Add Passion and Stir

In this very special episode, we re-visit our conversation with award-winning Chez Panisse chef and cookbook author Alice Waters who discusses the value of real, regenerative food for our children and our society as a whole. “Once you love nature, you can't make the wrong decision about anything. You don't want to do things that are really destroying the planet. You want to take care of her. Until we feel that way, we will never be able to make the right decisions,” she says. Waters founded Edible Schoolyard, an experiential learning program at a Berkeley middle school that deepens students’ relationship with food, gardening and cooking skills, and capacity for critical examination of the food system, more than 25 years ago. “The kitchen classroom became a place to teach world history. It's a way to reach a person through all their senses and those are pathways into our minds,” states Waters. “We decided to put our money behind our values to educate the next generation to change the world. I so believe that education is the deep place where we can make systemic change.” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

ASPCA’s Matt Bershadker and VOW for Girls’ Clay Dunn made an impact at Share Our Strength, and now they are making impacts for animals and girls worldwide. “If you're going to create big change, you need to take big swings. My time at Share Our Strength taught me to take big swings, and it taught me to feel the work deeply,” says Bershadker. He started at ASPCA in 2001 and has been President and CEO since 2013. Dunn chose an international cause, becoming the first CEO of VOW for Girls in 2019. “Across communities it is just the unfortunate truth that girls' lives and choices are valued less than boys' lives and choices. I think that's underpinning this issue globally in every community,” he says. Listen to hear how they took lessons from fighting child hunger to these critical missions. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Originally recorded in December 2020, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Nicholas Kristof and Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health Co-Director Allison Barlow discuss 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. “One of the greatest prides for parents on a Native reservation is to celebrate their child’s high school graduation. If children there aren’t graduating from high school, it’s because of generations of trauma on top of a really ineffective education system,” Barlow says. “We as a country have had this narrative that when people struggle, it’s because of a lack of personal responsibility and bad choices. When a child born in a certain county has a life expectancy shorter than that of Cambodia, that’s not because that infant is making a bad choice. It’s because we as a society are making bad choices about healthcare, education and jobs,” adds Kristof. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Albertsons Companies Foundation President and Executive Director Christy Duncan Anderson talks with Billy Shore and Lillian Singh about what the grocery chain’s foundation is doing to fight hunger in neighborhoods across the country. “We asked our neighbors and our customers what change they would like to see in their neighborhoods. The data came back and it was really astounding: people cared about a whole bunch of different issues, but hunger rose above all of them,” says Duncan Anderson. The Nourishing Neighbors initiative is a partnership between the foundation, Share Our Strength, and local food banks, soup kitchens, and community organizations to help get food to at-risk children, adults, seniors, and families. “[We need to] move the understanding of the issue of food insecurity beyond the feeling that, ‘I've put a can in a bin, and so therefore I've solved hunger.’ Food today is not necessarily a solution for tomorrow.” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Social Security Administration Commissioner Martin O’Malley talks with Billy and Debbie Shore about how Social Security is lifting kids out of poverty, and what more it could be doing. “Social Security is the difference between almost a million kids living above the poverty line or below it,” he says. During this conversation, O’Malley and Share Our Strength commit to a renewed partnership to help reach eligible children who are not currently enrolled in Social Security benefits. O’Malley also debunks some common myths about the program. “The other big myth is that Social security is going bankrupt. Totally false. Social Security cannot go bankrupt because Social Security is a pay as you go program, which means that so long as Americans work, Social Security pays benefits.” Listen and be inspired. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this very special encore episode of Add Passion and Stir, interior designer and philanthropist Charlotte Moss and Darren Walker, the former president of the Ford Foundation and the newly announced president of the National Gallery of Art, discuss the importance of ending child hunger. Moss selected No Kid Hungry to be the beneficiary of her book, Home: A Celebration . Home is an ode to Edith Wharton’s The Book of the Homeless, which was a 1916 fundraiser to help refugees and children during WWI. Home features 120 artists, poets, chefs, designers, photographers, and writers offering personal reflections on the essence of home. Contributors include Drew Barrymore, Candice Bergen, Tory Burch, Seth Godin, Renee and John Grisham, Bianca Jagger, Annie Leibovitz, Jon Meacham, Bette Midler, Joyce Carol Oates, Al Roker, Gloria Steinem, Darren Walker, and Fanny and Alice Waters. “This is really philanthropy at its best, when people come together for a single cause and give of themselves - in essence sharing their strength - is what you're all about and what this book is all about,” says Moss. Walker was compelled to write the book’s foreword. “It was a moment when we were all experiencing deep anguish in this country over the impacts of COVID which we immediately recognized as compounding the already deep inequality we have in this country… Charlotte used her privilege to raise awareness and consciousness of the conditions of poverty, particularly child poverty, which is the most difficult and pernicious poverty that we have in this country… Charlotte reminded us that there are far too many Americans who live without the dignity of shelter, of food, of nutrition, and particularly the most vulnerable among us, our children,” he says. All royalties from book sales support No Kid Hungry’s essential mission to help end childhood hunger. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The sisters-in-law behind fashion brand Veronica Beard, Veronica Swanson Beard and Veronica Miele Beard, talk about entrepreneurship and giving back. “Women are the same everywhere: we all want to look good, we all want to feel good, and we all want to do good,” says Miele Beard. The sisters give back to one nonprofit a quarter through deep engagement. “Our legacy is going to be bigger than the fashion that we designed and produced. It's going to be about the community that we created,” predicts Swanson Beard. Their brand-building experience also makes them supportive of other entrepreneurs. “It's not like [the fear] goes away, but I think if you've got passion and you have an idea and you have vision and you have drive and you have a dream, then go for it,” Swanson Beard says. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As a former elementary school teacher and school principal, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona knows about how hard it can be for hungry kids to learn. In the last episode of our Food Is the Most Important Food Supply series, he shares how he and his department are advocating for school meals. "The days of our schools just focusing on reading, writing, and arithmetic are long gone,” he reports. ”It's critical to recognize that the role of the teacher and the role of the school has evolved to providing food for many of our students." He sees this as a challenge worth meeting. “If we cannot prioritize and address with urgency the needs of our youngest, our most vulnerable, then we have to do some soul searching as a country… The public education system, in my opinion, is the best tool that we have to not only help our children succeed, but continue to help our country prosper.” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Back-to-school time can be difficult for the over 13 million kids in the U.S. that are living with hunger. However, people all over the country are working together and sharing their strength to feed kids in their communities. Hear some moving examples in another episode from our 2022 series exploring why food is the most important school supply. Chef Lorena Garcia describes how her nonprofit Big Chef, Little Chef works in schools to help kids and families build better relationships with food. 2022 No Kid Hungry Youth Ambassadors Jason Ezell and Tansy Huang tell us about how they use their lived experience and recent college coursework to ease food insecurity in their communities. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There are over 13 million kids heading back to school this month in the U.S. that are living with hunger. Please be inspired by two episodes from our 2022 series on Food is the Most Important School Supply. Hear directly from kids affected by hunger and teachers and school administrators witnessing hunger in the classroom, as well as changemakers from federal, state, and local government that are making sure kids get fed at school. These changemakers include: We hope you are moved and inspired to fight childhood hunger. Go to nokidhungry.org to learn more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ashley Graham, Development Director at New Orleans’ Preservation Hall Foundation, and Rhonda Jackson, Louisiana Director for the No Kid Hungry Campaign, describe the path from deep social inequities to Hurricane Katrina to New Orleans’ recovery and resurgence. Graham talks about Share Our Strength’s role in sparking collaborations and initiatives to support the rebuilding efforts, including bringing delegations of supporters into areas of need. “Those delegations were interesting because they are people who might not otherwise be sitting around a table together, but we put them on a bus and tried to show what was working in the recovery and try to find ways to get engaged either financially or through their talents… there were lots of amazing ripple effects from those trips," she says. Jackson outlines the ongoing challenges of combatting childhood hunger in New Orleans, despite the city's rich culinary culture. “It was even hard to convince schools and principals and administrators that childhood hunger was an issue. Yes, I know we have all of this wonderful food around us, but for every day, kids aren't getting meals.” No Kid Hungry recently helped the state’s summer EBT legislation get passed. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chef, food writer, food critic, and author Ruth Reichl discusses the transformative power of food and culture. “One of the great things to me about food is that you have the ability to touch these moments of grace throughout the day simply by biting into a perfect peach and going, ‘oh my God, I'm glad I'm alive,’" she marvels. Her new book, "The Paris Novel,” explores the connection between food and joy. Reichl’s love of food and culture and food writer background shapes the book’s main character, who travels to Paris and rediscovers herself through food, art, and other cultural experiences. She also talks about the recent changes in the restaurant industry. “Food has always been my way of seeing the world. I have always looked at the world food-first,” says Reichl. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this very special encore presentation of Add Passion and Stir we will revisit our conversation Pierre Ferrari, the former President and CEO of Heifer International, and Matt Bell, chef and owner of South on Main restaurant in Little Rock, as they share insights about creating value in poor communities. Since the first airing of this episode, Pierre has now retired and is writing a book about ending rural hunger around the world. Ferrari speaks about the success Heifer International has had in poor agricultural communities throughout the world by driving social psychological change before anything else. “We work with communities that could almost be described as clinically depressed...the despair is so deep…they feel condemned to this situation,” he says. Heifer uses value-based training to demonstrate to people their own ability and capacity to make change. “Without that psychological shift, nothing we do, no animal, no training will actually catch hold,” he notes. Bell has first-hand knowledge of the success of this model in Arkansas. He sources his chickens from Grassroots Farm Cooperative, a cooperative of 10 formerly struggling small farms in Little Rock that was formed with the help of Heifer International to meet the demand of the growing market. “My understanding of Heifer at the time was you buy a cow and someone somewhere gets a cow. I didn’t understand this small business component. I didn’t understand it could happen in Arkansas,” says Bell. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Activist, author, and nonprofit founder Sam Daley-Harris has been using and training people on transformational advocacy for almost 50 years and is optimistic about America’s future. “With transformational advocacy, you're trained, encouraged, and succeed at doing things as an advocate you never thought you could do, like meeting with a member of Congress and bringing them on board to your issue,” he explains. Advocates he works with are making big changes on issues like hunger and climate change. “I’m optimistic because I have my eye on volunteers and what volunteers are doing. If I had my eye on the news, I would be pessimistic.” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Michael Schlein, President and CEO of Accion, talks about how his nonprofit is providing access to financial systems for people all over the world who currently do not have access to tools like bank accounts, loans, or digital financial transactions. “Two billion people are left out of and poorly served by the global financial system. Their lives are so much harder than they have to be, and we're trying to change that,” he says. Advances in technology like satellite imaging have made it possible to reach many more business owners. “I think this is a ‘once in a lifetime’ moment, and we're trying to seize this moment to really change the world,” he believes. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mayor Sharon Weston Broome of Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Mayor Mattie Parker of Fort Worth, Texas are Chair and Vice-Chair of the Mayors Alliance to End Childhood Hunger, a bipartisan alliance of almost 400 mayors from across the country. “I think the first thing that the Alliance capitalizes on is a firm understanding that the most powerful thing Americans can use is their bully pulpit to any cause,” says Mayor Parker. Mayor Broome agrees. “There are a lot of best practices that we can hone in on and we can work together to advocate for legislative measures at the federal, state, and local levels.” Listen in to learn about some innovative ideas that have already been shared among the mayors in the Alliance and how these initiatives are reducing childhood hunger in their communities. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

India’s children are hungry. Gauri Devidayal, Co-Founder and Director of The Food Matters Group, and Pankaj Jethwani, physician and Executive VP at W Health Ventures, are working to solve that problem. Devidayal is using her platform to draw attention and funding to the cause while Jethwani is helps run holistic nutrition programs. “I think India's one of the greatest nations when it comes to hospitality. It's just something that comes innately to people,” says Devidayal. “That's ridiculous, as a child, to go through eight hours in the morning before a first meal and still expect to learn, still expect to thrive,” Jethwani believes. “We've served 400,000 children. It's a drop in the ocean. It's not even a drop in the ocean - it's a micro-drop in the ocean.” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Charles Watson, CEO of Tropical Smoothie Café, talks about how the restaurant industry is uniquely positioned to make a difference on child hunger. “The American consumer is demanding and one of the things that they're demanding - which is good - is purpose,” says Watson. “[They’ll] give you their money… but [they] also want to see that you're giving back and that you're doing something positive.” He proposed a "CEO Pledge to End Hunger" which aims to raise funds to support summer food programs, potentially preventing millions of children from going hungry. “We need sunshine, we need happiness, we need taking care of one another,” he concludes. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jamila Robinson, the new Editor-in-Chief of Bon Appétit, discusses her vision for the magazine and more broadly how food can be a powerful force for good in the world. “I'm very curious about how other people experience food and how food drives culture for other people, and that curiosity allows for other people to feel seen, and so it also changes the way that we approach stories,” she says. She wants the magazine to cover food culture for everyone along with sustainable food practices. “I do think it's important that we think about where our food comes from, who's producing it, and the impact that it might have on our environment.” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Well before the school year ends for American children , advocates like USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services Stacy Dean and Hawaii-based consumer advocate and substance abuse counselor Zahava “Zee” Zaidoff are planning how to feed kids over the summer. “The experience of hunger, in and of itself, is a terrible thing. But hunger amongst children is so much more devastating... They don't need food just to maintain, but also to grow and thrive,” says Dean. Many layers of government, organizations, and individuals are ensuring that kids get access to meals during the summer months. “This is not just about the kids that we're trying to feed. This is about - fortunately and unfortunately - systemic change that has to happen around the entire system,” Zaidoff emphasizes. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.