Add Passion and Stir

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Real Help for Real People Oct 04, 2017

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When so many things feel out of our control in this world, how can we provide tangible help to people in need? Changemakers Michael Babin (Neighborhood Restaurant Group, Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture) and Meghan Ogilvie (Dog Tag, Inc., Dog Tag Bakery) are giving people skills and tools to find meaning and purpose. In this episode of Add Passion and Stir, Babin and Ogilvie describe what drives them to serve their communities and bring opportunities to deserving kids, adults and military service members. “The people who need good food the most are the ones least likely to ever have it show up on their plates,” says Babin. To address this need, his nonprofit Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture brings mobile farmers markets to low-income neighborhoods, runs farm camps for kids, and trains military veterans as farmers. His 16 Washington, DC restaurants also source their food from sustainable farms in the region.

Ogilvie’s Marine father once told her: “You’ll find your way to serve.” She found it in Dog Tag, Inc, a nonprofit with a fellowship program for military service members, spouses and caregivers that offers a Certificate in Business Administration from Georgetown University and real-life work experience in their bakery. “We are igniting the human spirit and finding purpose again,” she says of their graduates. Dog Tag Bakery also sources much of its supplies from veteran-run businesses in the DC area.

Don’t feel helpless – be empowered to help on-the-ground organizations like these provide real help for people in need in your community.

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The Real Looming Financial Crisis: Health Costs for Poor Kids Sep 27, 2017

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How are we helping our kids succeed against formidable odds? Change agents chef Alex Guarnaschelli (Chopped, Iron Chef) and nonprofit leader Howell Wechsler (Alliance for A Healthier Generation) share how they are working to end child hunger in this episode of Add Passion and Stir. “There isn’t any reason why a child should lose their right to become an adult,” says Guarnaschelli, who spends considerable time, energy and social capital working for causes like No Kid Hungry and City Harvest. “If we had more celebrity chefs doing this, we would have a tremendous impact,” says Wechsler.

The Alliance for a Healthier Generation is focused on ending the childhood obesity epidemic in America, which Wechsler calls a “disaster for our country.” With 1 in 3 kids obese or overweight, the health costs alone are staggering. “We’re going to bankrupt ourselves as a nation,” he says. The Alliance helps establish and enforce federal nutrition standards for school food, including a new tool on Amazon that enables schools to purchase food that meets these standards. Guarnaschelli raises money and awareness for causes that are meaningful for her. “I like this concept of working with organizations with ‘end’ in their mission statement,” she says. She leverages her celebrity for these causes. “I always say that being a chef is 93% social and 7% produce.”

Be inspired by how these guests are changing the world for our next generation.

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Poverty is the New Taboo Sep 20, 2017

Show notes

What does food have to do with politics? Baker Mark Furstenberg (Bread Furst, The Breadline) and writer and food critic Corby Kummer (The Atlantic, Aspen Institute Ideas Magazine) join fellow social justice champion host Billy Shore (Share Our Strength) to discuss food, politics and community in this episode of Add Passion and Stir. When Shore asks about the political climate and issues like immigration reform, Kummer expresses concern. “This is something that every restaurant owner and food supplier and somebody who cares about food has to take on for themselves. Personal responsibility is a lot more important than we want it to be, but - in the absence of government leadership – it has to be,” he says. Furstenburg is also worried. “It’s impossible to not be affected by the political climate,” he says. “The word ‘poor’ has disappeared from our political vocabulary… [but] food is the most basic concern of poor people.”

Furstenburg – who started baking after the age of 50 and went on to win the 2017 James Beard Award as the nation's Outstanding Baker– uses his bakeries to build community. His Bread Furst is in “the neighborhood in which my sister had built a monumentally important community feeling [around the iconic Politics and Prose bookstore]. My sister had done that so well with books, I really wanted to do it with bread,” he says. It is this community aspect that caused 5-time James Beard Award-winner Kummer to fall in love with food. “It’s the people [like Furstenburg] who build community at their own table. When I go to a new city, I look for the place that values community,” he shares.

Hear these dynamic food lovers’ opinions on politics, community and Yelp reviews.

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The Root Causes of Health Sep 13, 2017

Show notes

Why do we so often treat the symptoms of a problem and not the root cause? The gamechangers on this episode of Add Passion and Stir go straight to the cause. Barbara Petee, Executive Director of The Root Cause Coalition, and Lauren Shweder Biel, Executive Director of DC Greens, speak with Share Our Strength founder and CEO Billy Shore about solutions to deep-rooted social problems like hunger and poor health outcomes. Petee explains how the health care industry could be doing more to keep people healthy, which led to the creation of the Root Cause Coalition. “We need to engage the health care industry in addressing hunger as a health issue because the cost to health care is about $130.5 billion annually,” she says. “Should we not be investing more at the front end as opposed to paying at the back end?” Shweder Biel describes how DC Greens is doing that locally, working across sectors to discover systems-level solutions to food education, food access, and food policy. “Food is not a luxury,” she says.

The Root Cause Coalition – an Add Passion and Stir sponsor – works to address hunger and other interrelated social determinants of health. Petee is inspired by the progress so far. “[Our member organizations] are not organizations that are just thinking about delving into these areas, these are organizations that understand why they must and how they are working on solutions.” DC Greens is also looking at practical solutions. For example, Shweder Biel talks about their Fruit and Vegetable Prescription program where DC Greens also works to ensure that people living in low income neighborhoods have access to stores where they can fill those prescriptions. “The advances in root causes and embedding them into clinical settings is such an important first step, but there needs to be a solution that goes along with that,” she stresses.

Be inspired by these real life solutions that are changing people’s health and life outcomes.

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Save Them When They Are Young Sep 06, 2017

Show notes

What happens when we invest time and resources in young kids? How does it impact their futures and the future of our nation? Legendary restaurateur Danny Meyer (Union Square Hospitality Group, Shake Shack) and child psychologist Emily Chinitz (Center for Child Health & Resiliency, Children’s Hospital at Montefiore) have answers on the latest episode of Add Passion and Stir. “Ages 0-5 years is a critical time in development of young children,” says Chinitz, who treats children with a variety of issues like anxiety, depression, trauma, parent-child relationship and attachment issues, and adjustment difficulties related to loss or other family/social stressors. “A lot can be done if we either prevent difficult things from happening, or support children and families when kids are still really young.” Chinitz has seen the benefits of early interventions like therapy, help with food insecurity, and giving parents new skills. “You don’t have to be fully defined by your experience,” she says.

Share Our Strength Board member Meyer uses both his business acumen and his passion for social justice to support causes like the No Kid Hungry campaign because he knows that investing in kids when they are young offers the best return on investment. “I am combining my love for food with making the right investments at the right time for people when they need it the most,” he says. His commitment to social justice comes from experience. “I have tried to show that doing the right thing is actually more profitable. Doing the right thing actually leads to more customers. Doing the right thing leads to attracting better employees… I want to work with people who care about things over and beyond the thing that they’re being paid to do. I believe that is going to lead to a better business.” Meyer, his restaurants and chefs have earned an unprecedented 28 James Beard Awards, so he must be doing something right.

Listen and learn about the importance of early child development in creating healthy children.

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The Miraculous Healing Power of Good Food Aug 30, 2017

Show notes

What will it take to help our nation get healthy? Add Passion and Stir guests chef Seamus Mullen, (Tertulia in New York City) and Sam Kass (former Executive Director of Let’s Move! and Senior Policy Advisor for Nutrition Policy for the Obama White House) are passionate about nutritious, good food. Kass has experience setting the Obama family up for better food choices. “We eat what we see,” he says. “If we’re constantly having to fight ourselves and rely on willpower, we’re going to lose every time.” Mullen discovered the miraculous power of good food during his own health crisis. In the midst of very severe, life-threatening symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, he thought, “What are the factors that create an environment in which the body can be either healthy or ill?” He realized he could fight his illness. “I didn’t have to be a sick person… Food was a tool I had at my disposal.” He completely eliminated his disease by changing his diet.

Both guests talk with host Billy Shore about the broad impact of ensuring all Americans are able to make healthy food choices. Kass and the Obamas set an example for the entire country, beginning with the White House gardens and expanding nationwide through health programs and food policies. They began a conversation with the nation about what we are feeding our kids. “If we want to really change [healthy food options], we have to change our cultural values about what we eat. It’s not about health food, at all – it’s about good food and what we mean by that.” Mullen believes that all providers of food, including chefs, have a responsibility to the people they feed. “If we can just create health and wellness from the beginning,” he says. “If a tree has brown leaves, you don’t paint the leaves green. You look at the root system and the soil.”

Listen to these stories of massive change through better food, as well as which qualities make a good president.

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Purpose Beyond Profit: Social Justice is our Business Aug 23, 2017

Show notes

Which is more important, ‘what’ you do or ‘why’ you do it? The two trailblazing business leaders on this episode of Add Passion and Stir are driven by more than just the bottom line. Jeff Swartz, former CEO of Timberland, and James Beard Award-winning chef Tony Maws (Craigie on Main, Kirkland Tap and Trotter) prioritize social justice in their work. Speaking with Share Our Strength founder and CEO Billy Shore, Swartz and Maws express their passion for purpose beyond profit. “It took me 30 years to figure out that the question is not ‘what?,’ it’s ‘why does it matter,’” says Swartz. “It wasn’t altruistic – it was deeply needful. I wanted a purpose beyond making the quarter.” Under his leadership, Timberland supported nonprofits like Share Our Strength and City Year. Maws sets high standards for his work fighting child hunger with the No Kid Hungry campaign. “I wish I could do more. There are kids that are not being provided with food and the happiness that comes with it… to me it’s just revolting,” he states.

In this tumultuous and uncertain time in our country, Swartz, Maws and Shore also discuss how we can all cope. The election made Maws think differently. “I’m looking for my own bullet points: what are the things that I can do? How am I going to have an impact?,” he says. “It needs to be more than what I have been doing.” Swartz is also ready to act. “The election’s not over,” he says. “People [are] not asking the right question. They should be saying ‘Here’s what it is… now what are we going to do about it?’” He is certain that we all have to do our part. “Sitting on the sidelines and being an angry victim just doesn’t cut it.”

Listen to this motivating conversation about finding purpose and meaning in your life.

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Eating Our Way Out of the National Debt Aug 16, 2017

Show notes

Do you know the #1 cause of death in America? It is not what you think - our diet has surpassed smoking as a cause of death. Michel Nischan, chef and Founder, President and CEO of Wholesome Wave, and Lindsey Seegers, Program Manager of Nutrition Education at Manna Food Center in Montgomery County, MD know that food-related disease is both deadly and preventable. They join Share Our Strength founders Debbie and Billy Shore to explain some promising ways they are addressing the root causes of diet-related diseases. “We spend about $1.4 trillion a year on diet-related disease,” says Nischan. Yet the economic disparities of a disease like Type 2 Diabetes are stark. “I learned that the majority of the people that struggle with that condition lived at income levels so low they couldn’t even afford the basic ingredients to help them prevent the disease in the first place.” Seegers works with thousands of families in Montgomery County on nutritious eating. “Healthy eating is not just for the rich,” she stresses. “What parents want so much is to feed their children well – they want the best for their kids. The challenge is to be able to afford adequate and enough wholesome staple foods.”

Both guests believe that systemic changes are needed to impact health outcomes, and they are making real progress. Seegers’ work at Manna Food Center focuses on nutrition education – not just food distribution – to help families learn how to identify and afford healthy foods on a budget. They are also launching a retrofitted school bus that serves as a mobile kitchen and pop-up pantry. Wholesome Wave began a 2-for-1 program for buying fruits and vegetables with SNAP food stamps with private funding which grew into a federally-funded program in the Farm Bill called the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) Grant Program with $100M over 5 years. Nischan did not predict the success of the model. “However complicated the root causes are, something as simplistic as providing affordability thru incentives can be so powerful – it’s mindboggling.” FINI has also had larger economic impacts because farmers whose produce is purchased through the program are responding to this increased demand by making infrastructural improvements and expanding their enterprises.

These food justice leaders also discuss the recent threats to the SNAP food stamp program and the effect that cuts would have on families and the economy. “Food is where people are going to cut when things get really tight,” reports Seegers, which means that preventing diet-related disease will be even more difficult. “It’s just wrongheaded,” says Nischan. He cites the return on investment of giving people access to healthy food vs. paying for expensive health care treatments like dialysis. “$100 thousand dollars saves $4 million dollars.”

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It Changed My Life Forever: Profound Need Here and Abroad Aug 09, 2017

Show notes

What do you do when you witness profound need? Do you stand by and feel badly, or do you do something about it? Changemakers Jim Ansara, founder of Build Health International and hunger advocate and Boston chef Michael Scelfo (Alden & Harlow, Waypoint) are driven by the need to make a difference. On this episode of Add Passion and Stir, Ansara, Scelfo and podcast host Share Our Strength founder and CEO Billy Shore discuss the stubbornness and resilience it takes to do something about a big social problem. When he first witnessed the extreme poverty and deep injustice in Haiti even before the devastating earthquake of 2010, “At first I was totally overwhelmed,” he says. “And then I was determined to do something about it.” He worked for years after the earthquake to build the largest solar-powered hospital in the work to serve the profound need in Haiti. Scelfo similarly acted to address the need in communities close to his restaurants working with the No Kid Hungry campaign. “Our work is really powerful on the level that we can do it,” he says. He feels he is just getting started in his hunger advocacy work. “I know we have a long way to go, but I just have to keep going – that’s all I can do.”

Ansara, Scelfo and Shore compare the situation in Haiti with that here in America. Ansara points out that Haiti’s problems have deep roots that go back hundreds of years. “The US and other countries have not been kind to Haiti,” he reports. “Is it unfixable?,” asks Shore. “Should we be hopeful, or cynical, or both?” Ansara replies, “If you’re going to work in Haiti, you have to have a 20 to 50 year time horizon. There are no immediate, short-term turnarounds or gains.” However, the situation is very different here at home. “Childhood hunger [in America] is solvable… We have the resources to feed our children,” stresses Ansara. “It’s morally wrong that we as a society don’t focus on this.” Scelfo is determined to be a better advocate and make his voice heard.

Listen to be inspired how these leaders tenaciously work to solve these big social problems here and abroad.

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IF NOT US, THEN WHO? THE WAY TO END CHILDHOOD HUNGER IN AMERICA Aug 02, 2017

Show notes

What would happen if an entire industry banded together to solve a problem? According to the two leaders on this episode of Add Passion and Stir, the industry would completely solve that problem. John Miller, CEO of Denny’s and Amanda Hite, Co-founder and CEO of Be The Change Revolutions think that the restaurant industry can end child hunger in America. Hite describes the industry as “massive, powerful and influential.” “We’re the industry that feeds people for a living,” says Miller. “Shouldn’t we be involved in being the solution to ending child hunger in America. If not us, then who?” Podcast hosts Share Our Strength founders Billy and Debbie Shore agree. “We can’t wait for the tipping point; we have to force it,” Debbie believes.

Both guests are heavily involved with Dine Out for No Kid Hungry, a restaurant-led campaign that raises funds for No Kid Hungry’s work on getting more kids access to school breakfasts, school lunches and summer meals. Denny’s has been a participant for many years, raising over $4M for hungry kids. “The infrastructure of Dine Out makes it easy,” says Miller. “You see the need, you see the kids, you see the difference you’re making.” Hite, who created a social media company because she was impressed by the internet’s ability to bring communities together and ignite for change, sees the power of all the participating restaurants’ networks and fan bases coming together. “You’ll see 200M social media impressions on Dine Out,” she reports. “The Dine Out map broke!”

When Billy Shore asks Miller and Hite about the role of partisan politics in fighting child hunger, they are adamant that politics should play no role. Miller believes we can make the case with “stubborn facts” to get people with different political believes working side by side. “These are our children, the next generation of children. They are struggling. They need their voices heard. And they don’t have a chance unless [we] feed them…,” he says. “Those are the facts, so we just have to come together and solve it.”

Listen to see how the restaurant industry and others can make kids’ voices heard.

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