The story begins with the Peace Corps. Nhu, a native of Vietnam, was volunteering in Kingston, Jamaica. Craig was part of Peace Corps Jamaica’s administrative staff. They both have a passion for education and believe that education changes lives. Hurricane Floyd brought them together, as Craig visited Nhu presumably to bring her supplies, but actually to ask her out! They lived in Jamaica for years, but Nhu longed to move back to the Pacific Northwest and they landed in Portland, Oregon. The move was difficult for Craig at first, so Nhu would shop for all the Jamaican items she could find locally so Craig could have a piece of his homeland. But it was difficult to find spices and rubs, so they started to make their own. When they had parties, they served their Jamaican dishes and friends and family raved about it. But Craig and Nhu realized there was a difference between pleasing friends and family and selling to the public so ventured carefully into the business of selling their Jerk dishes and the spices that flavor them. Jerk has been a part of Jamaica’s culinary tradition for centuries and is a way of cooking pork, chicken, seafood, beef and vegetables. The taste of Jerk best exemplifies Jamaica and the Jamaican people; spicy and hot, yet sweet! Jerk rubs are typically hot with scotch bonnet peppers (habaneros). The couple sells their dishes from a popular food cart and sell their spices there and online to encourage others to cook authentic Jamaican dishes at home. That is their way of educating others to the joys of Jamaican hospitality and food. And the name Fi Mi Kingston? It’s a slogan from the patios (pronounced “pat-wa”) dialect spoken in Jamaica. Fi Mi means “my” and it is the warm way of saying “My Kingston.”

Thank you for listening to The Meaningful Marketplace Podcast with your hosts, Sarah Masoni of Oregon State University's Food Innovation Center and Sarah Marshall, owner of Marshall's Haute Sauce. Connect with us on Instagram @meaningfulmarketplacepodcast. 

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Producer: Sarah Marshall of The Joy of Creation Production House
Audio engineer, mixer, and podcast editor: Haley Bowers 
Show logo design: Anton Kimball of Kimball Design 
Production Coordinators: Dave Drusky