Food Conversations are Happening at RootsTech 2017

I’m very thankful that the RootsTech 2017 conference is live streaming – and over 100,000 people are watching! Also very thankful that I’ve had sometime this week to watch the great sessions that are being streamed. I’ve learned a lot and made some new friends along the way.

During the general session on Wednesday morning, FamilySearch President and CEO, Steve Rockwood, talked about food heritage in relationship to genealogy.

Now … I cannot adequately describe how excited I was, especially considering my own passion for genealogy and connecting food heritage to my own ancestry. I’m pretty sure I squealed at least once, then I sent a text message to my mom and my “sister” sharing my excitement. They are both food fanatics, too.

Family recipes and storytelling

Family recipes and the memories we have preparing those recipes with our mom or grandma (or dad and grandpa!) are an important part of our family story. They are not, however, a traditional aspect of genealogy. FamilySearch is changing that! You can now add your family’s recipes and memories of food and family to FamilySearch. It’s as simple as a click of a button, uploading a photo and writing your story. 

I uploaded my Italian Beef Recipe and was able to link it to me and my parents in my family tree. This allows others searching for my family to find and see the recipe. 

Sharing family recipes and memories add some more humanistic component to what genealogists – amateur or professional -do. The social context that these stories provide gives us an additional peak into the lives of our ancestors.