Yet despite the communal popularity of staples like collard greens and black-eyed peas and racial justice activists’ demands for healthy retail options, the plant-based recipes central to African-American cooking rarely function as a focal for the food companies that dominate black neighborhoods. The renowned black chef Edna Lewis regularly centered greens in her recipes and noted that historically, “greens were one of the most important vegetables in the South” and “considered to have great nutritional value.” In Supersizing Urban America, Chin Jou recounted how 20th century “dietary surveys of African Americans in the South found that staple foods included highly nutritious foods such as fresh sweet potatoes, turnips, and greens.” Many of these items remain popular dishes in black homes today. Yet while corporations have invested heavily in pumping segregated areas with pork, chicken, potato starch, and grease, these restaurants rarely incorporate many of the healthier items popular in African-American cuisine.
Sales swelled as people posted tweets proclaiming it “ a chicken sandwich fit for a God” declaring it “ a damn revelation” playing the “ Popeyes or Chick-Fil-A” music video in which rapper spat: “I ain’t knocking Chick-fil-A, Chick-fil-A good/But it ain’t a Chick-fil-A in the hood/And I ain’t driving 30 minutes just to get some chicken.”
Like so many Internet phenomenons, hype for Popeye’s chicken sandwich first sparked on Black Twitter. And this racial segregation is what undergirds the sensational media hoopla around black folks and the Popeyes chicken sandwich. This constricted, unhealthy food market is a direct result of racial segregation. Studies have found that black communities are disproportionately "food swamps"-areas where healthy options like grocery stores are few and far between, and fast food restaurants like Wendy's, McDonald's, and Burger King dot every corner. It’s a different situation entirely for far too many black folks, who live in neighborhoods where Popeye’s deep-fried, heavily salted meat is one of the few options around. But while the sandwich’s hype has mouths watering from Orange County to Downtown Brooklyn, there is something unique about its popularity in black communities.įor many customers who live in predominantly white areas, the trip to Popeyes is a voyeuristic detour from Whole Foods and Au Bon Pain. It is a crunchy, fried, juicy, savory food trend that smells like a family reunion and tastes like homecoming. At some basic level, there is nothing about wanting to eat Popeyes new chicken sandwich that’s different from wanting to sip a Starbucks pumpkin spice latte or dig into a Sweetgreen winter squash salad.
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