Food Without Borders

In episode 12 of At The Table, Sari speaks with Tunde Wey, the Nigerian-born and New Orleans-based artist, writer, and cook.

In this conversation, Tunde goes into greater depth about his now infamous essay "Don't Bail Out the Restaurant Industry" first published on Instagram. In the midst of COVID-19, Tunde argues that by bailing out restaurants we are "asking the government to subsidize the unequal status, or even expand it."

Using 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina as past examples of America's failure to interrogate its capitalist systems of wealth and power, he explains the differences of revolution versus evolution in the context of why he sees the window of change for the restaurant industry as already being closed.

Watch the video interview here: https://www.mofad.org/episode-12

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In episode 11 of At The Table, Sari speaks to Carina Kaufman-Guttierez, Deputy Director of the Street Vendor Project. Street Vendor Project works with approximately 2,000 people who sell food and merchandise on the streets of New York City.

About 90% of their vendors are low-wage immigrant workers, often undocumented, who rely on busy streets to feed and support themselves and their families. With little access to grants and government benefits, the pandemic has left many of these vendors with nowhere to turn.

Carina explains how the Street Vendor Project is providing support to these front line workers at a practical and policy level, from protecting vendors from police harassment to creating access to small business grants. She explains how we can best support this extremely vulnerable population, especially through the Street Vendor Covid-19 Emergency Fund, created to provide relief payments directly to as many individual vendors as possible.

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In episode 10 of At The Table, Sari speaks with Elizabeth Peralta, Executive Director of the National Supermarket Association. Representing over 800 independent stores, 99% of which are Latino-owned, Peralta explains how the NSA and their members are coping during the current pandemic while on the frontlines of serving their communities.

Peralta sees the NSA as the embodiment of ‘"the immigrant American dream," where their members have made it their mission to give back to their communities. She breaks down how supermarkets are surviving in a time of overshopping, fluctuating prices, and increased robberies while balancing the difficult decision to either go to work or see their families. Peralta explains how the NSA has built unique partnerships with companies such as Lyft, Bronx Mutual Aid, and Goya Foods, with the goal of making sure that food safely reaches the most vulnerable in our society.

Most importantly, Peralta outlines best practices for how we as shoppers can take care of each other and the supermarket workers and operators that are doing their best to ensure there is food on the shelves of their stores in these challenging times.

Watch the video version here: https://www.mofad.org/episode-10

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In Episode 9 of At The Table, Sari talks to Deepti Sharma, an entrepreneur, mother, and champion of small business owners. Deepti is the founder of FoodtoEat, a company connecting women, immigrant, and minority-owned food vendors to business opportunities. She also co-founded Bikky, a platform solving customer engagement for restaurants and, in the wake of the pandemic, she's built Eat Bikky, a delivery platform that unlike the major third-party delivery apps, allows customers to order directly from restaurants without taking any fees.

In this conversation, Deepti explains how it has sadly taken a global pandemic to expose inequalities in the food industry and the importance of ‘humanizing’ the experience of food. She also dives into how she had adapted her endeavors to serve local communities and support the businesses she works with, from fundraising to feeding essential workers in hospitals.

Watch the video version here: https://www.mofad.org/episode-9

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In episode 3 of At the Table, Public Programs Manager speaks with Eric Rivera, chef of Addo in Seattle. Chef Rivera explains how he was able to seamlessly convert his restaurant into a take-out-only operation during COVID-19 and expand service by utilizing digital platforms and strategies he already had in place.
Watch the online video interview at https://www.mofad.org/episode-3

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