Today we’re taking a trip to Dayton Ohio to speak with 2 people dedicated to bringing diversity to the table, literally and figuratively, and how that action can change a city into a community.

First, we’ll hear from Bryan Stewart, founder of the Longest Table Dayton, a community movement that hosts community meals and encourages conversation between neighbors. Second, we’ll talk to Amaha Sallasie, co-founder and board chair of the Gem City Market, a food co-op. We’ll also hear from listeners who tell us about a person with an opposing political view who they wish they could break bread with.

Executive Producers: Cristina Gonzalez, Jackie Garofano, Adell Coleman

Senior Producer: Ryan Woodhall

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While awareness about eating disorders in America has improved, there’s a misconception about who is experiencing them, why they are experiencing them and while we focus on obesity as a national epidemic, anorexia is on the rise. Today we try to better understand eating disorders with our guests, Dr. Christine Peat and author Anissa Gray.

The stress of COVID-19 and the isolation of quarantine has increased depression, anxiety and other mental health issues. While we have learned that eating disorders are only partially about body dysmorphia and body image, we also know that they often stem from an attempt to achieve control while in a state of anxiety or uncertainty. Cristina and Dr. Peat discuss the ways in which the pandemic has exacerbated the suffering of people with these disorders, signs we can look out for and ways we can better understand and help the people we love who may be suffering. Next, we'll talk with author Anissa Gray who bravely talks about her own experience with an eating disorder, how that influenced aspects of her book, "The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls" and shares advice for listeners who may be suffering. We’ll also hear from listeners who bravely share their experiences with Eating Disorders or challenges.

Executive Producers: Cristina Gonzalez, Jackie Garofano, Adell Coleman

Senior Producer: Ryan Woodhall

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You may have heard people say ‘Food is my LOVE LANGUAGE,’ meaning that cooking and feeding others is their way of saying, "I Love you" in the most nurturing and generous way possible. 

In this episode Cristina talks with two chefs who speak the language fluently. First she and Chef Vikas Khanna discuss how Vikas expresses himself either in person, in his Michelin Star restaurants or through service with his Feed India Initiative, which has fed over 50 million Indians who have struggled in Covid, all from his home office in New York. She’ll also talk with Chef Cristina Martinez best known for her restaurants in Philadelphia, she’s now a James Beard Award Nominee for the work she and her husband do with The People’s Kitchen, a place that provides free meals for their neighbors and supports undocumented workers in need throughout the pandemic. We’ll also hear from listeners who will tell us how they express love through food.

Executive Producers: Cristina Gonzalez, Jackie Garofano, Adell Coleman

Senior Producer: Ryan Woodhall

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85% of food consumed in Puerto Rico is imported to the island. How does food dependence on the US mainland affect the relationship between the two? How does the addition of a Category 5 Hurricane affect an already perilous system? Cristina talks with Tara Rodriguez Besosa, an organizer and architect about creating a non-profit collective there called El Departmento de la Comida, and its mission to create agroecological concepts that can be used to create resilience through food sovereignty on the island and beyond. In the second half of the show Cristina talks with Chef Alejandro Perez, who started working with World Central Kitchen, an organization that responds to global emergencies, literally after Hurricane Maria hit and devastated his hometown. Chef also tells us what drives him to continue his work providing much needed food relief and comfort to survivors and aid workers on a global level with WCK.

World Central Kitchen - https://wck.org/

El Departmento de La Comida - https://www.eldepartamentodelacomida.org/abouteldepa

Proyecto Matria - https://www.proyectomatria.org/

Executive Producers: Cristina Gonzalez, Jackie Garofano, Adell Coleman

Senior Producer: Ryan Woodhall

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As kids, a lot of us are taught that it is bad manners to engage in thoughtful political discourse over a meal. Is it based on a fear of causing an argument or is it that we don’t know how to have difficult conversations in a constructive way? To get to the root of the issue Cristina talks with two people who never shy away from giving their opinions, Toure and Danielle Moodie, hosts of the podcast, Democracy-ish. We’ll also hear from listeners about people in their lives with whom they share polarizing political beliefs and what they think would happen if they shared a meal together and let their feelings fly freely.

Executive Producers: Cristina Gonzalez, Jackie Garofano, Adell Coleman

Senior Producer: Ryan Woodhall

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Despite ongoing debate, Capital Punishment also known as the Death Penalty, is still practiced in 27 states in the United States. The act of giving last meals to those on death row has always been a particularly complicated fascination. Why do we choose to do something so humane for incarcerated folks in their last moments? What is that food tied to? In the first half of the show we’re joined by Henry Hargreaves, a professional photographer from New Zealand whose series, “No Seconds” explores the Last Meal tradition for people on death row.

Then, we talk to writer Maurice Chammah who studies and examines capital punishment as a journalist for The Marshall Project and authored a book about the subject. We’ll also hear from listeners who have called in to share their thoughts about last meals.

Executive Producers: Cristina Gonzalez, Jackie Garofano, Adell Coleman

Senior Producer: Ryan Woodhall

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Queens, New York, also known as the Melting Pot of New York, is the most ethnically diverse urban area in the entire world. And thanks to its residents, Queens has become a borough filled with highly sought after international dining destinations enjoyed by both visitors and locals. The food not only serves as a bridge to help people from different backgrounds find common ground, but it also bridges gaps in political movements. 

In the first half of the show Cristina is joined by Mohamed Attia to discuss The Street Vendor Project and then we’ll talk to Queens native Tiffany Caban about why she’s running for City Council there. We’ll also hear from callers about why they think Queens is such a unique corner of the world.

Executive Producers: Cristina Gonzalez, Jackie Garofano, Adell Coleman

Senior Producer: Ryan Woodhall

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A push to legalize Marijuana on a federal level gives life to a new type of chef and a new type of food industry in Cannabis. But who has access to these types of enterprises? And how can we ensure that Black and brown folks who have been criminalized for their Marijuana use get to reap the rewards? In this episode Cristina is joined by Chef Andrea Drummer, cannabis advocate, author and owner of the Original Cannabis Cafe. Chef Drummer has abundant knowledge of the subject at hand, she also discusses using cannabis medicinally, as an opiate alternative for sciatica exacerbated by cooking. Next, Cristina talks with Food Columnist Jonah Reider who hosts the Pith Supper Club. They discuss cooking, hosting and his experience creating cannabis infused foods. We’ll also hear from listeners about their experiences with cannabis infused foods. 

Executive Producers: Cristina Gonzalez, Jackie Garofano, Adell Coleman

Senior Producer: Ryan Woodhall

https://www.dcpofficial.com/politics-of-food

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This week we’re headed down South to investigate the culinary and cultural traditions of Southern Cooking. From Native American peoples to slavery, many elements have contributed to the rich history in Southern cooking today, all interwoven in sociopolitical relationships. In the first half of the show Cristina talks with Soul Food Scholar, Adrian Miller about African heritage food, the differences between Soul Food and Southern Food and so much more. Later, Cristina talks with Natalie Keng, owner of Keng’s Chinese Southern Belle, about growing up as a Chinese American woman in the South, supporting diversity, and the movement to protect Asians and Asian Americans from hate crimes. We’ll also hear from listeners who tell us about their favorite Southern dishes.

Executive Producers: Cristina Gonzalez, Jackie Garofano, Adell Coleman

Senior Producer: Ryan Woodhall

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We’d like to warn our listeners that some of the material in this episode can be triggering, but though challenging, conversations about abuse in the restaurant industry need to happen so that change can take root. Restaurant workers are some of the most vulnerable people in the workforce, so how do we examine and destroy the culture of abuse when workers don’t feel safe reporting it? In the first half of the show Cristina talks with Eater.com Editor Monica Burton to discuss her experience writing about the movement. Then, Cristina talks to Trish Nelson who bravely shares her experience of abuse by her boss at New York City Eatery, Spotted Pig.

Executive Producers: Cristina Gonzalez, Jackie Garofano, Adell Coleman

Senior Producer: Ryan Woodhall

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They say food brings people together, but what happens when inequities that exist across the food industry, within restaurants, within the media and beyond are exposed? In this episode Cristina talks with Chef Kiano Moju about her experiences with racism in the workplace, why representation matters, and the true versatility of people of color in food media. Later she speaks with Chef Jenny Dorsey, about recognizing tokenization in the food media and much more.

Executive Producers: Cristina Gonzalez, Jackie Garofano, Adell Coleman

Senior Producer: Ryan Woodhall

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The wake of the Pandemic of 2020 hit the restaurant industry with full force. Struggling restaurant owners asked for a bailout, but a sluggish and insufficient response from our government left them to fend for themselves, some closed their businesses forever, others hung on through the storm. Workers faced high rates of unemployment, and sometimes even dealt with wage theft. In this episode Cristina speaks with acclaimed chef, author and owner of Red Rooster Harlem about the effects of COVID-19 on his business, his neighborhood, and his mission to see them both survive and thrive moving forward. We also talk with Cristina’s sister, Roxana Gonzalez Martinez, about her personal experience as a server during this time and how it's affected her family and their livelihood - she'll also offer advice to those in the same boat.

Executive Producers: Cristina Gonzalez, Jackie Garofano, Adell Coleman

Senior Producer: Ryan Woodhall

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While many of us were isolated during the pandemic we watched news reports about how some of our nation's farmers were forced to dump their products when customers like schools and restaurants no longer needed the supply. Leave it to amazing, problem solving women like this week's guests to forge new connections and make good things happen for folks in their communities. Up first, State Senator Jessica Ramos of Queens, NY, joins Cristina and tells us about the partnership she co-created with upstate farms to provide food and goods to her neighbors in need. Then, Cristina speaks with Julia Coffey, owner of MyCoterra Farm in Massachusetts, who transformed her business overnight into an online distribution system that saved her business and supported other farmers in her community.

The Farmlink Project

MyCoterra Farm

Executive Producers: Cristina Gonzalez, Jackie Garofano, Adell Coleman

Senior Producer: Ryan Woodhall

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Food scarcity was certainly a problem prior to COVID-19, but the pandemic laid bare our food systems and highlighted how ill-prepared our governments were to properly handle such a catastrophe. In this episode Cristina Gonzalez speaks with two women who are using their skills to repair those systems. Up first is Kathryn Garcia, Former Food Czar for NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, her team literally built a food distribution operation from scratch, and she tells us how we can all be better prepared for future emergencies. Later, Cristina speaks with Sandy Nurse, founder of May Day Space and BK Rot about the mutual aid groups she founded during the pandemic to serve communities left in the margins by our government.

Executive Producers: Cristina Gonzalez, Jackie Garofano, Adell Coleman

Senior Producer: Ryan Woodhall

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Join host Cristina Gonzalez, as she takes a deeper look into the way food impacts more than just our daily nutrition. Each week she is joined with insightful guests who discuss things you never knew about our food systems, and she gives a direct call to action on ways we all can do better!

Tune in starting Wednesday March 31st!

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An in depth look into the intentional politicization, economics and community impact of food on a global scale. Food impacts more than just our daily nutrition and can be a way to wage wars & control populations. Through conversations with experts and everyday people, we will learn the true impact of food.

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