The man at the helm of one of Toronto's most respected restaurant dynasties surprised everyone when he opened a diner in one of the city's low income neighbourhoods early this October. 

We chat with Grant van Gameren about the decision to buy Harry's Charbroiled in Parkdale and why it's proven to be one of the most difficult projects he's taken on to date. 

T & I: @foodstuffslife
F: facebook.com/foodstuffslife

Ep 24: When Grant van Gameren Buys a Diner

A podcast about food and culture, and their intersections.

Hosted by Jessica Walker & Bryan Goman.

Episodes released every second Wednesday.

Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

This week, we learn what the elements that give beer flavour, just in time to cheers to the end of another season.

Matt Park is the Operations manager at Toronto's Burdock Brewery and he loves yeast. We learn how yeast impacts the taste of beer and how to maintain flavour when brewing low alcohol beers. Yum!

Ep 40: Matt Park Brews Crushable Craft Beers

This week we talk to the son of a farmer about his photographic homage to his upbringing, currently on display at Toronto's St Lawrence Market. Fittingly for one of Canada's oldest farmers' markets, Andrew McGill's work displays scenes from his hometown: farm life, county fairs and local characters.

What happens when you book most of your work in the city, but draw some of your greatest inspiration from your rural farming town? How Andrew McGill reconciles his past and present, and tries to envision his future.

To hear our chat with Andrew's father, Larry McGill, download "Ep 14: The Homegrown Dinner Project & A Farmer's Perspective."

Ep 39: A Farmer's Son's Perspective

Workplace safety is known as a basic right in our country, however political collective Justice for Migrant Workers is working hard to spread awareness of the realities of the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program for some of Canada's migrant farmworker population.

On this week's episode, we speak to one of the J4MW organizers, Tzazná Miranda Leal, about the range of efforts the group has taken to spread the issue of substandard working and living conditions for Canada's migrant worker population. 

J4MW's campaign ramped up last year, culminating as the Harvesting Freedom Caravan that crossed Southern Ontario. This work is currently on display in the form of three concurrent art exhibitions, 'Art and Tomatoes,' taking place as a part of the Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts in Toronto. 

For more information, please visit our website: foodstuffs.life

Ep 38: The Art of Fighting for Migrant Farmworkers' Rights

How access to food, water and the Internet shapes one northern community; the people of Attawapiskat First Nation cope with the high cost of living on reserve. 

We chat with Kathy and Stephen Stoney- a teacher and a minister- about the barriers that currently exist and what they hope to see for the future of eating in their subarctic First Nation.

Ep 37: The Meaning of Access in Attawapiskat

When life handed Michaela Kutaj a diagnosis that kept her close to home, she prescribed herself backyard chickens.

This week, Jess takes a trip to the Mississauga to visit a woman who is reaping more than just the obvious- albeit illegal- rewards (i.e. local food, healthy compost, active lifestyle) of backyard chicken farming.

Ep 24: When Grant van Gameren Buys a Diner

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