Freeman, a major voice in Southern foodways, shines in the Emmy-winning Finding Edna Lewis. The film will screen in Minden on Saturday, Nov. 15.
by Chris Jay
stuffedandbusted at gmail dot com
The creation of this post was sponsored by Slow Food North Louisiana.
Among the recently announced details of Slow Food North Louisiana’s next big event, “Hand Them Down to Lift Them Up: An Heirloom Food Forum,” is this gem for local documentary film lovers: Deb Freeman, executive producer and host of the Emmy-winning Edna Lewis documentary from PBS, Finding Edna Lewis, will screen and discuss the 55-minute film as part of a Slow Food North Louisiana event in Minden on Saturday, Nov. 15.
The screening is slated to take place immediately following an Edna Lewis-inspired luncheon prepared by Chef Hardette Harris of Us Up North Kitchen, who will join Freeman for a brief chat about the lunch before the film begins. All of the day’s events will be held on the grounds of The Farm at Cultural Crossroads of Minden. Tickets are $35-$40 each and may be purchased here. Tickets must be purchased in advance, and ticket sales will close on Nov. 14.
Edna Lewis was an accomplished chef, farmer, and author from Freetown, Virginia whose pioneering work helped create what is today recognized as the “farm-to-table” movement. Lewis cooked professionally from the late forties until the mid-nineties, publishing several landmark cookbooks along the way. The role that she played in redefining Southern food, in particular, went largely unrecognized in her lifetime. Lewis died in 2006.
“Until I started writing about food, I didn’t know who she was, which I think is absolutely insane—I’m from Virginia,” Freeman said. “Once I started learning about her, I just got angrier and angrier, like: ‘Why aren’t folks talking about Edna Lewis?’”
Freeman, who will participate in a Q & A following the screening, hopes that audience members will see how the values that Lewis embodied can help them make positive changes in their own lives.
“I want people to walk away with a sense of who Ms. Lewis was and the impact that she had—not just on Southern food, but American food,” Freeman said. “I also want people to walk away thinking about the food legacies in their own families and communities, and what they’re doing to pass those legacies down through generations, as Ms. Lewis did.”
The Finding Edna Lewis screening is just one component of a day-long program celebrating local heirloom foods of North Louisiana. Conference-style sessions held in the morning will illuminate the work of the North Louisiana Seed Preservation Program (see this YouTube video for background) and explore a fascinating story from North Louisiana watermelon history. After lunch from Chef Hardette Harris—a 2024 semifinalist for the James Beard Award for Best Chef: South—Freeman will screen and discuss the film to close out the day. Event organizers are planning to begin the film screening at 12:15 p.m.
Finding Edna Lewis was tremendously well-received upon its initial release as a series of short episodes earlier this year. It features interviews with food world luminaries including Chef Mashama Bailey, as well as food writers, historians, and Lewis’s family.
The pairing of this film (and filmmaker) with an Edna Lewis-inspired lunch from Chef Harris is a brilliant move from Slow Food North Louisiana. The program should make for a fun, fascinating, and delicious day.
Tickets
Tickets to “Hand Them Down to Lift Them Up: An Heirloom Food Forum” are available for advance purchase now through Nov. 14 on the Slow Food North Louisiana website. For planning purposes, tickets will not be sold at the door. Tickets are $40 for the general public and $35 for current Slow Food members. Proceeds from the event will benefit both host organizations.
RSVP to “Hand Them Down to Lift Them Up: An Heirloom Food Forum” on Facebook
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