The Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission, the Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland, and the Southern Maryland National Heritage Area are calling on residents of Southern Maryland to submit family recipes and personal stories for a new feature film, ‘The Long Table’.
Sponsored by the Southern Maryland National Heritage Area, the project aims to capture the region’s diverse foodways, histories and community resilience through a modern lens of abundance and shared connection.
Created by the filmmaker of ‘Grandma’s Hands’, the new film, ‘The Long Table’ offers a specific vision of the cornucopia — one rooted in the cultural layers and landscapes of Southern Maryland. By gathering recipes and the stories behind them, the film will show how abundance is made through connection to place, honoring the region’s Indigenous origins, African American resilience, European migration, agricultural traditions, maritime heritage, and the many communities who call Southern Maryland home.
Residents are encouraged to submit recipes from any tradition along with a short description of how the dish ties to the region and a willingness to be filmed preparing or sharing it.
“After making Grandma’s Hands, I saw just how much people connect through food and memory. The Long Table expands that idea — gathering the many voices of Southern Maryland into one shared feast of stories, a modern cornucopia we create together” said Craig Sewell, who will also direct this film.
Submissions should include the recipe, a brief story about its significance, contact information, and optional photos. Email entries to Craig Sewell, Director of “The Long Table” [email protected], (410) 271- 1469. The deadline is December 31, 2025.
Southern Maryland’s history reflects both hardship and resilience. ‘The Long Table’ seeks to honor this complexity by highlighting how people today continue to create abundance through the everyday acts of cooking, gathering, and carrying traditions forward. Just as Grandma’s Hands revealed how a single story can resonate widely, this new film will show how an entire region’s foodways form a modern cornucopia — rich with cultural layers, shaped by land and water, and sustained by the people who call this place home.
For more information on ‘Grandma’s Hands’, visit https://www.pbs.org/video/grandmas-hands-with-craig-sewell-wrgvxb/
About the Southern Maryland National Heritage Area: Designated by Congress, the Southern Maryland National Heritage Area preserves and promotes the region’s unique history, culture and natural resources through community-driven initiatives.
About the Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission (SMADC): SMADC, A division of the Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland supports the economic viability of Southern Maryland’s agricultural community through programs that promote local farming, food production and rural heritage.
About the Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland: The Tri-County Council fosters economic development, planning and collaboration across Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties to enhance the region’s quality of life.
