When disaster rolls through, Ederique Goudia gets cooking
| Wallace, La.
Ederique Goudia isn鈥檛 the type who stops moving. From November through February, her life was like a hurricane鈥檚 gust, tossing her about the country between the community that raised her and the place she now calls home.
In early November, Ms. Goudia and an entourage of chefs made their way from Detroit to her childhood hometown of Wallace, Louisiana, a community of nearly 600 about 50 miles outside New Orleans that had been pummeled by Hurricane Ida鈥檚 Category 4 strength last summer. Her foodways colleagues Raphael Wright and Jermond Booze, among a host of others from their home in Detroit, rallied around her and organized a day of service for the community, followed by their group鈥檚 inaugural diaspora dinner. It was their way of showing appreciation for Wallace, as well as their dear colleague Ms. Goudia.
The day after they arrived back in Detroit, Ms. Goudia and company made a beeline back to the kitchen, where they began working alongside colleagues to prepare 50 family-sized Thanksgiving meals for their food-insecure community members. The meals were prepared through the food security group Make Food Not Waste, of which Ms. Goudia is the lead chef.聽
Why We Wrote This
When Hurricane Ida devastated Ederique Goudia鈥檚 hometown in Louisiana, her adopted Detroit community helped her transform helplessness into hope.
Food relief is about more than physical sustenance for Ms. Goudia and the many chefs who volunteer alongside her. It is a rung on the ladder to stability. And it can be the glue that holds communities together. 鈥淚t creates a shared song amongst people, of a reset,鈥� says Detroit chef Kwaku Osei-Bonsu, founder of 鈥嬧�婤lackMetroEats and one of the volunteers who traveled to Wallace with Ms. Goudia.
So when the calendar turned to 2022, she and her colleagues donned their aprons once again for another marathon community service event, the second annual 鈥淭aste the Diaspora,鈥� an initiative celebrating Black history through food. From late January through early February, they prepared 鈥渟hoebox lunches,鈥� community events like scavenger hunts, and special kitchen table sit-downs with the city鈥檚 foodways participants and other Black-owned businesses.聽
鈥淲hatever you need鈥�
After Ida hit southeast Louisiana, Ms. Goudia knew she wanted to 鈥� had to 鈥� do聽something to help folks back home, but it wasn鈥檛 initially her idea to jump into action. It was her friends and colleagues, Mr. Wright and Mr. Booze, who collaborate alongside Ms. Goudia on 鈥淭aste the Diaspora.鈥� They were among the first to ask how her family fared, and they were well aware that it wasn鈥檛 feasible to get to Louisiana to help right away, as disaster聽recovery dragged on for weeks after the storm. They then suggested hosting local pop-up fundraisers. Before long, they had gathered a group of 15 or so members of the Detroit food community interested in traveling to Wallace.聽
鈥淲hatever you need, we鈥檙e there,鈥� Ms. Goudia remembers her colleagues telling her. But it wasn鈥檛 immediately clear how the team could help. How do you heal a community that has literally been torn asunder?
That question weighed on Ms. Goudia鈥檚 heart as she watched her hometown endure Ida 鈥� the fifth-most powerful storm ever to arrive on the mainland United States 鈥� from a distance. It sat on her conscience, because she knows small towns like hers don鈥檛 often receive disaster relief quickly while efforts concentrate on metro areas like New Orleans and Baton Rouge first. Wallace sits in the middle of a petrochemical corridor and has long struggled with environmental justice issues.
Ida made landfall on Aug. 29. As Ms. Goudia checked on her family, the Detroit food scene leaped into action. For a week in September, they hosted fundraisers聽every day, including a New Orleans bounce cardio workout at a gym Ms. Goudia works at 鈥� an ode to the city鈥檚 signature style of music 鈥� and a pay-what-you-can pig roast at a local craft brewery.聽
In total they raised $8,500 and they distributed it to Wallace residents through the Descendants Project, an advocacy group for descendants of formerly enslaved people in Louisiana鈥檚 river parishes. Ms. Goudia鈥檚 cousins, Joy and Jo Banner, lead the group.聽
By the time Ms. Goudia and her colleagues were ready to head to Wallace themselves, word had spread through the Detroit area. Soon sponsorships began rolling in: The Kresge Foundation, which expands opportunities for low-income individuals nationwide, was the first major group to chip in. Then ProsperUS Detroit, an economic development initiative, pitched in. Turning Tables NOLA caught wind of their efforts soon after and offered to help as well. 聽
Foodways colleague Raphael Wright describes their effort as 鈥渁 labor of love.鈥�
鈥淭he moment we found out about the hurricane, we instantly said, 鈥榃e got to go down there,鈥欌�� Mr. Wright says.
The Detroit food community鈥檚 support for Ms. Goudia and her hometown was, in some ways, as emotionally overwhelming as watching Ida hit her family. At the same time, it wasn鈥檛 surprising. It鈥檚 what Ms. Goudia has come to know as the heart of Detroit.
鈥淭he hospitality that lives in Detroit, it isn鈥檛 a one-off,鈥� says Ms. Goudia. 鈥淚t isn鈥檛 surprising at all, because there is this Southern hospitality that鈥檚 here, that鈥檚 unmatched.鈥�
So much more than food
On the day of the Wallace dinner, as always, Ms. Goudia didn鈥檛 stop moving. She and her volunteers worked through the afternoon to prepare an evening meal of a beet-based African dish, mirliton dressing, baked spaghetti, cornbread tea cakes, and pralines.
As he leaned against a picnic table out front, opening cans of corn, Mr. Osei-Bonsu of BlackMetroEats reflected on his and others鈥� trip down South so far, and what he hoped the meal would mean for the community.
Healing a community鈥檚 emotional wounds through food 鈥渋s definitely something that鈥檚 impactful,鈥� Mr. Osei-Bonsu says. 鈥淭oday will be about so much more than just the consumption of food. It鈥檒l also be a dialogue.鈥�
Excited, folks were already showing up for dinner before the table in Wallace鈥檚 local farmers market was even set. Wallace resident Darlene Percy was among the first to arrive.
Ms. Percy expressed how appreciative she and other community members were of Ms. Goudia and the volunteers鈥� organizing efforts over the past few months.
鈥淎 lot of times, we look at the big cities, and never the small communities鈥� after storms, Ms. Percy says. 鈥淲ith [Ms. Goudia] shedding light and providing resources, I think that鈥檚 great for the community 鈥� to聽let everyone know that we were also impacted.鈥�
Ms. Goudia and company consider that a success.
鈥淭hat was the whole point,鈥� Ms. Goudia says from her home in Detroit several weeks later. To use 鈥渇ood in a way that breathes life into people, that gives them what they didn鈥檛 think they needed at the time.鈥� She stops and reflects for a moment. 鈥淚 think we were successful in that.鈥�
Importantly, she adds, 鈥渆verybody that came on the trip is now family. Not only with me, but with the residents of Wallace. I was blessed to be able to provide that for them, and with them.鈥�
