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Taste of community: Memphis cookbook will connect recipes to history

By , Daily Memphian Updated: December 30, 2024 7:28 PM CT | Published: December 05, 2024 12:29 PM CT

An advocate wants to amplify the stories and “authentic voices” of South Memphis residents in a community cookbook she plans to publish next year. 

Planning is underway for the South Memphis cookbook, led by JoElle Thompson, co-owner of The Four Way Soul Food Restaurant and connector for the Center for Transforming Communities. For her, the work is about bringing policy change in South Memphis, which she said is a food desert. 


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Thompson’s goal is for the cookbook — a project that falls under her work at CTC and The Four Way — to keep legacies alive and connect silos. She also hopes the cookbook, which will be released along with a video series, will promote education and food security.

The goal is two-fold: provide delicious recipes intertwined with stories and histories of the South Memphis neighborhoods.

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JoElle Thompson South Memphis Subscriber Only

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Julia Baker

Julia Baker

A lifelong Memphian, Julia Baker graduated from the University of Memphis in 2021. Other publications and organizations she has written for include Chalkbeat, Memphis Flyer, Memphis Parent magazine and Memphis magazine.


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