I will support your business period.
