Ashli Q. Stokes joins Charlotte Talks to discuss how food can bring us together
Ashli Q. Stokes, Ph.D., professor of communication studies, joined Charlotte Talks with Mike Collins for a two-part episode titled “Charlotte city council names next mayor, plus how food can bring us together.”
Stokes, author of “Consuming Identity: The Role of Food in Redefining the South” (2016), appeared alongside Kris Reid, chef and executive director of Slow Food USA, and Kristen Wile, editor of the Charlotte-based digital publication Unpretentious Palate.
The conversation explores how food helps create and sustain community, why sharing meals remains a meaningful experience, the role restaurants and other gathering places play in bringing people together, and how Charlotte’s growing food scene can create new opportunities for connection across communities and cultures.
“Every region in our country and globally has key indicators of dishes they like or practices they use when cooking, but what’s interesting about the south is that despite how much Charlotte has changed, there are still commonalities we look for that differ from other regions,” Stokes said. “Food does a lot of work in crafting our messages, how we identify with and relate to each other, and eating in the south offers different places where we can exchange taste flavors and memories, sharing a little about ourselves and the ways we might connect with someone.”