#1 | The Story of Women in Food
Image of a woman sitting outside smiling with the Women in Food logo underneath. It says “An Introduction from Missy Singer DuMars”
In this episode I tell you a little bit more about the story of Women in Food. I talk about how this podcast came to be, my vision for it and the kinds of things you can expect to enjoy listening to this podcast. I explore women’s traditional relationship to food as well as give you an idea to how we’ll ‘geek out’ out food in each episode.
In our commitment accessibility, we’d love to offer polished show notes to help make this podcast more accessible to those who are hearing impaired or those who like to read rather than listen to podcasts. However, Women in Food is still a startup with limited resources. So we’re not there yet.
What we can offer are these very imperfect show notes via the Scribie service. The transcription is far from perfect. But hopefully it’s close enough - even with the errors - to give those who aren’t able or inclined to learn from audio interviews a way to participate.
DOWNLOAD THE TRANSCRIPTION or READ IT BELOW
0:00:06.6 S1: Hey there, and welcome to the Women in Food podcast. I'm your hostess, Missy Singer DuMars
I have two missions with Women in Food to elevate and share with you the many incredibly diverse voices of women in our food culture, And to bring you conversations that may inspire you, empower you in your kitchen or shopping at the market.
All while entertaining you with some fun storytelling.
Haven't you ever wondered how a chef learned to be a chef, or what made a woman decide to go into farming? We're gonna tell you those stories.
Women in Food is a series of discussions meeting at the intersection of food, of business and the feminine.
You might be wondering why all three of these things together...
Well, I'm a solo woman farmer, an entrepreneur, a business coach, and an avid cook, and as such, I've always kept my eye out for other women like myself… especially women in food and in business.
I just love to meet chefs and food writers and cooks and bakers and other food makers, and hear their personal stories. And then the most fun part is to geek out with them in the kitchen or in the garden, or around a really great meal.
As we look at history, women are traditionally the keepers of the hearth. And, keepers of the hearth means a LOT more than just food, it's also all the arts and skills related to food: pottery, basket weaving, preserving …. and in addition to that, Hearth-Craft... In my opinion and experience… is also about tending to the family relationships and tending to the community. The hearth is where everyone gathers… look at any household, Everyone hangs out in the kitchen… it's so natural to gather around the warmth… to gather around a source of nourishment. Tending the hearth is also about tending to pleasure. The pleasure of feeling warm, safe, cared for and connected… as well as the pleasure of food (beyond food for survival) – its about food’s beauty, flavor, evoking of memories, the joys of abundance… all of it. And so yes, women are the natural tenders of the hearth and all the enjoyment it provides. Because of this, I believe that there is something super unique that we women bring to both how we do business and how we nourish ourselves and what we give to our communities.
And I noticed that there was a severe lack of that perspective in media. When I looked around, I was only seeing the same small number of men chefs and farmers featured in all the news publications, on tv, and at many of the conferences. This podcast started as an idea with a woman chef-friend of mine for a series of farm-to-table dinners here on my farm to start to change that story around. Due to the pandemic in 2020, that dinner series turn into live Zoom classes that were super fun and people from all over the United States joined us. These classes were cook-along and garden-along classes, mixed with personal story telling and as much useful information about food and cooking techniques and where food comes from as we could pack into one episode. After 15 of these Live episodes featuring women in food in my western New York region, I knew it was time to take the story to the podcast airways and to expand to a global voice and bring that to the table beyond my very sweet little regional community here.
The range of guests on the women in food podcast are not just chefs and not just farmers, but food makers, food bakers, food writers, food advocates, coming together to help you find more joy and pleasure in your kitchen. and so what I found in our past episodes is that our conversation goes deep and it gets into the nitty gritty – of both life and of food.... It’s Not just, this is pasta, and go buy a box of pasta… but its make your own pasta, and how would you do that? And how easy it can be.
To me, I think one of the biggest things when I share kitchen craft and food craft with somebody is dispelling the myth that it's hard and complicated, I often ask my guests to share with us all the food insider’s how-to And to talk us through a process to reveal how easy it can be.
In fact, one of our first zoom episodes, last year, one of my guests taught everyone to make homemade ricotta cheese. And… you know what? it's easy. I couldn't believe how easy it is. I do it all the time now, and in fact, I still get messages almost a year later from people that they're still making ricotta cheese from that episode!
So I provide more of that to you in our episodes.. and what happens, because I have a passion for food as well…. I'm gonna ask questions and I'm gonna add insights and experience to the conversation, so it won't just be like watching a cooking show where the chef just tells you what to do…. it's interview style, so as she's describing a technique or a process, I may ask lots of questions… can we do it this way? what if we try it this way? What if I don't have this ingredient? have you ever heard of this ingredient? have you ever heard of this tool?... things like that to add in my own experience and what I know or to pull more information out of my professional food guests...
Of course, on a podcast, you can't quite cook along with us in the same way as a live zoom cooking class, but what I can promise you is that these interviews bring together the unique story of each woman with recipes, culinary and food how-tos, or techniques for growing your own food, all while bringing you a woman's story of food. This is our invitation to you…. to enjoy your kitchen, to enjoy your garden and enjoy your table, just a little bit more.
A last request, if you could go over to iTunes or whatever app you're using to listen and give us a rating and review, it's a simple act that really helps us a ton. Thank you for accompanying me on this delicious adventure… join me next time around the table and get ready to eat!!