Enlightening The Heartland

The American heartland has strong , almost cement like roots. Yet there are chefs and bakers who are bringing diversity to these small towns, bringing good food and good ideas to residents there. Hopefully gone will be the days of nativist thinking and the cooking that comes with it.

 Three times James Beard award winner Brett Anderson, a regular contributor and restaurant critic explored this in today's New York Times Food section. He interviewed restaurant and bakery owners Mateo Mackbee and his girlfriend, Erin Lucas. They started the restaurant, Krewe and the artisan bakery Flour and Flower in the small, predominantly white town of Saint Joseph , Minnesota. It's known mainly for being the home of the Catholic college of Saint Benedict and around seventy miles northwest of the more metropolitan Minneapolis - Saint Paul. Here Mr. Mackbee brings his mother's cooking , recipes from her native New Orleans. Both Mr. Mackbee and Ms. Lucas became bored with the still mostly white chef culture in the Twin Cities. They also wanted to bring awareness of racial inequalities to rural communities and to find an alternative to the limited career options available to them. Luckily in Saint Joseph offered Chef Mackbee, an African-American a chance for ownership that he never received in the city, despite his culinary degree and nearly a decade of experience in some of the area's most respected eateries.

Their restaurant also has a diversified staff. Three members of Krewe's four person kitchen staff are people of color. There hopefully will be more restaurants owned by African-Americans and immigrants in this strongly Scandinavian -American area of the country. Stearns County, where Saint Joseph is located is  surprisingly home to some of the largest immigrant communities. Agriculture and food processing jobs have drawn workers from East Africa and Latin America for decades. One is Jennie-O Turkey , a popular brand of frozen food. Unfortunately this has sparked a rise in nativist politics and xenophobia. George Floyd's killing in Minneapolis has reached the small towns. The nearby town of St. Cloud  had their police use tear gas on a crowd of protesters three weeks after Mr. Floyd's murder. Yet. Chef Mackbee persists , and that determination along with encouragement from his friend,  Pastor , Mark Kopka , of the Nordland Lutheran Church. Both bonded over Chef Mackbee's dream of starting a farm where he could bring black students who otherwise didn't have access to nature. He also ran for the City Council in nearby New London. yet it's cooking his mother's beloved recipes that is his passion. His mother,served as principal at St. Paul's Central High for twenty six years and a former student, Melvin Carter III became St. Paul's first African-American mayor.

The heartland, and even the big cities need chefs like Mateo Mackbee and Erin Lucas. They will show how diversity brings variety and harmony to eateries. It's a way of opening up the minds of locals, with good food and good ideas.