Put a Fork In It!

This month, we’re back with the fourth episode of Put a Fork In It! The podcast dishing up fresh perspectives at the intersection of food, health, business and creativity!

This month’s featured guest is Benjamin Giardullo, a Hudson Valley-based business development consultant and entrepreneur in local agriculture, food systems and community development. He is the principal of Hudson Valley Market LLC and the co-founder and CEO of BBG Ventures LLC, currently developing a retail market and food & beverage manufacturing facility in Kingston, NY. In the past 5 years he has helped to build Hudson Valley Harvest, a distributor of meats, produce, dairy, and other farm products for approximately 100 family farms in NY. He serves as the president of the board of Common Ground Farm, a 10 acre non-profit farm focused on food access, food justice, and education programs in Beacon, NY. He is also a member of the Agriculture Advisory Board for US Congressman Maloney, and the Agricultural Working Group for US Senator Gillibrand. Previously, he held pivotal leadership positions in the global expansion of American Apparel, where he was responsible for growing the company’s most profitable region to $80M revenue, leading a team of 750 employees, and developing the company’s global operations and inventory systems.

We had a great conversation all about important issues facing our society and our food systems. Ben is actively engaged in working towards solutions in closing the gaps and improving these systems. It’s a fascinating conversation, and I definitely learned a lot. If you’ve ever heard the phrase “food system” and not quite understood, definite take a listen.

In this episode, we discuss:

Ben’s background in farming and retail

The basics of food distribution

The pay gap between food costs and what farmers/farm workers are paid

Some risks involved in running a farm

Sample models to increase support for local farmers

Prospective ways legalization of cannabis can help our health

Problems with food access and education

Consumer trends in food and health

Ben’s philosophy on health

and much more!

Contact Ben by email or visit his LinkedIn profile to learn more.

Of course, if you like this episode, please share it with your friends or colleagues and subscribe on your favorite podcasting app.

If you would be interested in sponsoring the show or being featured, email me at [email protected].

And, finally, to support the show directly, become a patron on Patreon.

For the third episode of the Put a Fork In It Podcast, I had the opportunity to talk with Nick Caturano, co-founder and head of operations of DineSafe Food Allergy and Dietary Preferences App.

Nick has over 20 years experience in the hospitality industry and has worked as a small business owner/operator from the time he was 16 yrs old. He has worked in small factories producing food and has run nightclubs and sports bars, working with the public, building menus, ordering and cooking food, hiring and managing employees. In family restaurants, Nick has helped manage, cook and be a great support system to help out wherever he there was a hole. Outside of food, Nick has been the MC and DJ at corporate events and weddings for a number of years. A tireless multi-tasker and generalist with many interests, he has managed to work for great brands, such as Marriott, Ritz, Hilton, Waldorf, Hyatt and Walt Disney Company as a server, bartender, coffee breaker, and in room service for years. And, even while doing all that, he still finds the time to create and run his own projects, such as his latest, the DineSafe App, with co-founder David Richard, drawing upon his wealth of experience in hospitality and working with the public, food and service. Nick was born in Brooklyn, NY and raised in Miami, FL. Nick currently Lives with his wife in Orlando, FL.

During this episode, we had a great conversation! In addition to discussing the app he’s working on, and how it can help lots of people, we also covered a several deeper topics and principles, as well as current issues facing people with food allergies.

Some of the topics we cover included:

-Food allergies and their effects on families, individuals and restaurants

-Explosion in food allergies in last 10 years

-Corporate and social responsibilities

-Passion for what you do versus the drive just to make money

-Jumping into the unknown and figuring it out as you go

-Why conventional wisdom to specialize, specialize, specialize may not work in every case or be the best advice

-The latest news (controversy) on Epipens

-Health, wellness and food

-and so much more!

We go over the 1 hour mark, but it’s so worth it to listen.

To get in touch with Nick, email him at [email protected].

To learn more about Dinesafe App, visit www.dinesafeapp.com, download in the App Store or on Google Play, or follow them on Twitter.

Welcome to the second episode of the new podcast “Put a Fork In It!”

This episode features Ashley Moulton, the Founder and CEO of Nomster Chef. Ashley has a background in children’s media production and research (Nickelodeon’s “Team Umizoomi” and YouTube Kids). She holds an M.A. in Learning, Design and Technology from the Stanford Graduate School of Education and a B.S. in Television-Radio from Ithaca College. She is thrilled to be newly back in NYC after a 2 year California adventure, and lives with her husband in Brooklyn.

Ashley is in the beginning stages of developing and launching her own venture, Nomster Chef. While she might not seem like an obvious choice with her extensive background in children’s media, her new venture is all about food. It’s not her first time working in the startup space, but it is her first time creating her own company.

Since she is so early in the process, we focus on the idea stage and how to take an idea and turn it into reality.

In the podcast, we discuss various topics, including:

what it takes to start your own venture,

some tools that are available if you’re thinking about starting a new business,

what’s involved in a business incubator or accelerator program,

different options for business models in tech,

design thinking, prototyping and consumer testing,

Ashley’s philosophy on health, food and cooking,

and much more!

If you’re interested in getting involved with Nomster, visit this page to learn about becoming a recipe tester.

Interested in staying in touch with Nomster?

Like Nomster Chef on Facebook

Follow Nomster Chef on Pinterest

Follow Nomster Chef on Instagram

Follow Nomster Chef on Twitter

Leave a comment below to let us know your favorite insight and how you’ll apply it!

Give it a listen and if you like what you hear, share the episode with any friends or fellow business owners that might find it valuable.

If you like this episode, enter your email below to receive updates for future episodes, blogs and more!

Welcome to the first episode of the new podcast “Put a Fork In It!” Thanks for giving me a listen. On the podcast, I will be featuring guests that will give us ideas, insights and inspirations about business, marketing, food, creativity and health!

This first episode features Kathy Prizzia, currently the executive director of the New Paltz Regional Chamber of Commerce.  (That’s her headshot that I did last year!)

As the leader of an organization with a small staff, she takes a super active role in growing the organization on the ground level by meeting and working directly with members on their businesses. So, she is very aware of what’s going on in business in the area and the issues local businesses are dealing with right now.

In addition to all that and having been the chair of the Taste of New Paltz multiple times, she was also the proprietor of her own restaurant, 36 Main, in New Paltz, worked as the director of food and beverage for Rocking Horse Ranch, and was previously the general manager at a New Paltz favorite P&G’s for over 15 years.

In the podcast, we discuss various topics, including:

the current state of business in the Hudson Valley

the different mentalities and skills required going from a role as a GM to a proprietor

the different marketing mentalities and strategies used for a new startup versus an established business

the importance of preparation and followup before and after participating in a marketing event

the Taste of New Paltz and how to be successful in food and marketing events

the importance of proper staff training and listening to your customers

the value of effective marketing and high quality graphic design and photography

Leave a comment below to let us know your favorite insight and how you’ll apply it!

Give it a listen and if you like what you hear, share the episode with any friends or fellow business owners that might find it valuable.

If you like this episode, enter your email below to receive updates for future episodes, blogs and more!