Regional Divisions Announce Outstanding Graduate Student Papers from their Fall Meetings

The AAG is proud to announce the Fall 2017 student winners of the AAG Council Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Paper at a Regional Meeting. The AAG Council Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Paper at a Regional Meeting is designed to encourage graduate student participation at AAG Regional Division conferences and support their attendance at AAG Annual Meetings. One graduate student in each AAG Regional Division receives this yearly award based on a paper submitted to their respective regional conference. The awardees receive $1,000 in funding for use towards their registration and travel costs to attend the AAG Annual Meeting. The board members from each region determine student award winners.

The winners from each region will be presenting their papers in two dedicated paper sessions at the upcoming 2018 AAG Annual Meeting in New Orleans. The paper sessions are tentatively scheduled for the afternoon of Tuesday, April 10, 2018.

Autumn James

WLDAAG: Autumn C. James, Ph.D. candidate, Northern Illinois University
Paper Title: Construction of Safety in Daily Living: The Role of Personal Experience and Perception

Benjamin Hemmingway

SWAAG: Benjamin Hemingway, Ph.D. candidate, Oklahoma State University
Paper Title: Vertical Sampling Scales for Atmospheric Boundary Layer Measurements from Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS)

NESTVAL: Bogumila Backiel, M.S. (December 2017 graduate), University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Paper Title: Mapping Sandbars in the Connecticut River Watershed for Endangered Species Conservation

MAD: Joshua Wayland, PhD Candidate, Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland College Park
Paper Title: Linking Natural Resources and Civil Conflict: A Spatial Panel Regression Approach

Maegen Rochner (center)

APCG: Sean Pries, PhD Candidate, Geography Graduate Group at University of California at Davis
Paper Title: The Past is the Key to the Present” Landscape of the Upper North Fork American River

Meghann Smith

SEDAAG: Maegen Rochner, PhD Candidate, University of Tennessee Knoxville
Paper Title: Climate Change in a High-Elevation Whitebark Pine Ecosystem, Beartooth Mountains, Wyoming, U.S.A.

MSDAAG: Meghann Smith, PhD Student, Montclair State University
Paper Title: Environmental and Economic Assessment of Hard Apple Cider in the Northeastern U.S.

Sam Roodbar

GPRM: Kimberly Johnson, PhD Student, Oklahoma State University
Paper Title: Perceptions and Performances of Wilder-scapes: Shaping contemporary social memories of the American West at Little House tourist sites

ELDAAG: Sam Roobar, Department of Geography, MA Student, Western Michigan University
Paper Title: “Spatial and Temporal Change in Halal Food Sales and Consumption: A case study of the city of Dearborn, Michigan”

 

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Leveraging Geographic Information to Combat Wildlife Trafficking

The AAG was invited to participate in the Workshop on Leveraging Geographic Information to Combat Wildlife Trafficking hosted at the Stimson Center in Washington, DC on October 23, 2017. The workshop was led by Michigan State University Professor Meredith L. Gore in partnership with the Department of State’s Office of the Geographer. This was the first event organized by this partnership and the AAG was invited because of our outreach capacity to the geographic community. Upcoming events will be scheduled to bring together different stakeholders, develop a more comprehensive strategy that leverages geospatially-enabled information and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and help combat wildlife trafficking more effectively.

Wildlife knows no political boundaries and as a consequence poachers often trespass international borders to carry out their illegal activities. In turn, illegal products extracted from wildlife are often trafficked across borders or continents to satisfy international consumer demand. The complex supply chain for trafficked wildlife products touches multiple human, physical and political geographies. Aware of the geospatial nature of this issue, Sally Yozell (Stimson Center) asserted in her opening remarks that we cannot think about wildlife trafficking without thinking about geographic data.

In 2015, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) published a report on wildlife trafficking containing an assessment of the progress made since 2013, when President Obama created the Task Force on Wildlife Trafficking to create and implement a U.S. National Strategy for combating Wildlife Trafficking. At the workshop, Meredith L. Gore (MSU) and Lee R. Schwartz (DOS) shared some of the progress achieved with current strategies and challenges that still need to be addressed. The USAID assessment reports a decline in the elephant population of about 20% in the last decade and a decline in the rhinoceros population of about 5% in 2014 alone. One of their most successful operations so far, “Operation Crash,” led to the identification and prosecution of 30 individuals or businesses, which resulted in 20 convictions with sentences of up to 6 years and the seizure of 4.5 million U.S. dollars’ worth of illegal wildlife products. Although current strategies have helped, the progress is slow and insufficient in many cases. For example, since 2007 the poaching of rhinos declined for the first time in 2015, but only by about 3% from the year prior (see graph below). The 2017 Wildlife Photographer of the Year awarded by the National History Museum went to Brent Stirton, which he earned with a cheerless photograph of a poached Rhinoceros found in South Africa (see photograph below). This is the first year that the grand title prize goes to a photograph witnessing the suffering of wildlife rather than its beauty, which only hints at the magnitude of this problem.

One of the main objectives of the workshop was to deliberate a new strategy in which geospatially-enabled information can be leveraged to combat wildlife trafficking. Collecting geographic information and using GIS technology has proven effective in prior efforts. One of the guests, Drew Cronin, shared the effectiveness of the Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART), a free and open-source handheld GIS that allows rangers to collect and share geospatially-enabled data when they are in the field. SMART was developed thanks to a partnership between organizations that want to make conservation efforts more efficient. Using geospatial information collected in the field, hotspots of wildlife trafficking activity were mapped, allowing managers and governments to deploy rangers to target areas. Using this tool resulted in the apprehension and prosecution of 64 poachers in a reserve of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2014 alone and is now being used in several countries in Africa and Asia.

The workshop included many expert speakers and guests and discussions demonstrated some consensus on the development of a more comprehensive strategy to combat wildlife trafficking. More specifically, there was consensus on the value of collecting geospatially-enabled information and on the need to share these data between governments and organizations. Trust between governments and organizations is currently lacking however and sharing these sensitive data on the location of animals and/or individuals involved in illegal trafficking is risky. To that end, this new strategy will require stronger interdisciplinary and transnational collaborations and the development of a secure platform that facilitates the sharing of geospatially-enabled data.

This workshop was the first of a series of upcoming events around this topic. Future events include an Africa-based workshop in early 2018 to engage local stakeholders to refine and revise the strategy. If you are interested in receiving more information regarding these events, please contact Meredith L. Gore at gorem [at] msu [dot] edu.

Related resources and events resources:

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AAG Opposes Taxing Graduate Student Tuition Waivers

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AAG Snapshot: AAG Disciplinary Data Dashboard

The Disciplinary Data Dashboard site on the AAG website.

Are you interested in trends in geography? Have you been looking for openly available datasets to investigate aspects of our discipline for a report or research project? We have the answers for you in our freely accessible data resource, the AAG Disciplinary Data Dashboard.

It is important for researchers, students, and other information-seekers to have a single place to go to and easily find consistently updated disciplinary facts and figures. To meet this need, the AAG has created the Disciplinary Data Dashboard as a central repository for visitors to easily and freely access and utilize data on geography as a field of study.

The AAG has always gathered and made available annual data in two key areas:

  1. AAG Membership Data. Collected via membership forms which all AAG members have the option to complete when renewing membership or on the online member profile page.
  2. Geography Department Data. Collected via the Guide to Geography Programs and the departmental data form, which is circulated annually to geography departments with the call for Guide updates.
The Disciplinary Data Dashboard can be found under the Projects & Programs tab on the AAG website.

Data is conveniently located through the AAG website on the Disciplinary Data Dashboard page. Alternatively, the Dashboard can also be found from the AAG homepage under the Projects & Programs tab. From the Disciplinary Data Dashboard, you can find downloadable Excel spreadsheets with raw data on membership by typeemployment categorygenderrace and ethnicity from the last 40+ years (from 1972 to present)!  All future data collected will also be available here.

AAG staff have also created, and will continue to create, brief, annual summary reports (white papers) presenting and visualizing the data in charts, tables, and other graphics. These reports, available through the Dashboard, also include some analysis and interpretation of the raw data.

Additional Dashboard Sections. Read the descriptions below for additional sections and data available in the Disciplinary Dashboard.

AAG Membership Data Summary Report downloaded from the Disciplinary Data Dashboard.
  1. AAG Departments DataData found in this section comes from The Guide as well as the National Center for Educational Statistics. It includes information about geography programs in departments throughout the Americas as well as figures for the numbers of geography degrees conferred. Results of diversity surveys sent to geography departments are also located here.
  2. AAG Workforce DataThis section is a work in progress, but includes a link to our Salary Data & Trends website featuring data on over 90 occupations related to geography. We also plan to have a report soon on our Jobs in Geography (JIG) website providing analysis of job ads posted to the AAG online job board over time and several other reports related to geographers in the workforce
  3. Special SurveysThis section includes links to non-annual surveys on various topics, usually linked to grant-funded AAG projects.
  4. AAG Annual MeetingsThis includes raw data and analytical reports on AAG Annual Meetings held since 1904, including venues, attendance, international participants, session/paper topics, Presidential addresses, and more!
  5. AAG Journals DataThis section is also still a work in progress, but will eventually include raw data and an analytical report on the four AAG peer-reviewed scholarly journals: The Annals of the American Association of Geographers, the Professional Geographer, the AAG Review of Books, and GeoHumanities.
  6. AAG Archival DataThis includes information on how to access archival council reports/minutes, records of past AAG Annual Meetings, AAG journals/newsletters, and the “Geographers on Film” series (a collection of interviews with hundreds of influential geographers since 1970).
The Disciplinary Data Dashboard is categorized by source (left column) or by theme (right column).

Important Note about the Disciplinary Data Dashboard Structure. Data is categorized by source in the left column and searchable by theme in the right column. The goal is to make it more intuitive for particular audiences (students, researchers, etc.) to know where to look for specific data resources. The section searchable by theme also includes some externally-collected data and resources from outside of the AAG such as data from The College Board on high school Advanced Placement (AP) programs or The Social Science PhDs-5+ Years Out survey from the Center for Innovation and Research in Graduate Education (CIRGE).

The Disciplinary Data Dashboard is a valuable resource both to those browsing for more information about geography, but also for those pursuing in-depth research on the discipline.  The amount of free, raw datasets available could easily support and be the foundation for research projects and publications!

Questions? Contact Mark Revell at mrevell [at] aag [dot] org.

 

The AAG Snapshots series, first launched at the 2017 Annual Meeting, provides insight on and information about different aspects of the projects, programs, and resources of the association. Do you have suggestions for future Snapshots content from AAG staff? Email cluebbering [at] aag [dot] org.

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Council Meeting Minutes – Fall 2017

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New Books: November 2017

Every month the AAG compiles a list of newly-published books in geography and related areas. Some are selected for review in the AAG Review of Books.

Publishers are welcome to send new volumes to the Editor-in-Chief (Kent Mathewson, Editor-in-Chief, AAG Review of BooksDepartment of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803).

Anyone interested in reviewing these or other titles should also contact the Editor-in-Chief.

November 2017

The Andes: Geography, Diversity, and Sociocultural Impacts by Casey D. Allen (ed.) (Nova Publishers 2017)

Atlas of the World: Twenty-Fourth Edition by Oxford University Press (Oxford University Press 2017)

Cataclysms: A New Geology for the Twenty-First Century by Michael R. Rampino (Columbia University Press 2017)

Diplomatic Material: Affect, Assemblage, and Foreign Policy by Jason Dittmer (Duke University Press 2017)

Down and Out in New Orleans: Transgressive Living in the Informal Economy by Peter J. Marina (Columbia University Press 2017)

Duty Free Art: Art in the Age of Planetary Civil War by Hito Steyerl (Verso Books 2017)

The Environmental Humanities: A Critical Introduction by Robert S. Emmett and David E. Nye (The MIT Press 2017)

Everybody’s Problem: The War on Poverty in Eastern North Carolina by Karen M. Hawkins (University Press of Florida 2017)

Geographies of Violence: Killing Space, Killing Time by Marcus Doel (SAGE Publishing 2017)

GIS Tutorial 1 for ArcGIS Pro: A Platform Workbook by Wilpen L. Gorr and Kristen S. Kurland (ESRI Press 2017)

A House of Prayer for All People: Contesting Citizenship in a Queer Churchby David K. Seitz (University of Minnesota Press 2017)

Imagery and GIS: Best Practices for Extracting Information from Imagery by Kass Green, Russell G. Congalton, and Mark Tukman (ESRI Press 2017)

The Inversion Factor: How to Thrive in the IoT Economy by Linda Bernardi, Sanjay Sarma, and Kenneth Traub (The MIT Press 2017)

Modern Slavery: A Global Perspective by Siddharth Kara (Columbia University Press 2017)

Monrovia Modern: Urban Form and Political Imagination in Liberia by Danny Hoffman (Duke University Press 2017)

Neuroliberalism: Behavioral Government in the Twenty-First Century by Mark Whitehead, Rhys Jones, Rachel Lilley, Jessica Pykett, and Rachel Howell (Routledge 2018)

The Priority of Injustice: Locating Democracy in Critical Theory by Clive Barnett (University of Georgia Press 2017)

The Social Life of Maps in America, 1750-1860 by Martin Brückner (University of North Carolina Press 2017)

Territorial Heritage & Spatial Planning: A Geographical Perspective by F. Manero Miguel and J. L. García Cuesta  (Thomson Reuters 2017)

The Thibodaux Massacre: Racial Violence and the 1887 Sugar Cane Labor Strikeby John DeSantis (The History Press 2016)

When the Hills Are Gone: Frac Sand Mining and the Struggle for Community by Thomas W. Pearson (University of Minnesota Press 2017)

Youth Activism and Solidarity: The Non-Stop Picket Against Apartheid by Gavin Brown and Helen Yaffe (Routledge 2018)

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AAG Announces Support for Geospatial Data Act of 2017

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MfS Graduate Student Tuition Waiver letter

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Newsletter – November 2017

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

Making Every Week About Geography Awareness and Advocacy

By Derek Alderman

Derek Alderman

This column comes to you just a couple weeks before Geography Awareness Week’s 30th birthday. Founded by presidential proclamation in 1987, Geography Awareness Week (GeoWeek) is observed the third week of November each year. The purpose of my remarks is to reflect on what we might want to accomplish through GeoWeek in terms of not just building an awareness of geography but also advocating for geography. I also wish to use Geography Awareness Week to take stock of the broader, year-around importance of disciplinary advocacy, the specific promotional strategies, successes, and struggles of geography programs and departments, and what AAG is doing (and can do further) to assist in providing resources and funding the development of innovations in public promotion of geography.

Continue Reading.

Read past columns from the current AAG President on our President’s Column page.


ANNUAL MEETING

2018 AAG Annual Meeting Presidential Plenary Announced

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AAG President Derek Alderman, along with a panel of esteemed scholars, will present When the Big Easy Isn’t So Easy: Learning from New Orleans’ Geographies of Struggle for the 2018 AAG Annual Meeting Presidential Plenary. When the Big Easy Isn’t So Easy creates a space to explore the role of struggle in the making, unmaking, and remaking of New Orleans. Alderman and panelists will use the Annual Meeting location of New Orleans as a backdrop to explore broader conference subjects such as Black geographies, disaster response, food justice, landscapes of memory, and urban and environmental politics.

Learn more about the Presidential Plenary.

Career Mentors Sought for 2018 Annual Meeting in New Orleans

Career mentoring sessions provide an open forum where students, job seekers, and professionals can get advice, feedback, and information on a variety of topics related to careers and professional development. The AAG seeks volunteers representing the business, government, nonprofit, and academic/educational sectors to provide informal consultation during your choice of designated times during the conference. If you would like to participate, contact Mark Revell at mrevell [at] aag [dot] org.

See all of the Jobs and Careers Events for #AAG2018.

Begin Planning Your Travel for #AAG2018

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After registering for the AAG Annual Meeting, get your travel planning underway by RSVPing on Facebook for event updates or booking your hotel room in New Orleans. Official #AAG2018 hotels include the Marriott French QuarterSheraton New Orleans, and Astor Crowne Plaza, located steps away from one another along Canal Street between the French Quarter and Central Business District. The AAG has negotiated discounted rates, starting as low as $199/night.

Start planning your trip today.

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Dining with Cajuns and Creoles

From beignets to backyard crawfish boils, Creole and Cajun foods are the focal point for many visitors and locals to New Orleans. The unique blending of the cooking traditions of western European immigrants with local flavors from the Americas created the cuisine that is iconic to the Crescent City. Take a culinary tour of southern Louisiana with Clifton ‘Skeeter’ Dixon, past president of SEDAAG and professor at University of Southern Mississippi in this month’s Focus on New Orleans & the Gulf Coast.

Read the full story.

New Orleans: Place Portraits

med_bourbon-street-street-sign-at-lafitte-s-blacksmith-shop-300x200New Orleans’ unofficial “geographer laureate,” Richard Campanella (Tulane School of Architecture) explores what lies below the surface of the Big Easy in this month’s Place Portraits series. A sandy atoll shaped by the Pearl River is partially responsible for the layers of urban streets that had to be repeatedly updated from the city’s founding in 1718 to present day. Underlying ethnic divisions also shaped the contemporary political landscape and divided NOLA into its current three municipalities.

Read all three articles:

“Focus on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast” is an ongoing series curated by the Local Arrangements Committee to provide insight on and understanding of the geographies of New Orleans, Louisiana, and the greater Gulf Coast region in preparation for the 2018 Annual Meeting.


ASSOCIATION NEWS

The AAG Launches Campaign, Resources to Celebrate Geography Awareness Week

sm-participate-ed-300x150The AAG invites members to celebrate Geography Awareness Week (#GeoWeek) from November 12-18, 2017. The theme for this year’s Geography Awareness Week has been designated “The Geography of Civil Rights Movements” to demonstrate on how a geographic education can shed light on important contemporary issues in society. To further highlight the theme and its place in geography, the AAG will be matching all donations made to the AAG Enhancing Diversity Fund during Geography Awareness Week. Other AAG efforts for Geography Awareness week include a StoryMap of national activities, the Profiles of Geographers working in Civil Rights and Social Justice resource, and the AAG #GeoWeek social media ambassador program.

Visit the Geography Awareness Week website.

The AAG Establishes Hurricane Relief Fund

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The AAG has established its Hurricane Relief Fund to help coordinate support for those in affected Geography Departments in Florida, Puerto Rico, and Texas from the devastation of Hurricanes Maria, Harvey, and Irma. Please consider lending a hand to your colleagues who are in dire need.15th is the deadline for applications to two annual awards presented by the AAG and supported by the Marble Fund for Geographic Sciences.

Donate to the Hurricane Relief Fund.


POLICY UPDATE

Administration Issues New Travel Ban

Image-118 capitol buildingOn September 24, 2017, President Trump signed Proclamation 9645, which would block entry into the U.S. of most individuals from eight nations: Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen, and Somalia. Though this proposed travel ban has mostly been blocked by decisions from federal district judges in Hawaii and Maryland, the AAG is monitoring the issue carefully, especially as it relates to our Annual Meeting attendees.

Learn more about Proclamation 9645.

AAG Statement on the US Withdrawal from UNESCO

The AAG is disappointed by the Trump Administration’s decision to withdraw from United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and has issued an official statement regarding this policy move.

Read the full statement.


MEMBER NEWS

November 2017 Profiles of Geographers

Joseph Kerski

Joseph Kerski, Education Manager at Esri, is featured as our Professional Geographer for the month of November. Read his full profile to get inspired about a job in geography! According to Joseph, there’s no better time than the present to get into a career in GIS or geography. The most important things for job seekers are to “Be Yourself and Be Curious.”

Continue reading about Joseph Kerski.

Trevor Paglen Named 2017 MacArthur Fellow

 

Artist and geographer Trevor Paglen has recently been named a MacArthur Fellow for 2017. Paglen’s work, such as Blank Spots on the Map: The Dark Geography of the Pentagon’s Secret World, addresses sites of secrecy surrounding programs by the U.S. government and military. He uses photography to capture these locations, impressing on the public the efforts in which the government takes to shield activities from citizen’s eyes. Paglen is one of 24 individuals granted the prestigious award in 2017.

Discover more of Paglen’s work.

Stuart Aitken Reflects on AAG Influence throughout Career

“It would be inappropriate to say that I owe my career to the AAG; many actors support me in that endeavor. That said, there is no doubt that the institution has been supportive throughout my career and it is a pleasure to give back when I can.”

See Aitken’s full reflection.

 


IN MEMORIAM

Carol Hanchette

hanchette_carol_web-300x240Carol L. Hanchette, Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Louisville, died on a hiking adventure in the mountains of Wyoming on October 9, 2017. A medical geographer, Hanchette was particularly active in the development of the applied master’s program at U. of L. and with her research funded through the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the NIH. Her collegiality, professionalism and dedication to geography will be missed by all of the lives she impacted.

Read more about Dr. Hanchette.


PUBLICATIONS

Fall 2017 Issue of ‘The AAG Review of Books’ Now Available

AAG Review of Books winter volume 6 issue 1All AAG Members now have access to the book reviews in volume 5, issue 4 of The AAG Review of Books. Featured reviews from this issue are of The Lost City of the Monkey God, A True Story; Jungleland; and The Anarchist Roots of Geography: Toward Spatial Emancipation. Book reviews older than one year are free to the public and can be found in our searchable database.

See the reviewed books.

New Books in Geography — September 2017 Available

New Books in Geography illustration of stack of booksThe list of newly published books in geography and related fields includes topics from Foucault to forests. Some of these new titles will be selected to be reviewed for the AAG Review of Books. Individuals interested in reviewing these or other titles should contact the Editor-in-Chief, Kent Mathewson.

Read the whole list of new books.

November Issue of The Professional Geographer now available!

The Professional Geographer Cover Flat

The November 2017 (Volume 69, Issue 4) issue of The Professional Geographer is now available online! This issue features two themed sections – the 2016 AAG Nystrom Paper Competition participant papers and a focus on gender and the histories of geography as a discipline – in addition to a regular selection of manuscripts.

See the Table of Contents.

Just Published! The November 2017 Issue of the ‘Annals of the AAG’  

Annals of the AAG

Volume 107, Issue 6 (November 2017) of the Annals of the American Association of Geographers is now available! All articles are available to members with your AAG membership. This month, articles span the breadth of topics from oil pipeline activism to extreme precipitation frequency to young people and everyday foods.

Full article listing available.


GEOGRAPHERS IN THE NEWS

IN THE NEWS

Popular stories from the AAG SmartBrief


EVENTS CALENDAR

Submit News to the AAG Newsletter. To share your news, submit announcements to newsletter [at] aag [dot] org.

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Dining with Cajuns and Creoles

The foods of New Orleans are an expression of south Louisiana’s history, culture, and wetlands. Influences upon the area’s traditional cuisine are much like using recipes gathered at a crossroads of European, Caribbean, and Acadian culinary customs at interplay with local ideas and available ingredients. Understanding menus means knowing terms like — roux, remoulade, and bisque. Trying to suggest where to eat to visitors is as challenging as trying to suggest what to eat, just too much diversity. But understanding the culture and tastes behind the foods is a great way to start.

Credit: David Beriss, Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition

The distinction between Cajun and Creole foods can be confusing, overlapping, and misleading. Both are descended from European ancestry, yet the outcome on the plate may be less than distinct. Creoles trace to European aristocrats encouraged by the Spanish to establish New Orleans in the late 17th century. French, German, and Italian settlers also arrived and with them came terminologies, precepts, sauces, and cooking traditions. From the Provence of France came bouillabaisse (a local soup), a dish reflected in the creation of gumbo; the Spanish paella was the forefather of Louisiana’s jambalaya (right) and dirty rice, Germans brought knowledge of charcuterie (charring meat) and established boucheries (butcher shops) which are the base for locally produced sausage used to flavor many traditional dishes. Italian arrivals brought Mediterranean spices and pastries, from the West Indies came piquant flavorings, slow cooking techniques, and exotic vegetables. Local Choctaw and Houmas Indians introduced corn dishes, filé powder from sassafras leaves, and bay leaves from the local laurel tree. Europeans arriving in the 17th and 18th centuries were coming with dietary baggage reflecting their own epicurean genealogy. New Orleans housewives, cooks, and chefs became increasingly frustrated with not being able to acquire their traditional ingredients, thus ingenuity and resourcefulness brought unique people and diverse cultures who were willing to share their cooking styles and experiment with local ingredients.

The evolution of Cajun food is tied to the diffusion of Acadians from southeast Canada. Their refugee history in rural south Louisiana gave rise to the use of wild game, seafood, and local products from the swamps, bayous, and woods. What emerged were boiled crawfish, soups, gumbos, jambalaya, turtle sauce piquante and stuffed vegetable dishes, often just a “one-pot meal.” Spices became the stock ingredient to gumbos and sausages; and onions, celery and bell pepper became the “Holy Trinity” of Cajun cuisine. Cooking brought fellowship and social bonding among the Catholic immigrants. Around the household kitchen these days, men and women are equally talented cooks. A sampling of truly NOLA cuisine tends to show the infusion of Creole and Cajun and how two rich cultures lie at the base of every New Orleans menu.

Flavorings.  Nothing in a recipe can bring more debate than spices and yet there is no debate that it is spices that make the tastes of New Orleans an international cooking tradition. Chopped seasonings such as the Holy Trinity are at the beginning of many dishes, but perhaps the most known spice is Tabasco, a global term for hot sauce. Tabasco brand hot sauce is produced from Mexican peppers grown on Avery Island in south Louisiana. Avery Island is a geological salt dome rising above the coastal wetlands and has been the home of the McIlhenny family since the mid-1800s. Originally the peppers for McIlhenny’s hot sauce were grown on the island, but today the local peppers are used for seed stock and the peppers are grown from outside the United States. The sauce is still made on Avery Island. For many Louisianan’s, the meal is not set until the Tabasco is on the table. Another popular condiment locally produced is remoulade sauce. It reflects French-African Creole influence and is mayonnaise-based with green onions, celery, parsley, cayenne pepper, and paprika.

The Stock Pot. The tradition of one-pot meals prepared in a stock base is best enjoyed as a gumbo or etouffee or crawfish bisque. Every cook prides their roux, which is the base from which the liquid stock evolves. Rouxs are passed down through generations and can determine the outcome of the dish before any ingredients are ever added. The roux is a mix of oil or bacon fat (Cajuns may swear by butter instead which presents a blonde roux), with flour and cooked to a desired brownness. Gumbos are commonly seafood based with shrimp, crab meat, and oysters. Filé is added along with the Holy Trinity and okra. Chicken with pork sausage or andouille is another popular gumbo. Andouille originated in France and is claimed to have arrived with Cajun culture. Its popularity has seen generations of regional influence, especially from German immigrants along the German Coast of the lower Mississippi River. It is a smoked sausage using pork, garlic, pepper, onions, and seasonings encased in an intestinal sleeve.

Etouffee, from the French meaning to smother, is a dish cooked in a roux base with the lid on and again heavily spiced with onions, garlic, and peppers. As a testament to the continued evolution of new dishes in the south Louisiana tradition, it is said that etouffee originated in the 1950s among Cajuns along the Atchafalaya River and made its way to being one of the most popular dishes in New Orleans after it was added to the menu at Galatoire’s restaurant on Bourbon Street. Crawfish bisque is normally made in May or June, towards the end of the crawfish season. It is labor intensive and usually brings an entire family together to help prepare the dish. Preparation requires large quantities of peeled crawfish trails and the crawfish’s head (carapace) into which the ground tail meat is blended with seasonings and bread and then stuffed back into the crawfish head. It is served with a roux and rice. You will find dishes from the stock pot commonly served with rice and south Louisianian’s know that if it is Monday, it is red beans and rice. Among the Cajun and Creole households, Sunday’s meal would likely include a main dish of pork served with bone-in. Monday’s were wash days, thus cooking a pot of red beans with leftover pork bones and local sausage made for a one pot meal that simmered all day while attending to the wash. The tradition of red beans and rice continues and many small restaurants will only prepare and serve the dish on Mondays.

Credit: Alex, Flickr

From the Wetlands and Gulf. South Louisiana is America’s largest coastal wetland. Brackish and freshwater lowlands extend along the state’s entire southern interface with the nutrient rich near shore waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The Atchafalaya River basin extends the freshwater wetlands northward. South Louisiana is rich in inshore fish, oysters, shrimp, blue crab (left), water fowl of many kinds, and alligators. It’s no wonder the state is called “Sportsman’s Paradise.” Cajun cooking uses all of these wild food sources, including alligator tail. Spring is crawfish season and the smell of backyard crawfish boils (right) emerges from every neighborhood. Our time in New Orleans will be at the peak of the season. Boiled crawfish are served by the pound and traditionally boiled in a blend of ginger, oregano, celery, cayenne, mustard seeds, peppercorns, bay leaves, and pickling spices along with whole potatoes, corn-on-the-cob, and sometimes slices of pork sausage are added to the pot. The aroma of a crawfish boil is intoxicating.

Fresh fish in south Louisiana means fresh that day! Eating the catch of the day provides diners with the opportunity to experience some of the more popular gulf catches prepared using about every Creole and Cajun touch imaginable. Gulf shrimp and blue crabs are the stock of many gumbos, seafood boils, fried platters, Poboys, etoufees, and rice dishes. Creole chefs have made these crustaceans a part of an endless variety of dishes. Restaurants across the city pride themselves in extending the diversity of preparing seafood. In many areas of south Louisiana, fried alligator tail is served on local menus. Its popularity has grown to where some fried chicken fast food eateries occasionally add it to their menu.

New Orleans has made oysters on the half-shell a crafted specialty. Either served raw or typically prepared with parsley, butter, Parmesan, and assorted herbs and then grilled or broiled. The uniqueness of the dish comes from the variations in preparation. Oysters Rockefeller was created in 1899 at Antoine’s and named after John D. Rockefeller, the richest American at the time; and Oysters Bienville, commonly thought to have originated at Arnaud’s, is now served at select restaurants. Oysters and other foods from the wetlands are what New Orleans cuisine is known for – the blend of Cajun’s dependence upon local food sources with Creole culinary preparation.

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It’s not just a sandwich. The New Orleans PoBoy (right) is not a sub, its not a grinder or hoagie, and its not just a sandwich, it is a PoBoy. Beyond the grand restaurants of New Orleans, a more common and popular meal is the PoBoy, a meat sandwich served on French bread. PoBoys can be fried shrimp or oysters (corn meal batter), sausage, or a variety of fillings, but the best may be a chopped roast beef PoBoy served sloppy with gravy. The more napkins the better the quality. They can be served ‘dressed’ or not; dressed refers to with lettuce, tomato, and pickle. The term dressed seems to be limited to south Louisiana and it is always used when ordering a burger or PoBoy. Not all French breads make a good PoBoy. Leidenheimer Bakery (of direct German descent, founded in 1896) is hands down the most popular and each morning the skilled eye can spot hundreds of freshly baked loaves outside the delivery doors of restaurants serving traditional PoBoys. The history of the name PoBoy has about as many versions as there are types of PoBoys, but it is not disputed that fried oyster sandwiches on French loaves dates to the late 1800s.

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The muffuletta, another NOLA original, was first crafted at Central Grocery (left) on Decatur Street and theirs remains the most popular in town. Muffulettas are large round loaves stuffed with Italian ham and salami, a variety of cheeses, olive salad, lots of garlic, and then spiced. Leidenheimer Bakery produces a loaf many restaurants prefer. To have a traditional New Orleans “sandwich” is to enjoy the fusion of French, German, and Italian immigrants making foods for the working class of the 1800s.

Credit: Smithsonian.com, Andrew Wong, Flickr

Caffeine and Cocktails. Dining is a major economy for south Louisiana and in New Orleans the top spot goes to the Café du Monde (Cafe of the World) in the heart of the French Quarter. Their fare is simple, but the lines are long. It is a landmark destination known for its café au lait (coffee and chicory with cream) and beignets (right). The French brought coffee with them as they settled the coast and in New Orleans, the Creoles added chicory (as there was often a shortage of coffee beans). Ground chicory root adds a chocolate-like flavor to coffee and had been used in 19th century European coffee houses. Adding cream became a way to soften the bitter taste. Beignets (a fried pastry) were part of Cajun cuisine carried from Europe to Acadia to South Louisiana. They are fried dough served hot and with powdered sugar on top. Coffee and beignets became a common breakfast food for all classes in New Orleans and today its popularity is impressive — a tourist trip to New Orleans is considered not complete without a stop at the Café du Monde (below left) for these sugary sweets.

Credit: New Orleans.com, The Official New Orleans Travel Site

The local cocktail menu reflects creations unique to the city. Dixie beer, founded in 1907 has remained a local brew although the craft beer scene is thriving in NOLA. The rum-based Hurricane at Pat O’Brien’s and the Hand Grenade at The Tropical Isle are iconic French Quarter drinks and frozen daiquiris are sold along the sidewalks. But it is a Sazerac that the Louisiana Legislature proclaims as the official cocktail of New Orleans. The drink was created in the mid-1800s by Antoine Amedee Peychaud, a creole immigrant, who in his Vieux Carré pharmacy produced a Peychaud’s Bitters which is one ingredient in a Sazerac. Other ingredients include rye (locally Sazerac brand) and absinthe. There is some claim it is the oldest known American cocktail; regardless, the Sazerac Bar in the historic Roosevelt Hotel is a legendary landmark in New Orleans and there are cocktail tours to historic bars of the Vieux Carré, all of whom view their Sazerac as the city’s best.

Deserts and Sugary Snacks. Sugarcane dominates the lowland agricultural landscape of south Louisiana. It is a perfect crop for the area’s hot, rainy climate and muddy fields. Cane sugar became a common confection and cooking with sugar has led to Cajuns and Creoles finding ways to sweeten their already rich diet. A local classic is Bananas Foster, a desert made from bananas, vanilla ice cream, and a sauce made from brown sugar, dark rum, and cinnamon. It was created in 1951 by the chef at Brennan’s (French Quarter) Restaurant who saw hundreds of bananas left to rot around the United Fruit Company docks on the river. Banana trade from Central America to New Orleans once had a prosperous connection; the spilled fruit was there for the taking.

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New Orleans also claims the sno-ball as its own. The shaved ice snack is served with a flavored cane syrup. Originally the sno-ball was made from scraping course ice from large blocks, but in 1934 Ernest Hansen developed an ice-shaving machine that produces a very fine ice and their family operated Hansen’s Sno-Bliz is still operating on Tchoupitoulas Street. Get there early as the lines can be long; their most popular sno-ball is their seasonal bananas foster! New Orleans has made the Praline a signature confection, although it is an Old World French candy. They are crafted from melting cane sugar with butter, cream, and pecans. The Mardi-Gras King Cake (right) is associated with the Epiphany and Catholic pre-Lenten celebrations. In the week leading up to Lent, King Cakes abound in bakeries and grocery stores. Typically they are decorated to reflect the themes and colors of Mardi-Gras. Inside the cake is often a small plastic baby representing Baby Jesus. Whomever gets the slice with the baby has various privileges and obligations. Many offices will have a King Cake every day of the week prior to Mardi-Gras and whomever gets the Jesus has to bring the next day’s cake. New Orleans recently renamed its Triple A baseball team from the Pelicans to the New Orleans Baby Cakes. Such is the recognition of Catholicism and celebratory cakes upon local culture.

Understanding how Louisianans eat, is understanding that the ancestry of the foods south Louisiana calls home is a result of culture tied to wetlands. The futures of both are endangered by south Louisiana losing about 16 square miles of coast each year. Subsidence and erosion account for the majority of the loss. The explanations behind both are tied to oil and gas extraction, attempts to control the Mississippi River, and building New Orleans in a most unnatural location. Contributors also include sea-level rise and the frequency of Hurricane landfalls, which erode away the shallow coastal edge. The threats to Louisiana have been measured and the losses mapped; the unintended consequence may also be the impact upon its food culture and traditions. Cajun ancestry is threatened by land loss as some of their communities have already been abandoned. Storms push others to seek new residence away from their lowland homelands. The loss of wetlands also means the loss of locally produced seafood.

A bucket-list for New Orleans always includes sampling great foods and historic restaurants. Whether morning, noon, or night — there is a food tradition that should serve every craving; the city is known for its bon appétit.

Clifton “Skeeter” Dixon is a professor of geography at the University of Southern Mississippi. He is a native to south Louisiana where he still resides for part of the year. Growing up, his family and community held a tradition of cooking and enjoying Creole and Cajun foods and thinks a backyard crawfish boil should be on everyone’s bucket list. Currently he is the past president of the Southeastern Division of the American Association of Geographers.

DOI:10.14433/2017.0018

 

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