Add Passion and Stir

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JJ Johnson on Support for Black-Owned Businesses Sep 30, 2020

Show notes

Why is it so important to support black-owned businesses, particularly right now? FieldTrip chef and owner JJ Johnson talks to Billy Shore about being a black business owner and what drives him to succeed. “Don’t say you care about black lives if you can’t walk into a black-owned business and look on the shelves and give it the same amount of money that you give a white-owned business,” says Johnson. There continue to be systemic barriers, as well. “When I was applying for my PPP money, I got declined three times. There are a lot of black-owned businesses that just weren’t able to get PPP money to stay alive,” Johnson explains about the Payment Protection Program within the CARES Act that has provided support for small businesses during the pandemic.

“I hire from the community. It gave this sense of hope that every time the lights would come on at Fieldtrip, it meant that someone could have a job, that we’re coming back and it’s going to be ok,” recounts Johnson about staying open throughout the pandemic by preparing food bowls for frontline hospital workers. “If we can make it in Harlem, we can make it anywhere in the world because the Harlem community will uplift you,” he says.

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Rick Bayless and the Fight to Save Independent Restaurants Sep 23, 2020

Show notes

What will happen to our neighborhoods if independent restaurants do not survive the pandemic? Chicago’s award-winning chef and Mexico: One Plate at a Time host Rick Bayless joins Debbie and Billy Shore to talk about the struggle to survive for independent restaurants. “If we don’t get some assistance, I’m afraid we’re going to see our neighborhoods just devastated. They are going to lose their character. Restaurants are a major part of our culture,” explains Bayless about the urgent need for restaurant stabilization legislation. “Independent restaurants have never had any representation in Washington and yet we are the second largest employer in the United States. 11 million people that work in restaurants in the United States.”

Bayless was is well-known for his support of underserved communities in Chicago. “My eyes have been opened… around Black Lives Matter and the inequities in our own community. We have been talking to a lot of chefs around Chicago about how we can promote enterprises that support the restaurant industry that are black-owned.” He was also one of the first chefs to support Share Our Strength 35 years ago. “I’ve always lived by the motto that I want to make this place better than when we arrived here, and [Share Our Strength and the No Kid Hungry Campaign] gave us all the tools that we needed to do that,” Bayless says.

Join us for this energizing conversation about the current and future states of the restaurant industry with a chef who continues to do the important work in his community.

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Rescuing Kids and Cooks from the Devastation of Coronavirus with Andrew Zimmern and Jennifer LeBarre Sep 16, 2020

Show notes

How are kids getting enough nutrition with all the constraints on schools during this pandemic? What about the restaurant industry? In this poignant episode taped early after COVID-19 struck the US, with an updated introduction from host Billy Shore, celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern and Executive Director of Student Nutrition Services for the San Francisco Unified School District Jennifer Lebarre discuss the challenges for families and workers and the importance of a federal response. “This is nothing short of apocalyptic,” says Zimmern. “We are incredibly reliant on the federal government right now, at a point in time where many of us have felt a lack of leadership and a lack of empathy for the last couple years.” Lebarre explains how school meals are an essential service for over half of San Francisco public school students. “It is a day-to-day struggle,” she relays. “As this crisis continues, more and more families are going to have to rely on the national school lunch program.”

Listen to learn how two passionate advocates for kids and restaurant workers are helping during the crisis.

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SODEXO: Making Diversity, Equity and Inclusion a Priority Sep 09, 2020

Show notes

What responsibilities do corporations have in the communities where they work? Host Billy Shore welcomes two guests from Sodexo, Inc.: Chief Diversity and Sustainability Officer for the Americas Gerri Mason Hall, and Director of Culinary Delivery Desmond Fannin to discuss diversity, equity and inclusion within their company and society at large as well as the impact COVID-19 has had on their work. Sodexo is a No Kid Hungry partner and Add Passion and Stir sponsor. “What organizations have to do is recognize talent, recognize those underrepresented, and create opportunities... Part of my job is to recognize that talent, often overlooked because of unconscious biases,” explains Mason Hall. “You know [the discrimination] is there, and you… have a responsibility to push through because other people will need to navigate those waters as well,” observes Fannin.

When schools were forced to close earlier this year, Sodexo ramped up their anti-hunger efforts. “In this pandemic when schools shut down, we continued to serve because we know how critical it is for children to have access to food. We had to think differently and still support the community,” says Mason Hall. “We’ll get through this pandemic, but what’s the next thing? We’re trying to partner with school districts on is how can we connect the dots to a school as a hub,” she adds.

Join us for this insightful conversation about social responsibility with two innovative leaders from a leading anti-hunger champion.

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A Vaccination Against Chaos and Starvation Sep 02, 2020

Show notes

Why should Americans care about hunger around the world? World Food Program USA President and CEO Barron Segar and food and lifestyle personality Sandra Lee join Debbie and Billy Shore to talk about the importance of combatting hunger around the world. “Food is a basic vaccination against chaos. When you don’t have food, you have increased unrest and conflict. Maybe we don’t have a vaccination against COVID, but we certainly have a vaccination against starvation,” observes Lee. Segar agrees, based on his work in Ethiopia on the South Sudanese border. “I saw so many kids and moms and grandmothers that were fleeing violence to stay alive. I saw how they walked for days and weeks… I saw how food literally brought a child and a mom back to life,” he says. “I will never forget these kids and moms looking me in the eye and just so appreciative of what [we] were doing to keep them alive.”

“I was raised on welfare and food stamps. It’s important to remember where you come from, and when you come from a place like that, I think you need to give back,” says Lee about her long-time focus on fighting hunger. “Everybody listening to this show has a voice, but not everybody in the world has a voice. So be the voice for those that are not being heard,” urges Segar.

Join us for this enlightening conversation about the worsening hunger crisis around the world and how we can solve it.

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Hunger is the Symptom; Poverty is the Disease Aug 26, 2020

Show notes

How do we meet the increased need COVID-19 is causing in our country? San Antonio Food Bank President and CEO Eric Cooper and Hotel Emma chef and culinary director John Brand talk to Debbie and Billy Shore about the effects the COVID-19 pandemic has had on their city. Billy Shore asks Cooper about the now iconic image of a massive line of cars outside the San Antonio Food Bank in April. “I saw the line and I just panicked. I thought we were going to run out of food,” says Cooper. However, they were able to meet the need that day. “I waited for the last car to be served. I went to apologize… but I was greeted with this resiliency and gratitude that was amazing,” he shares.

“The biggest thing we’ve all learned is compassion - compassion for each other,” observes Brand, who used his restaurant to feed first-responders during the first months of the pandemic. “Where a lot of the world has retreated, we are able to connect on a deeper level with food,” he explains. The guests discuss the larger problem of hunger in America. “We never believed that we were going to solve hunger with a canned good. Hunger is a symptom of poverty and people in poverty have lots of barriers. It can’t be fish or teaching how to fish, it has to be both,” says Cooper.

Listen to this important conversation with two San Antonio anti-hunger crusaders bearing witness to the toll the COVID-19 pandemic has had on their community.

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Daniel Humm on What’s Better Than Being #1 Aug 12, 2020

Show notes

What truly gives you meaning and purpose? Eleven Madison Park (NYC) Chef and Owner Daniel Humm joins Billy Shore to discuss how the pandemic has given him new purpose . “If we want to continue the way we’ve done things, I believe 5 years from now, 10 years or maybe already next year, it will be irrelevant and empty,” he says. Humm has transformed Eleven Madison Park into a pandemic food provider of 5,000 meals a day in partnership with Rethink Food NYC, which creates delicious, nutritious meals from restaurant food waste. “The recipe I want to really share with the world is the recipe of doing what we’re doing, but also feeding the people in need, under one roof,” he says. “When every restaurant was shut down and I saw that people wouldn’t get food… I realized I had a kitchen and connection to all the farmers and to Rethink. It felt like a very obvious thing to do.”

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Beware the Citizen Eater Who Votes With Her Fork Aug 05, 2020

Show notes

How do we fix our broken food system? Food Tank co-founder and president Danielle Nierenberg joins Billy Shore to discuss the connections between food, nutrition, the environment and democracy. “People are thinking about food and agriculture as something more political… this citizen eater who votes not only with her fork, but votes for the kind of food system that she wants,” explains Nierenberg. “We have a broken democracy right now. It’s not just the change we want to see, it’s the change we need to make this democracy a working one again,” she says.

Nierenberg observes that the current pandemic has exposed the problems in our current food system. “Our modern food system has always been fragile and now with COVID we’re seeing all of these cracks and things that don’t work,” she says. “This is not going to be the last disruption that we see in the food and agriculture system worldwide… We have a lot to get into place so that we can withstand those disruptions,” she warns.

Join us for this critical conversation about using the food and agricultural community as a force for political change.

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Immigration Reform: Reaching the Exhausted Majority Jul 29, 2020

Show notes

How do we create allies instead of adversaries? In a powerful episode taped right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, National Immigration Forum Executive Director Ali Noorani, Amparo Fondita executive chef Christian Irabien, and No Kid Hungry Manager of Federal Advocacy Meredith Jorss joined host Billy Shore for an in-depth discussion about immigration and how to counter its polarizing effect on American culture. “Most Americans, especially conservative and moderate Americans, don’t see [immigration] as a matter of politics and policy, they see it as a discussion around culture and values,” explains Noorani. “Ultimately, we’re advocating for fair and just immigration policies that balance the idea that this country can be a nation of laws and a nation of grace,” he says.

“One of the main ideas behind me trying to open a restaurant is figuring out ways we can effect positive change in local Latin American communities, which make up 80% of back of the house operations,” says chef Irabien, who immigrated to the US from Mexico as a child and volunteers with organizations that empower Latin American immigrant communities. Jorss organizes Lobby Day for No Kid Hungry, where chefs travel to Capitol Hill to advocate on issues such as immigration. “Chefs are employers and care deeply about their communities, so they are really important voices with legislators and can speak authentically to the issue,” she explains.

Join us for an insightful conversation that offers hope for overcoming the polarizing rhetoric surrounding immigration and immigrant communities.

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When Selling Cereal Is Not Enough: A Corporate Response to Hunger During The Pandemic Jul 22, 2020

Show notes

How can big consumer brands help make the world a better place? Brown Sugar Kitchen Executive Chef Tanya Holland and Kellogg Ready to Eat Cereal General Manager Doug VanDeVelde share their insights on food insecurity, giving back to the community and the effects of COVID-19. “When the COVID pandemic first started, there was a certain sense of obligation in our company to help secure the food supply… There was a feeling that we had an obligation to help feed the nation,” recounts VanDeVelde. “I’m making an effort to thank everyone who comes in and supports us because it’s a choice they make and a risk they take. Probably 7 times out of 10, they respond, ‘Thank you for what you do for the community,’” says Holland.

“As I started to go through my career at Kellogg’s, it became more and more clear to me that brands need to have a purpose and need to be able to do good in the world,” says VanDeVelde, who recently helped No Kid Hungry raise $700K. “This country has so much bounty, it’s just shameful if we can’t do the basics of seeing that children are fed,” says Holland about her work as a No Kid Hungry ambassador. “What a difference it makes in the performance and attendance of the kids.”

Listen to these important voices of two people who continue to impact their communities.

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