1.) How does food become the center of power relations between master and slaves?
In the selection, food and power were closely related. It was there that "food" became the metaphor for "slaves" and those who have this "food" in abundance (the white people) are the "masters" or slaveholders. The Black women slaves were basically treated in an inhumane way. The slaveholders can do whatever they want to these women (e.g. forcing them to eat dog food, monitor their every move, spewing on their food, sexually abusing them, etc). So it seems that the "masters" are the all powerful ones.
But, on the other hand, there was the grandmother. She was the one that nourished some of those White people; She was the one that cooks food for them; She was the one that makes their clothes. This kind of dependency of the White slaveholder to this Black woman slave makes her powerful herself. The nourishment that sustained this White slaveholder is from a Black woman slave. And, the slaveholders are afraid of this "power" that their cook or wet nurse or slaves, in general, has on them.
So, food in this selection is the center of the power relations. One is the power to be oppressive and the other to nourish. There is a power struggle between these two.
2.) How is food associated with a mother?
Being a pregnant woman is no easy task. A pregnant woman must eat (healthily) for herself and for the child that she is carrying. Then, after giving birth, she must breastfeed her child. Feeding her child with her milk could have different meanings but it is essentially giving the child a chance to have a life or giving life itself. In the case of the Black woman slaves, they are nourishing a child that is not their own (and perhaps feeding a child of her own at the same time). Or in some scenarios in the selection, it is associated with the abuse of the slaves. All in all, food can have a variety of meanings to a mother. It can be good or bad or both.
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