#72: Food as Medicine with Corby Kummer

Original air date: May 2023.You don’t want to miss today’s episode--mainly because Wendy and Elizabeth reveal their reigning favorite salt! How’d we get there? Because Elizabeth shares how she guides her students through a mindful salt tasting--an exercise that embodies her research at the intersection of food and performance. A PhD candidate at UCLA in Theater and Performance Studies with a graduate certificate in Food Studies, Elizabeth discusses how she approaches food experiences and food justice through an artistic research lens. Visit our website to explore other episodes, suggest guests, provide feedback, or invite Wendy to be a guest on your podcast! Episode Resources + Mentions: Elizabeth’s Recent Newsroom article Sustainable LA Grand ChallengeDonna Haraway, Staying with the TroubleUCLA REC Teaching Kitchen Common Threads Non-Profit Black Panther Movement + Breakfast Program

Original air date: March 2023 Coffee, community, and connection are the ways that Joe and Celia Ward-Wallace advocate for their South Central LA community. As founders of the South LA Cafe and the South LA community nonprofit, this dynamic duo is paving the path toward food justice and community health. Learn how Celia, with her coaching and consulting background, and Joe, with his firefighting background, came together to create a place of gathering. Visit our website to explore other episodes, suggest guests, provide feedback, or invite Wendy to be a guest on your podcast!Podcast Resources:  South LA website 

Original air date: May 2022. Executive Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law and Policy and Professor at the UCLA School of Law, Michael Roberts, joins us to explain the complexities of governing food and why he always makes sure to check the labels before buying olive oil. Visit our website to explore other episodes, suggest guests, offer feedback, or invite Wendy to be a guest on your podcast! Episode Resources + Mentions: Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy 

Original air date: July 2023. Join us today for a lesson in environmental storytelling with Tamar Christensen. Everything about Tamar’s story is fascinating-- she is a writing instructor at UCLA, a Veteran, a composter, a chicken mom, and a zero-waste lifestyle icon. We hear about how she sold her car after a transformative trip to Europe, how she gave food nonprofit Nourish LA a home at UCLA, and how she structures her creative writing classes around navigating eco-anxiety and knowing one’s place in the climate crisis. Visit our website to explore other episodes, suggest guests, provide feedback, or invite Wendy to be a guest on your podcast! Episode Resources + Mentions: Nourish LA Daily Bruin Article Tamar Christensen Writing Programs 

Original air date: March 1st, 2023Why is controversy a good thing? What does it mean to have five eyes? Why is there no such thing as spectatorship? This is what we set out to uncover in Part 2 of our Special Series with Peter Sellars, world-renowned theater and opera director. Join us as we discuss imagining new and revolutionary solutions to issues and injustices by centering art and community care. Visit our website to explore other episodes, suggest guests, provide feedback, or invite Wendy to be a guest on your podcast! 

Original release date: February 16, 2023. Why were snakes at the original Olympics? How are the arts and sports intimately connected? How did the Greek tragedy come to be? We cover all of these questions in Part 1 of our Special 2 Part Interview  with Peter Sellars. Peter, with his gift of storytelling, takes us on a journey to the Olympics in ancient Greece, where health, theater, and the arts were of equal importance in this celebration of togetherness. Fast forward to today, we look at how arts and sports are both lifelong commitments to navigating struggle in thrilling, liberating, and uniting ways.Visit our website to explore other episodes, suggest guests, provide feedback, or invite Wendy to be a guest on your podcast! 

This is the story of how noticing the abundant produce on citrus trees turned into what is now a 15 year old nonprofit, Food Forward, that transports nearly 90 million pounds of food to communities in need. Join us today as Rick Nahmias, founder and CEO of Food Forward, tells us that story and gives us insider tips to starting your own nonprofit, growing a team, and building meaningful relationships that help bring food where it belongs. Visit our website to explore other episodes, suggest guests, offer feedback, or invite Wendy to be a guest on your podcast! Episode Resources + Mentions: Food Forward Food Forward is Recognized by the White House For Its Commitment to End Hunger 

If you’re even the slightest bit curious about community movement building, look no further. In today’s episode, Olivia Farr, nonprofit and environmental activist extraordinaire leading the Bedford 2030 campaign, tells us the why and how of meeting people where they’re at, and ultimately, creating ripple effects when it comes to making change in your community. Visit our website to explore other episodes, suggest guests, offer feedback, or invite Wendy to be a guest on your podcast! Episode Resources + Mentions: Hannah Richie’s “Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet”Bedford’s Recyclopedia Bedford 2030 

While so much has changed in the food world, much has stayed the same -- we are making bread the same way Egyptians did thousands of years ago, according to today’s guest, Bill Yosses. In this episode, Bill Yosses, former White House Pastry Chef, teaches us how cooking has transcended language, and how innovative chefs and food leaders across the globe are using simple, ancient practices -- like harvesting heirloom seeds, eating locally and culturally, and using every part of an ingredient -- to make food more nutrient-dense and delicious. If you liked this episode, you’d also like Episode #70 with Homa Dashtaki and Episode #53 with Joe and Celia Ward-Wallace. Visit our website to explore other episodes, suggest guests, offer feedback, or invite Wendy to be a guest on your podcast! Episode Resources + Mentions: Blue Hill Restaurant Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture Wish4Life Foundation Bill Yosses Books

This episode is abundant in resources for anyone and everyone interested in food equity, health, community activism, or journalism. Corby Kummer is more than a renowned journalist and food writer, he is a changemaker working to break down the barriers to nutrient-rich and culturally-appropriate food. He asks the sort of perspective-shifting questions, as a writer and as the Executive Director of the Food and Society Program and the Aspen Institute, that can reframe our understanding of food access and food justice and, as he says, can help shine light where it’s not been shined before. This episode really dives into the importance of building community trust between researchers and communities and most importantly, bringing different groups together with cross-sector knowledge to create meaningful change in the food equity world. If you liked this episode, you may also like Episode #61 about the Fresh Food Farmacy with Dr. Andrea Feinberg, or #68 Why Study Food? Visit our website to explore other episodes, suggest guests, offer feedback, or invite Wendy to be a guest on your podcast! Episode Resources + Mentions: Food Leaders at Aspen Institute (Applications through February 20, 2024) UCLA Teaching Kitchen Food as Medicine Research Action Plan Coalition of Immokalee Farm Workers  Foundations Mentioned: Marshall Project, Newmark Foundation, Knight Foundation Food Fix Food Politics Beyond Meat