{"id":165566,"date":"2026-02-17T18:27:57","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T17:27:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dekolonialestadtfuehrung.de\/?p=165566"},"modified":"2026-02-17T18:36:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T17:36:19","slug":"new-desta-food-tour-and-the-links-to-colonialism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dekolonialestadtfuehrung.de\/en\/2026\/02\/neu-desta-food-tour-und-die-verbindungen-zum-kolonialismus\/","title":{"rendered":"New: Desta Food Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

The links between our food industry and colonialism<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since our foundation in 2022 the tour offer from deSta- Decolonial city tour<\/strong> grown strongly. From the very beginning, our aim was to deal with critical issues such as Antiracism<\/strong>, Decolonization<\/strong> and the historical and contemporary connections between Africa and Germany. Over the past three years, we have been decolonial city tours in Berlin<\/strong> steadily expanded to various districts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, we proudly presented our Black Queer Feminism Tour<\/strong> introduced, a unique experience that explores how we colonial thought patterns<\/strong> in many areas of our society and in the cultural spaces of the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year, we launched one of our most exciting experiences to date: the Kreuzk\u00f6lln Food Tour<\/strong>. This tour highlights the deep and often overlooked relationship between Food and colonialism<\/strong>, especially in the context of postcolonial Berlin<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps you are wondering: What does food actually have to do with colonialism? And how does this fit in with deSta's mission, which aims to unlearn worldviews that have been shaped by white supremacy<\/strong>, Western dominance<\/strong> and global power structures? These are precisely the questions this article explores: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the connection between Food and colonial power<\/strong>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When talking about colonialism in conventional historiography, the focus is often on the social, political and economic consequences, especially those following the colonization of America. But also Food<\/strong> played a leading role in the Colonial history<\/strong>. The way people grow, prepare and consume food has been fundamentally reshaped over the last 500 years, especially for Indigenous communities<\/strong> and colonized populations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let's start with the colonization of America. During this time, food was used by European states as a mechanism for control and oppression. An early example comes from the Spanish Reconquista in the 15th century, where pork served as a cultural and religious symbol of Christian identity. Anyone who refused to eat pork was considered suspicious of being Jewish or Muslim and of belonging to faiths that forbade its consumption. This instrumentalization of food continued during the colonization of America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

European settlers created hierarchies of \u201eright\u201c and \u201ewrong\u201c food based on European norms. Foods such as bread, olives and wine were considered appropriate and healthy, suitable for European bodies. In contrast, indigenous foods were often dismissed as inferior, unclean or dangerous. This devaluation of local food cultures was not merely symbolic, but part of a broader strategy to dominate and eradicate indigenous ways of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These early examples mark the beginning of the intertwining of Food systems and colonial power<\/strong>. As colonialism spread, food increasingly became a site of control. Europeans introduced new crops that radically changed the agricultural systems of colonized areas. Nowhere did this have a greater impact than on the African continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An impressive case study is the British colonial rule in Kenya. The British used military force, economic restructuring and cultural oppression to dominate the Kenyan population. One particularly damaging method was their treatment of land and agriculture. Fertile land was confiscated, traditional crops destroyed and indigenous food systems massively weakened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As soon as European settlersarrived inside, they took over this land in order to <\/em>Cash Crops<\/em><\/strong> such as tea and coffee, products that served European economic interests. The traditional food systems of the **Indigenous Kenyan women<\/em>** were not only disrupted, but systematically smashed. New foods such as maize were introduced, not as a cultural choice but as a coercive colonial measure. To this day, maize flour is a staple food in many African countries and a direct legacy of colonial policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This example shows how colonialism reshaped African food systems in two ways: by eradicating traditional food cultures and by introducing new foods that served the interests of the colonizers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If these connections between Colonialism and our global food system<\/strong> fascinate you, we cordially invite you to visit us at one of our decolonial food tours in Berlin<\/strong> to accompany you. Taste, history and identity come together here, and important, often suppressed stories are told.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We look forward to seeing you!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How German is currywurst with chips? Tomatoes and potatoes originally come from South America and curry spices from India. So that only leaves the meat and bread. In our food tour, you can find out more about colonial interdependencies in the food industry.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[357,334],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-165566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-magazin","category-magazine"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dekolonialestadtfuehrung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dekolonialestadtfuehrung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dekolonialestadtfuehrung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dekolonialestadtfuehrung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dekolonialestadtfuehrung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165566"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.dekolonialestadtfuehrung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":165570,"href":"https:\/\/www.dekolonialestadtfuehrung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165566\/revisions\/165570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dekolonialestadtfuehrung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dekolonialestadtfuehrung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dekolonialestadtfuehrung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}