What we eat can speak volumes about ourselves, revealing stories — and flavors — shaped by time and movement and environment. What we eat is shaped by the climate and physical attributes of the land our ancestors came from and grew up in; what was happening in our neighborhoods or our countrysides or our political systems as we were growing up, who once colonized or enslaved or invaded or welcomed whom; how much freedom or financial security we had to make decisions about what food we could buy or eat or where we could go to do those things, and today, what flavor or fruit we may seek out from someplace far away to cook for our families because it’s what we always have done.

These are some of the things we’ll think about in this free, open-to-the-public, one-day symposium at Queens College. It is co-hosted by Sari Kisilevsky, an associate professor of philosophy at Queens College CUNY, and Rachel Wharton, a food writer and journalist.

Each of our speakers will touch on food and identity from so many points of view: immigration and politicization, how food ways transcend borders, how perceptions and identities can change depending on context within borders, and all the ways borders can be defined: geographically, politically, informally, internally. For each speaker, hopefully you will also get a chance to taste the subject of the discussion at hand.