The Virgin Islands of the United States does not have one tidy food story. Disputes over the national dish, generational divides over what constitutes a Virgin Islands plate, and influences from Africa, Europe, and other Caribbean nations, as well as American policies that limit food production creates a narrative that isn’t straightforward. It’s why this conversation with Stephanie Chalana Brown, historian and visual documentarian, is so informative and fascinating.
Chalana gives us a peek behind the curtain on how politics, migration, colonial history, and identity have all shaped what ends up on the plate in the US Virgin Islands. This is not a simple food conversation. It’s a revealing look at creolization, generational memory, and the pressures of being a territory of the United States of America. From fungi & boil fish to maafe, red pea soup, kallaloo, red grout, and the seven-layer Vienna cake, Chalana shares how each one carries a history of labour, class, taste, and survival.
You'll discover:
- Why older Virgin Islanders may see ground provisions as nourishment while younger generations may see them as stigma
- How 98% food import dependence changed the island's foodways and daily life
- How Danish, African, Antillean, and American influences all show up in the US Virgin Islands cuisine
If you are interested in Caribbean foodways, the way colonial history lives on in everyday meals, or just want to learn what’s good to eat in the USVI, have a listen to this episode. Part food story, part history lesson, and proof that “food is kinda heavy when you talk about the politics about it.”
About Stephanie Chalana Brown
Stephanie Chalana Brown is a Virgin Islands–based photographer, cultural thinker, and public intellectual whose work explores African diasporic history, place, and memory across the Caribbean.
Her practice moves between photography, archival inquiry, and cultural interpretation. She documents everyday life, heritage spaces, and community rituals with an eye toward how history lives in bodies, streets, buildings, and shared traditions. Her work treats culture as a living record, something carried, practiced, and remembered rather than frozen in the past.
Chalana’s interests sit at the intersection of African studies, Caribbean history, visual literacy, and public education. She is particularly engaged in how communities preserve memory outside of formal institutions, and how photography can function as both documentation and archive.
Her work has appeared in exhibitions, publications, and national media, and she regularly contributes to conversations about heritage, representation, and cultural accountability in the Virgin Islands and the wider Black Atlantic world.
She lives and works in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where she continues to photograph, research, and write.
https://www.instagram.com/chalana_vi/
https://www.facebook.com/StephanieChalanaBrown
Article: https://folklife.si.edu/magazine/virgin-islands-masquerading-traditions
Previous Episode
Exploring the US Virgin Islands: History, Identity, and Cultural Shifts https://youtu.be/WzU6QSg048A?si=uAP2VW39hnNiS5Sq
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/andrey-rossi/jerk-sauce
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