Food Without Borders

On this special episode of Food Without Borders, Sari welcomes Phil Rosenthal back to the show. Phil is the creator and host of Somebody Feed Phil, now in its third season on Netflix. Sari and Phil discuss what it's like to release the latest season of Somebody Feed Phil - a show about eating in restaurants around the world -  during the Coronavirus. Phil shares his thoughts on how best to find joy during the pandemic and he reveals behind-the-scenes moments of season 3. HRN will be donating 10% of our membership drive proceeds from now until June 15 to the Philando Castile Relief Foundation. Visit heritageradionetwork.org/donate to make your gift.Food Without Borders is powered by Simplecast..

In episode 12 of At The Table, Sari speaks with Tunde Wey, the Nigerian-born and New Orleans-based artist, writer, and cook.In this conversation, Tunde goes into greater depth about his now infamous essay "Don't Bail Out the Restaurant Industry" first published on Instagram. In the midst of COVID-19, Tunde argues that by bailing out restaurants we are "asking the government to subsidize the unequal status, or even expand it."Using 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina as past examples of America's failure to interrogate its capitalist systems of wealth and power, he explains the differences of revolution versus evolution in the context of why he sees the window of change for the restaurant industry as already being closed.Watch the video interview here: https://www.mofad.org/episode-12Food Without Borders  is powered by Simplecast.

In episode 11 of At The Table, Sari speaks to Carina Kaufman-Guttierez, Deputy Director of the Street Vendor Project. Street Vendor Project works with approximately 2,000 people who sell food and merchandise on the streets of New York City.About 90% of their vendors are low-wage immigrant workers, often undocumented, who rely on busy streets to feed and support themselves and their families. With little access to grants and government benefits, the pandemic has left many of these vendors with nowhere to turn. Carina explains how the Street Vendor Project is providing support to these front line workers at a practical and policy level, from protecting vendors from police harassment to creating access to small business grants. She explains how we can best support this extremely vulnerable population, especially through the Street Vendor Covid-19 Emergency Fund, created to provide relief payments directly to as many individual vendors as possible.Food Without Borders  is powered by Simplecast.

In episode 10 of At The Table, Sari speaks with Elizabeth Peralta, Executive Director of the National Supermarket Association. Representing over 800 independent stores, 99% of which are Latino-owned, Peralta explains how the NSA and their members are coping during the current pandemic while on the frontlines of serving their communities.Peralta sees the NSA as the embodiment of ‘"the immigrant American dream," where their members have made it their mission to give back to their communities. She breaks down how supermarkets are surviving in a time of overshopping, fluctuating prices, and increased robberies while balancing the difficult decision to either go to work or see their families. Peralta explains how the NSA has built unique partnerships with companies such as Lyft, Bronx Mutual Aid, and Goya Foods, with the goal of making sure that food safely reaches the most vulnerable in our society. Most importantly, Peralta outlines best practices for how we as shoppers can take care of each other and the supermarket workers and operators that are doing their best to ensure there is food on the shelves of their stores in these challenging times.Watch the video version here: https://www.mofad.org/episode-10 Food Without Borders  is powered by Simplecast.

In Episode 9 of At The Table, Sari talks to Deepti Sharma, an entrepreneur, mother, and champion of small business owners. Deepti is the founder of FoodtoEat, a company connecting women, immigrant, and minority-owned food vendors to business opportunities. She also co-founded Bikky, a platform solving customer engagement for restaurants and, in the wake of the pandemic, she's built Eat Bikky, a delivery platform that unlike the major third-party delivery apps, allows customers to order directly from restaurants without taking any fees.In this conversation, Deepti explains how it has sadly taken a global pandemic to expose inequalities in the food industry and the importance of ‘humanizing’ the experience of food. She also dives into how she had adapted her endeavors to serve local communities and support the businesses she works with, from fundraising to feeding essential workers in hospitals. Watch the video version here: https://www.mofad.org/episode-9 Food Without Borders is powered by Simplecast.

Episode 8 of At the Table is with Devita Davison, Executive Director of FoodLab Detroit, a nonprofit business support organization that helps to incubate and accelerate food businesses that want to be part of a good food movement.In this conversation, Devita speaks to the fundamental reasons why the restaurant industry is currently in crisis, including, and most importantly, the fact that the industry is propped up on the backs of our most vulnerable workers. According to Davison the Coronavirus has only exposed this "ugly underbelly".Devita also explains how class and race are both factors of whether or not a restaurant will succeed or fail during this time and hopeful ways in which the community has banded together in order to come back stronger and more sustainably.  Watch the online video version here: https://www.mofad.org/episode-8?_ga=2.51530412.484154044.1589123193-892082491.1570804996&fbclid=IwAR1k6F4_lz_fGyp_EvfiCHuvehu_mai4R5OdYFUEV_T3oAB-3pmImfmf8U8Food Without Borders is powered by Simplecast.

Episode 7 of At the Table is with sommelier, beverage consultant, and hospitality activist Ashtin Berry. Ashtin is a champion of women and POC's in the food and beverage sector, and much of her work is focused on creating safer and more inclusive spaces within the industry.In light of COVID-19, Ashtin has created America's Table, a movement that includes a 3-point action plan for creating a more equitable hospitality industry going forward. Ashtin explains how America's Table is using data collected from hospitality workers to identify what structural changes need to be made within the industry and how she sees a systemic thread between the agricultural, hospitality, and prison sectors.Watch the online video version at https://www.mofad.org/episode-7Food Without Borders is powered by Simplecast.

Episode 6 of At the Table is with Jacqueline Pilati, an urban farmer, seed keeper, educator, and founding member of Cooperative Gardens Commission, a grassroots movement to share resources and help people grow food for themselves and their communities in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Jacqueline explains the importance of food sovereignty as it relates to food justice. She also discusses the many challenges that farmers are facing as a result of the pandemic and explains the complicated history of Victory Gardens.   Watch the video version here: https://www.mofad.org/episode-6?_ga=2.133134283.419660897.1588082186-892082491.1570804996 Food Without Borders  is powered by Simplecast.

In episode 5 of At the Table, Greg Baxtrom and Max Katzenberg of Olmsted and Maison Yaki in Brooklyn explain how overnight they went from being restaurateurs to activists. Together they've created The New York Hospitality Coalition, a grassroots effort with the intention of unifying the 250,000 hospitality workers in New York City. After making the difficult decision to close their restaurants, Baxtrom and Katzenberg have been fighting for government intervention and relief.Watch the online video version here: https://www.mofad.org/episode-5?_ga=2.261097738.66042158.1587401969-892082491.1570804996Food Without Borders is powered by Simplecast.  

Episode 4 of At the Table is with Elizabeth Tilton, founder of New Orleans-based hospitality group Oyster Sunday. In response to COVID-19, Oyster Sunday is providing free consultations to independent restaurants that need support in terms of pro bono legal counsel, communications, and thinking through cash flow constraints. Tilton also speaks to how technology in restaurants has adapted in a time of need and the challenges many local businesses face when trying to pivot their business model in the midst of a pandemic. Watch the online video interview here:  https://www.mofad.org/episode-4Food Without Borders is powered by Simplecast. 

In episode 3 of At the Table, Public Programs Manager speaks with Eric Rivera, chef of Addo in Seattle. Chef Rivera explains how he was able to seamlessly convert his restaurant into a take-out-only operation during COVID-19 and expand service by utilizing digital platforms and strategies he already had in place.Watch the online video interview at https://www.mofad.org/episode-3Food Without Borders is powered by Simplecast. 

In episode two of At the Table, Sari Kamin speaks with Alicia Kennedy, a food and beverage writer based in Puerto Rico focused on covering issues of labor within the hospitality industry. In light of COVID-19, Alicia is reporting on how restaurant employees have been impacted by the mandated bar and restaurant closures.Watch the online video interview here: https://www.mofad.org/episode-2Food Without Borders is powered by Simplecast. 

In episode one of At The Table, Food Without Borders Host and MOFAD Public Programs Manager Sari Kamin spoke with Andrea Strong, a journalist covering food policy and the restaurant industry for Food & Wine and Heated. In this interview, Andrea talks about what it's like to be a journalist keeping up with the fast-paced news cycle during COVID-19 and the ever-changing policies that are impacting restaurant owners and hospitality workers. For the video version of this talk, along with the rest of the At The Table series, please visit https://www.mofad.org/online-video-seriesFood Without Borders is powered by Simplecast.

Mohammad Modarres, is a current 2019 TED Resident and the founder of Abe’s Meats (AbesMeats.com). an award-winning social impact organization that has produced the first-ever Interfaith Meat products that are both Halal and Kosher. The product has premiered at “Shabbat Salaam” interfaith dinners around the country—from San Francisco to New York’s Times Square. Food Without Borders is powered by Simplecast.

Chef Gabriela Alvarez founded Liberation Cuisine in 2014 with the mission to feed movement work. She creates menus inspired by her Caribbean roots and works to support an equitable and healthy food system by sourcing ingredients from local farms owned by queer people of color who pay fair wages. Gabriela speaks about growing up on Long Island in a Puerto Rican home where food was used as medicine long before it was cool, mobilizing after Hurricane Maria, how she creates an inclusive work environment from pronouns to fair pay, and what growth means to her. Food Without Borders is powered by Simplecast.

Pakistani-American chef Fatima Khawaja grew up in Lahore and moved to the US at 18 yrs old to pursue a culinary career. We talk about the flavors of her home in Lahore, not looking like a “typical” Pakistani, and being a Muslim US citizen under the current administration. Food Without Borders is powered by Simplecast

Kausar Ahmed is a Karachi-born chef, educator, and food stylist whose debut cookbook, The Karachi Kitchen, features recipes from the crossroads of South Asia. Kausar speaks to us about her efforts to promote an understanding of regional Pakistani cuisine (and how it differs from Indian food), why she decided to self-publish a cookbook, and the work she does in Karachi, teaching healthy eating and hygiene habits to women and youth in high-risk communities. Food Without Borders is powered by Simplecast.

Today we speak with Cole Carothers and Shilpa Nandwani, co-founders of Khao'na Kitchen, a Brooklyn-based worker owned collective run by women and nonbinary QPOC offering wellness coaching, educational workshops & curriculum, and Indian + Filipino catering with a healthy twist. Food Without Borders is powered by Simplecast.

Evy Chen is founder of Evy Tea, the first cold-brew tea company in the US, and its brick and mortar location, Tea Bar in Boston. Born in Southeast China, Evy's politically-active family instilled in her independece, creativity and a knack for blending flavors, which evolved when she came to the US for college. She talks about the interwovenness of tea in Chinese culture, her shock at trying American iced tea for the first time, scaling a product while staying true to its quality, and unpacking the myth of cultural authenticity. Food Without Borders is powered by Simplecast.

Today on Food Without Borders we speak with Indian-American author Nandita Godbole of Curry Cravings whose essays, biographical fiction & upcoming cookbook offer a curious cultural lens + pragmatic approach to cooking. Food Without Borders is powered by Simplecast.