Add Passion And Stir

How do we dismantle systemic obstacles to equality in our education systems? Former Education Trust President and CEO and former US Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. shares his journey in education and his belief that equity in education is core to equity in society: “The education system is inequitable at every level and gives the least to the kids who need the most. If our education system was more equitable, we would have a more equitable society,” states King. “[The recently-passed Child Tax Credit] gives me hope that maybe we’re coming to a place of greater public understanding of the role the government has to play in ensuring equality of opportunity."See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Can you build a successful and fun brand around serious social justice topics? Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream discuss feeding hungry kids, police reform and how businesses can make a difference on social issues. “Passing legislation that is going to reduce child poverty in the US by 40% is huge – it’s pretty much the best news I’ve heard in quite a long time,” says Greenfield about the American Rescue Plan, the latest COVID relief package that includes critical provisions that will help fight the hunger crisis. Ben & Jerry’s is also focused on police reform through the Campaign to End Qualified Immunity. “What we need to seize about this moment is the issue of racial justice… The reality is if we are not able to pivot from protest to policy right now, all those protests were for nothing,” Cohen believes. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When is philanthropic giving the most meaningful? Bestselling author John Grisham and Share Our Strength Board member Renee Grisham discuss their partnership, philanthropy and why they have made child hunger and police reform their central philanthropic causes. “There is plenty of food in this country… but the framework isn’t always there to get the food on the table for these hungry kids. You have convinced us that this is one problem that can be solved in this country,” John says. “It takes all of us...We all want to feed children, and I see that as a huge bridge builder in a time when we need it,” agrees Renee.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What will it take for Americans to trust each other again? Long-time New York Times columnist Frank Bruni talks about his days as a restaurant critic, his goals as an op-ed columnist and the current state of civic discourse in America. “Based on which [cable news channel] you’ve gone to, you can have an understanding of events and reality that is almost diametrically opposed to somebody else’s. That makes it so much more challenging to find common ground,” observes Bruni. “I always try to return to a plea for civility, decency and understanding,” he concludes.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How can we make the culinary industry more inclusive and accessible? How can we work together to overcome gender and racial discrimination in the industry? These questions are important to best-selling cookbook author and food writer Julia Turshen. In this episode, Turshen shares her approach to cookbook writing and how she achieves her accessible style, including Simply Julia released in March 2020. She also shares the origins of her on-going initiative Equity at the Table, a digital directory that supports women of color, LGBTQ and gender non-conforming people in the food industry. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Will women ever be proportionately represented in Congress? Political journalist, novelist and cookbook author Jennifer Steinhauer discusses her book The Firsts: The Inside Story of the Women Reshaping Congress which examines the remarkable group of women elected to the 116th Congress in 2018. This insightful, hopeful conversation about women's political power with one of America's most astute political journalist is an exploration of the ongoing impact of the most racially, ethnically, socially, and professionally diverse class of female lawmakers. As Steinhauer notes, “If women continue to look in the mirror and see themselves as lawmakers, the way men have for generations, women have an endless ceiling.” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

“How can I help? That was the question I kept asking myself,” says former teen idol and acclaimed television writer and producer Shaun Cassidy. Cassidy shares how he is helping during COVID-19 by supporting No Kid Hungry and the Santa Ynez community through his wine label, My First Crush. “COVID came along and I saw a lot of our friends… farmers, growers and winemakers suddenly really hurting. Then I saw our schools close. I saw our restaurants close and I knew a lot of people were going to be in trouble,” explains Cassidy. “I thought, here’s an opportunity to not only help the folks I live with, but to help all of these kids.”See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How are so many of our most important issues tied to what we eat? What is the relationship between food and issues like climate change? James Beard Award-winning food writer Mark Bittman talks about food, climate change, social justice and his new book, Animal, Vegetable, Junk. “You can’t fix any justice issues, environmental issues, nutritional issues without fixing food. Food is at the center of just about everything,” claims Bittman. “It’s not going to happen from the top down. The push has to come from lots and lots of ordinary people. That push needs to be focused on food, but it also needs to focus on racial justice and gender equality and so on down the line.” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What’s the key to building a purpose-driven career? Author, business school professor and social change pioneer Bill Novelli discusses doing well by doing good and his new book, Good Business: The Talk, Fight, Win Way to Change the World. “Tomorrow’s leaders are in our classrooms today… They want a purpose as well as a paycheck,” says Novelli. “Wherever you are in your career, whatever organization you’re part of, you can make a positive, social difference. The way I like to say it is, you can make a dent in the universe,” he adds. “We are in a tough time. We are a nation divided. We need to find the pragmatic center."See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How will restaurants survive the economic collapse caused by the COVID-19 pandemic? Award-winning Washington DC chef Kwame Onwuachi (formerly of Kith/Kin) talks about how COVID 19 has exposed the vulnerabilities of the restaurant industry and the fundamental changes needed for independent restaurants to survive. “I would hope we don’t just go back to the same normal, that we create a new normal that really makes sure that we’re taking care of our staff and our community as well as the bottom line,” says Onwauchi. In his memoir Notes from a Young Black Chef, Onwuachi confronts issues of race and diversity in the culinary world. “Investors and owners have constantly pushed me to do what they think is right, instead of what was authentic to me,” he wrote in The Washington Post. “I try to speak my mind and speak truthfully." Billy Shore also shares updates on President Biden's new hunger plan.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-

How has the role of the media changed over the last four years? CNN anchor and chief Washington correspondent Jake Tapper discusses journalism, politics and his work in support of causes like No Kid Hungry and military veterans. “We’re in a war over facts. Right now, two of the biggest stories are about that - people who deny COVID and the seriousness of it and people who deny the election results. In both cases, the leading purveyor of disinformation is the President,” Tapper says. “There is the potential for journalism to be better. There is the capacity for people whose eyes have been opened during the Trump administration to stay engaged and stay outraged,” he believes. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In an excerpt from Conversations on Food Justice, a collaboration between Share Our Strength and the Aspen Institute’s Food and Society Program, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (ME-1) moderates the discussion with former Obama Administration Secretary of Education Dr. John B. King Jr. and former Congresswoman Donna Edwards (MD-4) on systemic racism in food policy. “Systemic racism operates to create structural barriers… This is the system that we created over 400 years. If we want something different we have to actively work to dismantle those systems,” explains King. “The system suggests that there’s something wrong with trying to figure out how to feed yourself and your family, that there is something negative about doing all that you can to access food,” notes Edwards. “We could center healthy eating and nutrition in our public policy. We choose not to,” says King. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Why is it so important to restore Native American autonomy? Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nicholas Kristof and Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health Director Allison Barlow talk about poverty, education and the struggle for social justice in Native American communities. “The Bureau of Indian Education schools only have a 53% high school graduation rate! We are failing them way before they fail us,” suggests Kristof. “We as a country have had this narrative that when people struggle, it’s because of a lack of personal responsibility and bad choices... It’s because we as a society are making bad choices about healthcare, education and jobs."See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How can science inspire better cooking? James Beard award-winning food writer J. Kenji López-Alt explains what drew him to explore the science behind cooking, find his voice as a writer and write two New York Times bestselling books. “Some people think cooking with science is the opposite of cooking with soul. I think it’s the opposite. The more you understand the science and technique behind it, the better your ability to get out what’s inside you,” he suggests. “No matter what you’re writing about, whether it’s a restaurant review or a culture piece or a recipe piece, it has to be a story first.”See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How do each of us measure success? Bigger Bolder Baking chef and host Gemma Stafford talks about hosting an online Bake-A-Thon for No Kid Hungry and how her views on success have changed during the pandemic. “We’ve been very fortunate with Bigger Bolder Baking and we wanted to give back… It was really important for me to be a part of something that is going to make such a big difference,” she says. “We set out to create a baking brand and we’ve created a community. This is exactly what we would have hoped to do."See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In an excerpt from Conversations on Food Justice, a collaboration between Share Our Strength and the Aspen Institute’s Food and Society Program, human rights activist, poet, educator, Black Panther leader and former political prisoner Ericka Huggins and FoodLab Detroit Executive Director Devita Davison share their thoughts on the history of the food justice movement and the systemic inequalities that stand between a hungry child and healthy meal. “There is a Somalian proverb that says, ‘poverty is slavery,’” says Huggins. “These inequities are in every institution of society because it was set up intentionally.” Davison recalls the collective memory of her family who endured the Greenwood Food Blockade. “We cannot free ourselves until we feed ourselves,” she says. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How do you get kids from juvenile detention on track for success? Chef and Café Momentum Executive Director Chad Houser talks about building a new model for juvenile justice that develops career and life skills to overcome recidivism and reincarceration. “The juvenile justice industry calls them ‘throw-away’ youth. We need to be pushing as hard as we can to change that narrative and eradicate that stereotype,” says Houser. He created Café Momentum, a full-service Dallas restaurant that provides year-long internships for young people coming out of juvenile detention. “For the first time in their lives, they’re getting to learn positive things about themselves,” he explains. "The young men and women in our program can and will rise to whatever level of expectation is set for them, as long as we’re giving them the tools and resources and opportunity to do so.". See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How do you raise $1M to feed hungry kids? Celebrity trainer, choreographer and Broadway dancer Isaac Calpito explains how he amplified support for childhood hunger during the pandemic by developing a daily workout on Instagram TV and encouraging his followers to donate to No Kid Hungry. “So many wonderful things are happening because people are showing up, not only for their bodies and their minds, but with this beautiful connection that we have for giving,” he explains. “There’s something so intrinsically basic about a child eating. It’s deeply important to me and clearly deeply important to my followers."See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How do we overcome our country’s systemic racism? Bakers Against Racism co-founder and Washington DC executive pastry chef Paola Velez (Maydān, Compass Rose) joins Billy Shore and Share Our Strength Chief Communications and Marketing Officer Pamela Taylor to talk about finding the courage to speak out against racism and other forms of injustice. “We didn’t think this was going to go viral. We launched on Thursday night around 7pm and by 10pm we had 200 participants around the world ready to bake… We were able to raise almost $2M in less than 2 weeks,” recounts Velez. “Whenever I think about race relations in America, I think it boils down to one common thread. We need to love harder than we’ve ever loved before. We need to truly transform our nation with the action of caring for others as if they were ourselves,” she says. At the beginning of the pandemic, Velez was furloughed and forced to file for unemployment benefits. “I was scared and I was broken. I realized that if I’m feeling this way and I have

How do we create an antidote to the politics of division? UnidosUS Deputy Vice President Clarissa Martinez-de-Castro joins Billy Shore to discuss immigration policies, Latino civic engagement and turning out the vote. “If you look at surveys and opinion research for the last ten years, the majority of the American people actually want to see a functional immigration system. There is a vocal and very loud minority that has hijacked the ability to make progress on this issue and made legislators scared to take action,” explains Martinez. “We sometimes see politicians using the politics of division… using the issue of immigration to stir up anxiety about the demographic change in our country and to stir up antagonism against immigrants,” she says. Martinez thinks that both parties are missing a huge opportunity with Latino voters. “I’m sad to say that over the last ten years, one of the parties has either ignored Latinos or actually antagonized them. Given that, the other party tends to take Latino voters f