ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the role of food in the resistance to oppression in Caribbean history. Not only did the changeable control over food supplies alter relationships of power. Both poisoning and herbal healing relied on the extensive knowledge that enslaved Africans had acquired of New World plants and environments. The experience of slavery shaped the cultural life and foodways of the Caribbean region. Consumption of food was closely linked to survival, domination, and resistance. Traditional African religious practice-'obeah', as it came to be known on some Caribbean islands-relied on knowledge of spiritual and medicinal powers. The enslaved Africans may have learned of many Caribbean plants alongside native peoples with whom they shared a history of resistance against white tyranny. Pepper pot spread across the Atlantic world. A woodcut of a black pepper pot street vendor serving her customers appeared in The Cries of Philadelphia.
