And while there was lots to eat at the world food fair, there was plenty of food...for thought at the Image Factory. It's not an art show but an educational one, all about food. It's organized by "Red Camus" - a network of Central American Museums and Houses of Culture and it was developed in consultation with Central American archaeologists.
And the message is that no matter where you live in Central America, what you look like, what language you speak, or how you live, drive or survive, you probably eat tamales, rice and beans, and conch or cow foot soup. Local organizer, Dr. John Morris explained the common culture of food.
Dr. John Morris, Organizer
"The objective of the show really is to demonstrate the connections that all the Central American countries have. When we were planning this exhibition we were trying to figure out what is it we have in common and we realized that one of the most important things is the way how we prepare our food. We all eat the same foods and that in itself is a unifying factor for our country.
What is the national identity of Belize? What is it that makes us Belizean? What is it that makes us Central American? And this is what this exhibition is trying to show.
Many of these foods have been in existence from the ancient Mayan times; corn. Many of the foods were brought over by the African slaves when they came to the New World. I don't think anybody knew that popcorn was an Ancient Maya or Aztec invention. I don't think most people recognize that corn has a history that dates back to about 4,000 years and that they were making tamales at 1000 B.C., even before the birth of Christ. I don't think that a lot of people recognize that rice and beans is eaten all along the Caribbean coast of Central America, from Panama all the way up to Corozal."
The show opened today all across Central America. It will run for on month and then travel to houses of culture across Belize.
