Food is a big topic in Charleston. There is a very successful Farmers’ Market; and, several organizations and groups cultivate gardens on public school grounds and offer the bounty to the students. You can get involved through the links below. Several of the city’s restaurants routinely land on lists featuring the nation’s best. The food scene is a big hook for tourists and one of the cultural draws that attracts new residents. Many locals, in fact, have come to anxiously await Restaurant Week, a seasonal promotion of the Greater Charleston Restaurant Association, when a chance to try one of the area’s more popular spots is within the realm of possibility, both economically and without a reservation.
I routinely seize the opportunity to share an early dinner with my teenaged daughter Olive at one of our favorites on upper King Street. We enjoy the time to talk about the local specialties that we would not attempt at home (especially fish), and what people elsewhere must be missing. One plum of parenting has been introducing a variety of interesting and nutritional local food into her life experience so that she has a broader appreciation of this place she will always call home.
Over the past few years teaching young children about food (and nutrition) has gained cultural and historical significance. NPR’s Eleanor Beardsley once had a memorable story on her child’s culinary education in a French day care facility (here). And the New York Times recently ran a story (here) in the Times Magazine featuring a group of public school second graders who were treated to a meal at the acclaimed New York restaurant Daniel. The accompanying video will bring to mind one’s own childhood reaction to an inscrutable dish.
Two of the Charleston region’s non-profits that have gone to the garden for inspiration include The Charleston Area Children’s Garden Project and The Green Heart Project. These “farm”-to-table approaches in public schools help children recognize “where food comes from” and its healthy benefits, as well as reinforcing an overall sense of community. Coupled with the ability for many families to use SNAP in local farmers markets, the push toward healthier, locally-sourced meals is even more possible for everyone.
Bottom line: Food is a significant marker of the health, vitality, and quality of life in our community.