The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and the Smithsonian Latino Center will present two programs related to Mexican American food and the production of food in America, including a look at the bracero (guest worker) farm labor program. The programs are offered in conjunction with the museum’s newest exhibition, “FOOD: Transforming the American Table 1950–2000,” which features 70 years of Latino food history, from a circa 1940 tortilla press to California vineyard tools used by the Robledo family. The exhibition draws on the museum’s bracero farm labor collection and highlights new objects collected to show the influence of immigrants and migrants on the American table, including the diffusion of Mexican-inspired food into all corners of the country.
Mexican specialties for purchase will be featured Feb. 9 and Feb. 23 in the museum’s Stars and Stripes Café.
These programs are part of a major initiative by the museum to create an ongoing program on food and wine in America. The museum envisions taking food and food history to the nation through its ongoing collecting efforts and a series of symposia and intellectual exchanges, online offerings and dynamic public programs.