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. 

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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-12

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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.

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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

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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

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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-3pmImfmf8U8

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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-7

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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

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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=2.261097738.66042158.1587401969-892082491.1570804996

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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-4

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