Food stories offer a powerful way to understand a city and the people who make it their home. And those stories are especially right in New York, one of the most diverse cities in the world and home to people of over 200 different ethnicities. Through stories about food, we can learn how newcomers to New York fostered communal ties and identities, how they responded to pressures to assimilate, and how they impacted the cultural practices of their new home. Food narratives also offer a way to explore the lives of workers and the role of city policy and structural and economic practices in shaping how and what we eat. 

The Food Atlas of New York is a joint project of multiple sections of CUNY’s Macaulay Honors College Seminar 2, People of New York. We use the history and culture of food in New York to understand the diversity, complexity, and impact of the many peoples who make New York City their home. Through stories of iconic foods and ingredients, histories of the evolution of food options in different neighborhoods, and entries on food-related businesses and their owners, the Food Atlas illuminates the historical and sociological stories behind New York’s food landscape.

The Food Atlas features both individual entries related to specific places and thematic research essays that explore an aspect of New York’s food culture in depth. Users can search the atlas by categories, tags, or specific terms. We invite you to explore our food stories!

If you teach in Macaulay’s Seminar 2 and are interested in having your section contribute to the Food Atlas, please reach out to us!