Looking at both Arjun Appadurai’s theory of gastro-politics and the declining relationship between Joe and Janie in Zora Neale Hurston classic novel Their Eyes Where Watching God. If cooking is an expression of love, what went bad first, the love in the marriage or her cooking? Did Janie's meal go bad because overtime her husband made it clear he loved how she made him look and not her? How does and kindness, gratitude and respect influence a cook's food? Gastro-politics unpacks one's power or lack of power to admit, invite, participate related to food consumption and production because of caste or gender.