What’s in the Cooler?

Interpretation and food have always been close in my mind. The first official interpretive program I remember was back in my single-digit years, when my family visited a chocolate factory in Pennsylvania. I was fascinated by every detail—where chocolate comes from, how it has been important across cultures for many years, what the meaning of this or that chocolate gift is, and more (and yes, the tasty samples too!).

Fast-forward a couple of decades, and the first time I shared a meal with interpreters was here in Colorado, when the 2019 NAI National Conference Committee gathered in 3D—after many phone meetings—to plan the conference. We walked to a local restaurant, and I noticed one member had a small cooler. “Probably sandwiches and medicine,” I thought, since my father always carried the same cooler (with those items). But no: inside the cooler was a small deceased animal, which one committee member was giving to another! I remember thinking, “Wow, interpreters are strange folks,” and, at the same time, “Wow, I love these interpreters and feel so at home here.”

A few years later, the first interview I hosted as Legacy’s incoming Managing Editor was with Sarah Lohman, NAI National Conference keynote speaker and remarkable food historian and interpreter. Now, after Associate Editor Gaynell Brady suggested this “Interpreting Foodways” theme, I am delighted to welcome you to the lush, delicious table of this issue.

Across these pages, you will find ways interpreters use food—cooking, baking, tasting, sharing, remembering, and more—to connect diverse audiences. Foods and foodways bring us together. They can foster community. They can build bridges and empathy. They let us slip both outside of and, also, deeply into time and place. They spark moments we remember across our entire lives. I bet, for many of you, some of your earliest memories also involve food.

So, come sit with us, and come make with us! In addition to the articles of this issue, we offer a compilation of recipes from authors, editors, and staff. Many of these recipes have stories within them. We are excited for you to make and taste your own stories, maybe familiar and maybe quite new, within them too.