EatOkra App Connects Foodies With Black-Owned Restaurants

It can be used in stews and gumbos. It can be fried and roasted and even served as the stuffing for your favorite fish — even at Thanksgiving.

Okra, an edible green seed pod of West African origin, is a staple of the American diet and base ingredient for many dishes that make up Black foodways. It is believed to have arrived to the Americas through African women who wove it into their braided hair before they were brought into the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

EatOkra, an app named for this food staple, connects 500,000 foodies to chefs, culinary creators and restaurants. Anthony and Janique Edwards, the creators of EatOkra, have set out to develop a Black-owned food ecosystem.

Hopkins, known as “The Food Griot” on social media, co-founded the James Hemings Society, an organization named after Thomas Jefferson's enslaved chef who became the first American to train as a chef in France.

Her work as a culinary history consultant sheds light on the timeless Black culinary talents that have shaped fine dining in the Americas. She believes that EatOrka's unique ability to connect new diners to Black foodways in their local neighborhoods enhances this mission.

"It is no newsflash to tell folks how much Black food has been attempted to be erased from the American narrative," Hopkins exclaimed. "To connect the dots and center our story, it will require both an accurate telling of history and uplifting modern-day Black food creators throughout the country, things that live at the center of the EatOrka experience."