Southbound Food Festival brought ten days of culture and culinary delight to Birmingham, Alabama from September 19-28. Because I’ve been such a busy bee lately, I was out of town for most of this year’s activities, unfortunately. But I couldn’t miss Rooted: Women in Food, which was held on Saturday, September 20 at the Market at Pepper Place. Not only was the market packed with female artisans, but there were cooking demos from female chefs, book signings, panel discussions and more.

Hosted by food journalist Toni Tipton-Martin and Morgan Bolling of PBS’s Cook’s Country, the event celebrated women who are grounded in both their creativity and their communities.

After browsing the market, my cousin and I briefly stepped inside Hot and Hot Fish Club for a special meet & greet, which featured brunch cocktails crafted by local female mixologists and bites and delicious bites from the restaurant.

Tipon-Martin’s book When Southern Women Cook was available for purchase at the Market and quickly sold out. More than a cookbook, When Southern Women Cook features history, lore, and 300 Recipes with contributions from 70 women writers.

As I listened to Tipton-Martin and other speakers discuss the book and explore the ways that women have fueled food culture through the years, one thought kept coming to mind: Every story has a food story.

For example, let us not forget that women literally fueled the civil rights movement as they fed the ministers and civic leaders who strategized protests and the young people who were on the front lines.

But I don’t have to only look to the distant past to be reminded that every story has a food story.

Just recently, a food writer interviewed me about all the ways cancer has complicated my relationship with food.

And most of us when we think of our favorite memories with our favorite people, our favorite foods are usually present too.

Whether you’re a food writer or not, take this as an invitation to begin using food as a way to move your muse. Here are some prompts to get you started:

  • Write about your first, favorite, or least favorite food memory.
  • Write about a food that defines “home” for you. How does this dish connect to your identity or your family’s history?
  • Recall a time when sharing food created an unexpected bond—with a friend, stranger, or even a rival.
  • Reflect on a food you disliked as a child but appreciate now. What does this shift say about how you’ve changed?
  • Use all of your senses to write an image-rich poem about your favorite food, without naming the food. (Let the sensory details do the work.)
  • Write a poem in which a single ingredient (salt, cinnamon, lemon, etc.) becomes a metaphor for love, grief, or resilience.
  • Capture the sounds, smells, and textures of a family meal. Use descriptions of how they interact around the table to reveal more about the characters and their relationships with one another.
  • A character discovers a secret recipe hidden in an old cookbook. How does following (or refusing to follow) it change their life?
  • A dinner party takes a surprising turn when one dish sparks a memory none of the guests expected.
  • Imagine a future where food is no longer cooked but manufactured. Write a short story about someone who stumbles upon the last real kitchen.
  • Write a scene for your work in progress during which your main character is sharing or preparing a meal with someone else.

Learn more about Southbound Food Festival at southboundfoodfest.com.