Last Call: Celebrate Pride Month With This Investigation Of Queer Food

"What is 'Queer Food'? What is 'Gay Food'? Is it a cuisine? A feeling? A movement? Where is Queer Food eaten, and by whom?" These are questions posed and explored by the editors at Food & Wine this month as part of the magazine's lovely Queer As Food collection. It features poetry, essays, and interviews with queer people across the food and entertainment industries, each one uniquely illuminating and revelatory. June 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of the first Pride celebrations following the Stonewall Uprising of 1969, making this an ideal moment to investigate a queer food landscape that Mary-Frances Heck describes as being "as big and varied as the community itself."

It's here that you can learn about The Okra Project, which uses monetary donations to pay Black Trans chefs to cook free meals at the homes of fellow Black Trans people in need. (For those experiencing homelessness, the food is cooked and delivered to community spaces.) The deliciousness and nutrition of the food are important aspects of The Okra Project's mission, but so is the familiarity of the dishes: the ability to nourish a community with culturally specific foods that connect Black Trans people with a cherished culinary tradition. To be fed a warm meal by someone who cares about you is already meaningful; if you can make it taste like home, all the better.

The entire series is worth exploring. And if you're reading anything else this weekend that's great, let us know in the comments.