#10 | Kimberly Brock Brown: Feminine Culinary Leadership + Watermelon

 
EP10 Kimberly Brock Brown.jpg
 

In this week's episode, I talk to Chef Kimberly Brock Brown who recently was elected as the President of the American Culinary Federation (ACF). We talk about her journey into food and eventually to this role as the first woman, first person of color AND first Pastry Chef to be president in the ACF’s 92-year history.

Along the way, Chef Kimberly shares her stories of strong women role models in her life who taught her the importance of taking action to effect change. We cover all kinds of topics like how she turns to her inner guidance for support, and how a feminine approach to leadership in the kitchen supports mentorship and growth of the younger generations while also honoring traditions. She shares her perspectives on the role of a Chef and her vision for the future of ACF and how she’d like to lead the organization.

Chef Kimberly tells us about her love of cooking with fruits and all the ways to use fruit in both sweet and savory dishes including grilling peaches, and using berries with meats. We tap into the ubiquitous summer fruit — the watermelon — and its interesting role in racism in America. She then gives us a refreshing recipe for Watermelon Pico de Gallo!

The Recipe starts at: 53:51

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Chef Kimberly Brock Brown’s Website: kimberlybrockbrown.com

Chef Kimberly’s Social Media Links: InstagramFacebook, Twitter, LinkedIn

American Culinary Federation

Sweet Dakota Rose Watermelon Seeds

Video from Fruition Seeds: “How to tell when your watermelon is ripe” (Pink, Pank, Ponk)

Missy’s Farm Website: CrownHillFarm.com
Missy’s Business Coaching Website: SpiritBizPeople.com

Watermelon Pico de Gallo

(Download a printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1/2 whole Small Seedless Watermelon, Diced

  • 2 Jalapeños, Seeded and Diced

  • 1/2 Red Onion, Diced

  • 1 Bunch Cilantro, Chopped (optional – or flat leaf parsley)

  • Juice Of 1 To 2 Limes

METHOD:

1.    Mix everything together in one large bowl; season with salt if needed.

2.    Refrigerate for at least one hour.

3.    Enjoy on its own as a salad, with chips, on tacos or a piece of fish or chicken.


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 (coming soon!)

0:00:04.9 S1: Welcome to another episode of women in food. I'm your hostess, Missy Singer DuMars. This podcast is all about the intersection of three things food, business, and the feminine. Each episode, I invite you to sit down with me in my interview guest, as we dive into this intersection to spark your food curiosity, share a favorite recipe, and give you some fun food explorations along the way. I am inspired by these women women farmers chefs, bakers cooks, writers and food makers, who all bring their passion for beauty, nourishment, community, pleasure connection and deep care to others through food. These are women who advocate and take action towards increased food awareness for themselves, their families and their neighborhoods. Before I introduce today's guest, I have one 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 quick and simple act that helps us a ton. Thank you so much. So today, I'm excited to introduce to you, chef Kimberly Brock Brown. Kimberly is a mother, author speaker and Chef, starting her passion for cooking in the Chicago, Illinois area where she grew up, Chef Kimberly found her way to the warmer weather south as she developed her career in food, she's cooked all over the world, winning awards and participating in culinary programs, both abroad and at home with certifications and achievements, too numerous to list...

 

0:01:33.7 S1: Trust me, I read the list. Her skills range from savory to pastry accomplishments, where she brings an attitude of mentorship to how she leads kitchens and communities alike, that mentoring approach carries through and her strong commitment to diversity and gross in the food industry, particularly now as she steps into her role as the recently elected President of the ACF, the American Culinary Federation. And I think it's worth noting that chef Kimberly is the first woman of color president, the first pastry chef President, and that's in a 92-year history. She's the 26 present. So Kim, really welcome to women in food. I am so, so honoured to have you join us and excited to have this conversation with you today, Miss.

 

0:02:21.8 S2: I'm happy to be here. Oh my god, that I do all that. I still, I hear things and... Is that me? That's really me, I did that. You so busy work and you just don't think and realize what you're doing, just doing it.

 

0:02:33.8 S1: Right, and I have to share for our audience that chef Jessica, who was our first interview guest on this podcast, told me to keep an eye on you because she keeps an eye on women chefs in ACF and other organizations, and so I've been keeping an eye on you and I got wrapped up in your presidency election. I'm not even a professional chef or an ACF member, and I was tracking it like a hawk, and I got so excited, I was reading ACF history and looking at all the pictures of all the very white men, women presidents before you, and I was like crying, tears of joy. Excited, I think I messaged you when they announced that you want... You have many, many, many posts and messages, so I know that you have a huge community of support, I really wanna say congratulations again, and I'm really excited to see what you do in this new form of leadership.

 

0:03:29.4 S2: Well, I appreciate that. I mean, you're talking about the history of it. I was part of the history that really was a turning point for me to even decide to run the President, it was doing our last in-person in convention and team of students, I think they were from Missouri, made this 10-foot tall cake honoring history of acetone. To your head of certification stuff on it, another tier had the history on it and nothing to your hat, the faces of all of our presidents, and I knew it, 'cause I'm on the board as a vice president, but I knew a lot of people didn't realize that all the presidents before were mostly your opinion, we have a couple of people in Hawaiian and another Asian person who had been national president, but there's been no person of color and no females, basically all white in European men. And so I saw that it's kind of hard to ignore it when it's in your face like that... Right, this big case, scoring Ace. And that was like me, came out, me and some friends who come college, go with the hilarious, I knew I was in position because in order to run for a national president, you have to have a seat on the national board and some of the capacity.

 

0:04:39.3 S2: And so as I'm sitting there as a vice president of the southeast region, I always tell people when I'm into them, you take the opportunity as they're presenting and you figure it out, if you feel like you can't do it.

 

0:04:53.2 S1: Got totally. My kind of woman, I'm like Everything, but I live a life of everything is always figure out able... It's like to sign what you wanna do, go after it, you'll figure it out, if it's something you want, you'll figure it out.

 

0:05:05.9 S2: I believe in asking people and getting to know, I'll have to know everything is a go know some people who might know... Some people who might be able to help me out with this. Right, and so I'm sitting there and I just couldn't put it up to me up this point in time, 'cause Ham I gonna sit there in... To other people to do things and I can't do it for myself.

 

0:05:21.5 S1: Yeah, well, we're gonna get to ACF and your involvement, rise to the presidency, but I wanna walk all the way back to your childhood and growing up in Chicago, because I know that your love of cooking and food started at a really young age...

 

0:05:40.5 S2: Well, sure, it's not hard to love food group in Chicago, you know what, it truly is a portion, and I had parents that cook as well, but we also do look back, I can go out to eat some really good foods growing up, so

 

0:05:58.5 S1: You have to... As a kid, a favorite food, my favorite food or a favorite kind of food you like to... Atheists

 

0:06:06.9 S2: One used to go Sundays after church, maybe once a behemoth, the smorgasbord Swedish manner over score, and we thought it was so half a lummis and counted with Swedish metal was at that place, and I have been a five since I just some simple switch me both I didn't know what else I was eating 'cause it was really truly Swedish style food, but the meat Bosnians of the place, it was white icons, just a really nice looped atmosphere. And so that was our treat. Every now and then, one of those attractions Sundays, the family will go out there and we would do it, so there were quite a few places that we could go, but I just... That's one of my hats

 

0:06:52.6 S1: In my faith... I think I was saying this in a previous interview with Heather Vikas about when we're talking about rise, that there was a period where we had these coupon books at the elementary school would sell where you got... You paid whatever for the fundraiser, and you got this book of coupons for all kinds of stuff, and I feel like that started to expand our exploration of different kinds of food, 'cause my dad would look through and we picked something that was in the book, and after all the familiar stuff. Like all that was left was Japanese and Korean and Indian. Yeah, and so we'd go to these other places, and that was my first time eating Korean food, I remember my dad loving kimchi and all the hot foods, and we discovered that we love Japanese food and hot Japanese food and sushi eventually, and all kinds of things. So yeah, it's fun to have exposure exposure to a Athens... A young person.

 

0:07:51.3 S2: Surf, you grew up in the city and you got a China Town, or at least Eton, a chiton and this, these little areas and pockets of diversity, and you go in and you can find culturally appropriate food that is thus made to... Wait, they made it. And your family... Is that... No, where they're from. Oh my god, what your experience that is. That most major sites

 

0:08:14.2 S1: Have... Yeah, in fact, I know, I was just looking. Yelp, buffalo here is doing around the world, our thing where you get this little card and you go to all these different restaurants that are all like immigrant-owned run restaurants and diversity of different cultural foods, and you get stamps on the past, your passport or whatever, and they're doing a promotion at each one of the places is doing a little discount if you're participating in the Yelp thing, so I think that's a fun way, and I mentioned Yelp because they're also a sponsor and advocate for women in food here and globally. Awesome. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Super fun. So you started seeking out learning food and cooking pretty early on as well too, didn't you... Well.

 

0:09:03.1 S2: You know, I was forced to at first, I go back in the day, you got kids, kids go means one of those chores hand... So I have two older sisters and younger brother, but it wasn't much the brother, it was... It was a good cook, but... And I note host parents, and so we've really chanted to holidays, but we just have people over, shewa very social in the same way, all my siblings really at the same way. And so, before we're in the kitchen spending days an hour, it seems like Choco cleaning his getting this rarities event, and I can remember one of those, I think it's got sick to chopping and cleanse, go check on the guys like Thanksgiving or something, 'cause the guys are all up in the front watching football, and that's how I would love football, they got me out and getting that way your right as I'm sitting in, watching football, but I took about crews. Interesting. In cooking, I love to eat different foods, good foods, and so you're talking to what used to be called home... I'm a home make major from high school, but I play... I have played sports, but I chose Home Ec to put that on my classroom 'cause that's how serious it was about food, but even then they only had maybe, I think three cooking classes that I could take in high school, it...

 

0:10:19.5 S2: But I loved it, I loved the learning about the food and be... We're talking about when a microwave was first popular, and we cooked up first Turkey in the microwave, and it was of this thing, it was just the ugliest white Turkey, Mike doesn't go brown anything, right. And so just money and by different foods in it and how to prepare it was things that we were doing at the house, but amine, I never... Stuff is made would crap Saladin, but you do that high school like, Oh my God, I can do this at the house now. Just different things. It was amazing.

 

0:10:53.5 S1: And it's so funny you say that you got out of helping in the kitchen by and watch football. I was just listening to Milk Street Radio, which I think is a newer podcast or a show, I hadn't heard it on a car before, but it's a food show, and the chef who was talking was saying he learned to cook because the rule in his house growing up was that if you cooked, you didn't have to do dishes, and he hated doing dishes, he's like What I had, I learned to help in the kitchen, so I don't have to do the dishes like an accomplished chef. That's a great... That's a... Like that, I like that is... No.

 

0:11:30.0 S2: We still did related each week or something. We do dandy

 

0:11:34.7 S1: Cleaner. So out of high school, as you've shared with me and I shared in your intro, you were like, game the hell out of the winter and one south and sought out culinary school, right.

 

0:11:48.8 S2: Well, not really. I was seeking something that I could not articulate and was never articulated to me in high school... Right, the guidance counseling, I was a pretty good student, a B student in high school, but I didn't know the term shift all this ENI, didn't know that it was a thing you can do in school, on the college level, it was just never... There's a great school in Chicago, a calling school, but the terms were just not used and it was a familiar... Didn't know. And so I was geared towards... You're in me towards dietitian, nervous, and in my own little research, whatever, I found food management, so like it, it's gonna be with food, I won't be a manager, I wanna be in charge Labonte application and got accepted to University of Tennessee and supposed to go and chat over and, which was great, 'cause one of my sisters, my bunk mate at home is a very in tenancy in Nashville, doing her thing in school, and so I would be in the same state at the same room in the same bomb... What would be closed? Right, so after graduation, high school with the Texas, when my oldest system was, I already graduated doing her thing, and I just decided that I wasn't in US and happy about going to school for something.

 

0:13:08.7 S2: I really didn't know what it was for, what it was all about, then I just decided that to stay in Texas, and I got a job, winding tables, learn how to do that, 'cause I'd never done that before. But why I'm not making more money, and then my educated system, but the four-year degree in making those tips, and then I just read about somebody graduating from the apprenticeship program and they had a nice write-up about the young guy in the paper like, Oh my God, that's it. You can go to school for this. Oh my God, they'll teach you and you can get a job and no pain. Oh my God, that's just... It's perfect. And the rest of what it is, where I am today, I...

 

0:13:49.0 S1: About that person. And I think as we go through more of a story, this will become clear too, but my sense is that you're a woman who knows how to listen to that deeper inner calling, which that's half about, and then the other half is to follow it, that's actually a YouTube, but we usually fight it and resist it pretty hard, but my sense is you pretty early on, I knew how to follow those callings, so I'm curious, where does that... Certainly courage and gusto come from... To fall it when you have a sense, when you feel that tug, to know what you Filipinas raised to be

 

0:14:45.3 S2: Confident. The church I went to, it was ran by females, so the pastor and the assistants were all women leaving the church. My mother graduated college at age 50 with four kids, but that those... My father had a divorce, I've never seen, but women who were doing things and strong enough in any career is in position, accomplishing things. I also played sports, and so when you play sports she... You have to develop a certain amount of confidence to be successful in it as well, so I think having that background and seeing women doing great things, it's just the way I grew up with it, and so for me to be able to have the... Wherever those to encourage yourself is my guy, you're playing sports, man, not need the shot, gotta make this way, whatever it is, to encourage yourself to do more, do better, or to grind it out, that that's been in me for a long time.

 

0:15:43.3 S1: The time... There's not time to be indecisive in a sport, like you see the shot and you either gotta go for it now, MIT. Yeah, and

 

0:15:52.3 S2: I'm on the ones who's doing... Sweating, go for it. Yeah, I may go out and memento go for it. And I think that's just been my MO for a long time, so I can remember...

 

0:16:03.8 S1: I love that you had a lot of successful women leaders around you... Yeah.

 

0:16:10.7 S2: And the word, I guess today it'd be mentors, but that this wasn't a term of house familiar with growing up. We just... I just had women who were in management and women who were leaders, and with women who were doing things that were very positive, and so that's what I grew up with, and then of course, it didn't help a hurt that I got one Sisters of valinor in our high school, we talk like 500 kids in her class. At 00 in my class, so I've got along. Me who's a book or about Victorians, like I got... I got shoes to feel...

 

0:16:42.7 S1: Yeah. How did a culinary career land with your family? You're doing what?

 

0:16:53.6 S2: Oh, that's great. And I come home, I think the first break I got after a semester or so into it, and they could see it, I don't get the cutting board out, which we had at the house, you just never used it cleaning all, but it's brought a couple of tools home and I'm doing a little birds paradise at the apple, and I'm just, Oh my god, I'm just showing and doing... And they were just like, I just... Whatever, and actually, we grew up cooking and so it wasn't like me, I didn't know how to cook, it's just on the whole... Not the level of things I was learning able to take home and the decals and they could then enjoy and talk about whatever, and then the one system... Now, what is his Anwar tent-mates? Roommates for a while, I can benefit for me preening and play in any kitchen, right.

 

0:17:38.6 S1: Oasis, you've got a family member that's going to culinary school, keep them around to be their roommate it to you like, well, most of the time, we hope you really will. You're gonna expose to these things... I put it that way. Yeah, yeah.

 

0:17:56.7 S2: They're very supportive. It just never was an issue.

 

0:18:00.5 S1: That's great, 'cause I know some families might be like... I know my family and people I know, it could be like, Well, you're not a doctor or a lawyer, or a teacher or something like that. What are you doing? I'm the odd ball as a farmer in my family, you're being a farmer, but I trained my family from an early age that I'm gonna be the odd ball so they can flow with it, or I never did what was expected, so... It's okay. But yeah, so then you rat about ACF would just tell our listeners, I know a bit about CF 'cause I did the research, but give our listeners a basic of the ACF and

 

0:18:43.6 S2: It's a... Everclear Federation is an organization of about 15000 members in the United States, but we also have chapters in other countries and territories, like the verse on islands of Singapore, the Philippines, the sandeman, and so we are about education, you have certification, we have accreditation that we do for secondary education. And it's a great network of people. So if you're in Culinary, and some may people ask all the time, Well, I wanna go and do an X-Tern over a blob Black Country. No, so then as a member of ACM, you are then, of course, remember the world strep society, world racecars in chess. And then you could just email them, because somebody in that country waxes is 93 countries, 10 million plus members. And so to somebody in that country that you could hook up with and talk to and meet to help you with that internship externship, what else can you do that... That's just phenomenal, you know. People go abroad to go study and do things and you already have a hook-up and somebody did to help you with that, but we're all about the network, 'cause I've always told people, not on 10 times, it's who you know to get you in the door, but what you know keeps you there, so it's not like you don't need to study at home in on your craft, but you also need to be networking and meeting people in different places, and I tell them, especially when I'm talking to do a classroom.

 

0:20:14.5 S2: Now, the person next to you, that lab partner on the first associate with being your position, how are you or fire can make sure that it's a small community, but we're a lot of cement, so I make nights with people... Learn people keep in touch with people. And I always network, we can't always have our head down at the table, look at... We always need to be heads up, sometimes blind is off and find out who's walking barcode in touch with how we can be in service of the people.

 

0:20:39.2 S1: Yeah, my sense of ACF too, is that it's an amazing support for young people looking to get started in culinary, it seems like there's a lot of mentorship programs and starting education programs.

 

0:20:52.1 S2: Well, definitely, like I said, we have a team of chefs that go through different colleges, universities, to accredit ate them, a mission means all their students then when they graduate from their program can become certified certifications for me have been changing career changing. I feel like it's a game changer in your career when you have those initials behind your name, it opens up so many more towards or opportunities, especially as a female, a person of color that if I have it and you don't do one step, but yeah, I'm...

 

0:21:27.4 S1: Oh my gosh, my brain's exploding with the question... Or none of them are coming out of my mouth. The man that happens, it's like my mouth doesn't know which question has spent out first, you know, it's interesting 'cause I was having conversation with the culinary friend, a chef friend recently, about the term chef as a devil, and the training related to it or not, I'm curious what your take on that is?

 

0:21:55.2 S2: I've had people ask me the question, was, a difference between them? Is it a food and banish management preventive director? Just labs, about 10000. But people and entities called themselves or their employers, employees call themselves whereby you wanna call themselves... I know for me, what being the chef is all about, that means I'm going to be handling the business of cooking good food, of hiring and training of staff, and making sure that safety protocol is a follow... It is the business as well, that the business model of that company or RFID business, whatever it's going to be following it, you're to... Today we are in the PISCES of making money, pleasing people safely, and making our internal and extra couples, external people, customers happy, satisfied that the money was well spent, the experience was great, 'cause sometimes you could spent money world, but if you have a terrible experience, it doesn't matter how good fruit, but... And so it's an all-encompassing thing, and then also, especially in this day and age, people, teleosts so hard to find help... People don't wanna go back to working in hackathons every night, every weekend, every holiday, and getting screaming on that, and for minimum pants, why it's really...

 

0:23:13.5 S2: It's hard to get good help, and then how do you pay them, how do you... This gotta be more than just to pay... How do you treat your people? And so I think that goes just go a long way to train in what a ship is truly all about.

 

0:23:28.4 S1: Yeah, I love that definition. It definitely has me thinking about it differently, this person and I were getting into a conversation about that kind of training that you just described, it's like someone who has done that kind of training and lay the ground work to be able to lead in all those different ways, very much earns the title chef. I do wonder about... I'm not deep in culinary education to really know, but it seems to me that culinary education is very colonial Eurocentric, and that there's a lot of incredible chefs in the world who don't have any formal training like that, but traditional training at the side of a grandmother or other established.

 

0:24:24.5 S2: There's a lot of a very well-doing chefs out there, I mean, the patient shift that I learned the most from was self-talk, you can go to Comet school, but he had the education and order to that sticking, stay and work with some great people who are willing to be teachers what...

 

0:24:43.3 S1: Yeah, I appreciate the definition you gave because chefs, you're taking away from the kind of training and to the kind of leadership and business management as well as cooking, it's not just like cook really well, it's that whole package that you described it, I really appreciate it because it's true, if you don't have a business is like, Who are you gonna be looking for? And where with what...

 

0:25:09.2 S2: I really got people to all... Titans like the biggest thing for a lot of people who are doing their own thing. So, is this business so happy because your pricing is off, especially now, and every day is in the news that you can't find chicken wings, you can't find this, so this is unavailable, and your pricing is still from... Your pricing is too low because I can't go to the grocery store and buy, but you're trying to sell me in the menu item, you're not making any money, and so you have... You have a profit value on what the item is that you're selling, plus your time and your talent, or doing it in a

 

0:25:44.5 S1: Buttermere perspective, I'm pretty much one of the most expensive producers around here, but I know that it takes to produce what I do, and if I press my... Cornell came out when I first started raising eggs, they came out and kinda helped me out, Aland walked through my set up and when I had no one and gave me some advice. But they were like, You're never gonna be able to sell it. 'cause at 7 a dozen, and I'm like, I can't go lower than 70 a disease is. And at that time it was 16, it just raises 7-6 do, because it was the feed, the level of quality of feed and what not that I'm choosing. It would be at a loss. Tries, is that I can't keep my in-stock, Chanel, they say, quickly, and now it's a Colorado Zen and people understand that quality and the attention to the details and things like that, but you have to value it is... It doesn't work if you do all those things, but then you compare to other... Look at other menus and then price according to what they're doing, see

 

0:26:59.1 S2: Sisi a business as a happy... 'cause I do a meeting, you would treat it as a business, 'cause they... Astana other expenses that the amateur would have, the business taxes that go with all that, all that phases which are Costello, my God and to all those things.

 

0:27:14.8 S1: Yeah, yeah, true true. I love this were flowing between food and business and... Women mentors in your life. I love it. Elevator got involved in ACF early on in your training Canary and you settled on... Pastry, tell me about that.

 

0:27:35.8 S2: What... My staff at the time, I wasn't too happy about the medicine and stay in the patient shopping, in my apprenticeship program, probably finish program, you're supposed to rotate throughout the whole kitchen... All the kitchen, so from garment cafe restaurant to find in restaurant to the big shot to store room, all that, but i... Egotistical for our listeners who may not know what that means, okay? Games, the cold food kitchen pantry. So if you ever go out and need to salacious anything co-hooded, you're eating in a restaurant. For the most part, is the Carmen. Listen to totalitarian. It's...

 

0:28:16.2 S1: No, I know, I go, but... And so we were in...

 

0:28:22.7 S2: I love, I truly...

 

0:28:23.7 S1: I did love the said station is a sobering Asia 'cause I just love making sauces, Susan.

 

0:28:31.6 S2: So I did, and we had a German guy, Kurt. He made some phenomenal soups and sauces and stuff, and I had a good time with it, but I also knew at that part of my career, I was about... This is about my third year into the three-year program, that I realized that I never seen it, never heard of the ice coming from the social area, it was always some banquets or I was out of the fine dining restaurant, right. And so I realized associate for me would be dead in, so I was like, Okay, let me figure something else out, and then when I had put the pan back and shot off to the mass of my three years, because the chef and there before the ship in the before were just so rude and so mean, and my spirit couldn't take that right, and so I was scared to go in there, but by the time I wait to mouthful term, I got, he was gone. And is the system of taking over... And he was this American guy, I can say The who's self-taught, he was trained very well and he was willing to teach, and I thought I was very teachable, and so I learned a lot of spin soaking it up.

 

0:29:36.7 S2: And that's when I decided to stay where I was, because I was learning so much and it was a great place, a environment to work in. And also, I knew that for a hotel chain, it was in that if you wanna be a patient chef, the property, you came and trained with him and so I'm already there, right? I haven't done word, 'cause people will come in there all the time to do some training, a few weeks, a couple of months, whatever, and I head out to another hotel, a place as the patient shop, whatever, someone read there, and I had already seen him do that, with his assistance, right? And so I said, Okay, well, this is a great way to get a... Get a step up and get into the company, and so I stayed there and learned... He let me learn, managed mantises we shot with the time I wasn't 25 or I was at about a 19-hour shop. He came in and we made things from scratch back and the day maybe personhood moose every dog, one day a copy, every dog gonna stuff... Knew how to do it, then I do the ordering.

 

0:30:34.9 S1: So what is too that you love about pastry.

 

0:30:38.1 S2: The creativity part of it, all it's still... There's a science, as we say, Bacon is a science, cooking is a hobby, and so it is a very exact science to get things done, and I just love being able to be creative with different... Especially now, and you can incorporate more of the savory aspects of food into the patient part, the time with the raspberries or a little cinnamon in human whatever to go into your Sri love Satsang.

 

0:31:07.6 S1: Yeah, that's interesting, I'm curious. I feel like there's a... What's the word? Stigma is not the right word, but a stereotype that more women end up in pastry, that Keith.

 

0:31:25.8 S2: My experience has been, especially when I got to the fine dining restaurant in my apprenticeship, and I was a French ship running it, and he never let the women on the line to book, the broiler or the middle at... We've always, always only allowed to do the cold food or the dessert, and so you really got to making salads all night in the pantry part on the line or doing deserts, so... Yeah, I got to mix to play very well, or cut this to whatever... Well, Oh, we could do some preps, so killing lobsters for the guys in the front, but if you're gonna be a restaurant restaurant chef, the money-making part is the broiler or the expo, or maybe sometimes the middle, but using a Perlis more important or a page more but the women won't allow, at least that LaPointe were allowed to use that to learn that he would not let us on that part that I like 'cause we just wanted that for the guys, and so... Yeah, that is true, that a lot of the women to deer and lean towards the patron dessert and Armand, I think it is.

 

0:32:30.5 S2: But

 

0:32:31.0 S1: I believe that's changing now...

 

0:32:32.9 S2: Oh, I think so too. I think so too. There's a lot of one-on atoning to work them. Now I'm gonna work to export, I'm gonna work this laminar Theodore. I agree. A lot of that has changed.

 

0:32:46.9 S1: Definitely, yeah. Yeah, so let's go back to... You started to mention you saw that cake, and you just knew, this is the moment I need to step into presidency, but you told me when we were talking about... Well, you kinda gave me a great story about a long drive home, I think from that event.

 

0:33:13.1 S2: Hit was the year before I was a... Our convention was in Phoenix, and I drove from Charleston to Phoenix 'cause I had the time. And I had a girlfriend in balance who wanted to go as well, and so I just stopped in Atlanta, pick up my brother, and I drove them to Dallas, dropped him off, picked her up and to meet other Phoenix so I could... I convention and then reversed, but it was on that drive home that I just got so sick and tired of being sick, tired, I realized that somebody needs to step up, and I was spending my time thinking about who I could talk to to see if certain somebody else into running, but vice president then, and I just couldn't think of anybody and I was like, Well, I can do it, I had the capitation and necessary to run in this... I could probably do that. Yeah.

 

0:34:04.0 S1: And if I recall, part of your story was, I think it was that event where it seemed like the women at the convention couldn't even get an announcement made about meeting in the lobby bar as the weather in the Athenian, you were fed up. Nathan's a good

 

0:34:25.1 S2: Too. I've been asking all the time to get... Just put us in the bar or a untamed room, you gotta pay for it, I said, but just make the announcement, we all get to get to... Can be in maroon, if you are right. Yeah, we just wanna be able to network, socialize, met each other and maybe share some stories and encouraging him, but it was just never allowed, it was just never time of a guy I would get... It would get into... This task force was created and there having their first meeting in Phoenix, and I was just like, Okay, well, what's the Bodine past was, what are you guys doing? And why are you selling T-shirts and why don't you have a line item in the budget like every other group committee task force. And so why do you have to raise money? And what you mean? You wanna take notes? And I present it to the board in October. I said, But yesterday at the board, maybe seven guys got up and nominated more white guys, and he's talking about it, why can't you guys do something... Right. Why are we still here talking about stuff and taking quizzes and not to...

 

0:35:26.4 S2: Without doing something.

 

0:35:29.6 S1: That's funny, 'cause Task Force are two pretty actionable words, year-on two things, you're gonna do tasks and you're gonna have some course with it. Okay, but

 

0:35:42.2 S2: For me it just do flow, it just wasn't...

 

0:35:45.8 S1: Yeah, my sense is there's that calling and that you see something that you can step into, my sense is also that you have a source of inner guidance within you, willing... Can you say more about that? What do you turn to for that inner support or guidance?

 

0:36:06.0 S2: In the support and guys. Well, God is good. And so I am a person of faith, and I was taught, if it is to be, it is up to me. And that little Diddy mature, it was a song I sing in second school was something that you're singing it up and you say enough that affirmation, you can... I believe in it, I believe in the power, positive thinking, and then I just feel that if something is affecting me, I'm not... I can't be the only one, and I haven't been in this organization, like say at times I pellets the triple warming black, being black being female and being a pastor ship, 'cause patches have not always had the best of times and line... Right. Either has changed a lot over the years, but I just felt that way. I got second class, they're quite a citizen at times, and so how do I navigate this, how do I get to where I gotta be? And that's where I think just having right attitude, being positive, having knows the behind my name helped, I think as well, and whatever that I could do to make it a game changer for me would give me just the edge, extra boost over another pay she...

 

0:37:17.0 S2: For a person, then I try to do it.

 

0:37:20.4 S1: Yeah, I appreciate that. What I love is that there's so much congrats between how you show up and what you teach to others...

 

0:37:29.1 S2: Well, I... Did that also be true? I can't... Like I said, I can't sit there in and talk about what you should do if I can't be doing it myself.

 

0:37:38.4 S1: Right, right, right. I feel like that on the farm too, I have team members now who help do a lot of the heavy lifting quite literally many times or waiting or whatever it is, but I've always had that attitude of like, I'm not gonna ask someone to do something that I'm not at least willing to do or haven't done myself at some point... In a moment, I'm gonna ask you more about what foods excite you as we get into summer time, and I know you have a delicious recipe to share with us, but before we do that, I wanna take a quick break and talk about sponsorship of women in food, as I mentioned earlier in our discussion, our local Yelp Buffalo has been a wonderful supporter of women in food programming almost since the beginning video series in 2020. Did you know that you can search for women-owned businesses specifically on Yelp, Support your local women-owned businesses by patronizing them and then writing reviews, download the Yelp app now and use the filter for women-owned businesses to seek them out. Our best sponsors are the growing community of people who are passionate about food and supporting the diversity of women's voices in our food cultures, those sponsors are predominantly people like yourself, rather than companies that wanna sell you things, if you're not a sponsor of women in food, I invite you to become one by joining the women in food community.

 

0:39:00.1 S1: It's super simple, access this community of food lovers like yourself to share an additional resources beyond this podcast to feed your curiosity and love of food, while also supporting the global community of women in food businesses. In this community, we share recipes, swaps the latest news and articles about food, and celebrate one another in our goals and priorities, it's also a place where you get a little bit more access to some of my past podcast guests. This is what the women in food community is about. So whether you're looking for a recipe or women made food product, a new restaurant, or help with your garden, this community is a place for that resource, so if you're interested in sponsoring this podcast, which is free by the way, and becoming a Women in food community member go check it out at women in food dot net for community, and I look forward to chatting further with you in that group. So, chef, Kimberly, as we look to summer, well, where you are, it's probably closer to summer than up here in New York, what's exciting you in food, what's fun for you to cook or put in pastries or whatever, install.

 

0:40:13.1 S2: I'm a very seasonal cooking person, and so when I see berries, peaches are coming out now, that's all to me at this point in time, a year about fruit and vegetables in... I can go to a farmer's market and I can produce out. You don't have to have the meet at this point in time. I just produced produced going on the grill to keep things simple and quick, or a quick sale or whatever, or Masonite marinas varies in something and I'm good to go. Fresh baby spinach. It's all about the fresh... From this point in time, I'm staying in progress, so I love... I'm very... Seems to, in this time, is very easy to be the began a virally.

 

0:40:55.1 S1: Yeah, you said fruits and produce and grilling, and of course, I'm thinking about grilling dinner tonight, but I know Pete's in down there where you are, and I know that grilled Peaches was a thing. Yeah, how the heck do you grill a peach? 'cause I haven't quite figured it out. I see that and

 

0:41:14.5 S2: I'm the person who used to hold the whole... I don't see them, I can skin too, 'cause I realized nutrients are in the skin, but you gotta put low oil on it or make sure you're great, your grills well, very well either way or use the path now, those now, but I like to take the pin out and you can do it and slice it without the pit in it, and it is the whole cross-section and in four pieces of the slice of the Peach, and so can he take it out and then cut each half and half again... Slice hole-wise, and then I put a little oil on it or butter, but some oil, malabon, whatever you're coding, whatever your preference is, and I use that to just get a grill and it's more so about... And you want a pretty fun piece, you don't want it to be solved 'cause soaring that fire, it's kind of like, Yeah, it's gonna be going by to get it all, but you just really wanna get a simple little chart... Grow mark on on it? I do client. And

 

0:42:16.1 S1: So over the direct flame, not off to the side.

 

0:42:18.8 S2: Yeah. Yeah, over direct, it is Vick. And then I like to talk to my... Just a little butter and Orson and from sugar, and it's gonna go on some power take on some ice cream or a cream. Ice cream.

 

0:42:31.2 S1: But I'll always vote ice cream for any disease.

 

0:42:34.2 S2: I also take a pro... Could put that protocol it to get a little texture on a teammate... The fruit. It's great.

 

0:42:43.3 S1: Yeah, and you mentioned about crossing over Petry into savory, what are some favorite ways you like to use fruits in a savory application?

 

0:42:58.3 S2: Oh, well, I'll make a compost, that's... My first thing off the root is a compost or whatever the very cool peach compost on fish or pork, and what is to... Okay, comport is you take the fruit and you cook it down a little bit, it's still got the texture and integrity of the fruit for the most part, but a loser to it and were espace you wanna add that might complement with the food as you're going to serve it with, but it's along the lines of a jam on a little looser and just as much flavor in the fruit and take it or fruit really? It's still there.

 

0:43:37.4 S1: Okay, and then you just put that on, what...

 

0:43:40.4 S2: If I had PPE should be great with some work... I love that attending. And some people do a theory or take some... The watermelon, you get to the water main and toss it up, whatever, and put no ASOS, oh my God, little lines or some limit, whatever, citrus, a couple of herbs in there, watermelon fish, it's so light and the sweetest watermelon, and then the fish pinnate Sam, it would be great. And bats would be awesome it that I think...

 

0:44:16.9 S1: I can see water melon or a fruit with a white fish, for sure. Sure, I think of more of like a citrus or mango or something with a

 

0:44:26.0 S2: A... Oh my God. So I love a mango and a pineapple, some cilantro parsley people... We don't like Spano. My God, I've done that on fish in a port, even with the beef, you're talking about doing three different things or playing stake and all that, Latinos, not me here. Especially if you're gonna be grilling, it's got to grow the pineapple, get a little extra flavor into that when you can compete with the Beefeater. Well.

 

0:44:51.1 S1: Yeah, and actually, in fact, a few episodes ago with Chef already Boxford, we talked about... It was all about papaya. She's talk about using papaya, 'cause a papaya enzymes will actually... What's the word? I can't think of it. To Neisseria, well, it tender eyes on me. So she was just talking about how you could use Profit tender eyes and then adds all that nice flavor to... Definitely, he gave us a recipe for wings, we'll see, but you can't find the Nabataean on Buffalo. I don't think Beals ever gonna run out on chicken winds, that would be like a world tragedy.

 

0:45:31.2 S2: We need to send to some kids that I...

 

0:45:33.8 S1: Anastasius, I got really into cooking wings in the oven driver or them, and so it's like one of my favorite... It's so funny, it started 'cause I had a house met, we don't eat packaged things, but she grew up in this region. She's like, How do we make Buffalo ways without all the stuff and sauces, like how can we do it really clean with real ingredients, and I'm like, I can figure that out, he's... I knew if I asked you, you figured out, so found a great recipe for home buffalo sauce without any pre-yard sauces or anything in... Wow. Yeah, so I pretty much keep wings and containers of Buffalo... My Buffalo wing sauce in the freezer at most times, but that got me started, I would never really cooked wings before that, and I was like, Oh, this is really good.

 

0:46:26.9 S2: It's easy to do. It is antonescu when you know that those fruits in, like keeping Apple or we, and the mango or ciampa and making the oases in there, well tender to meet, break it down, but you in part in the flavor, so... Right, it helps. It's just a winter for everything, be the flavor and haven't attend a piece of me... Oh my God, that's wide.

 

0:46:52.6 S1: You were talking about the compost, I was remembering improv meal, friend of mine, we went strawberry picking in California, and that we made... I think it was like a true coconut sweet potato cakes, like what I would call it, a potato pancake or Latin, separate, a little bit of spring onion, but then we made a strawberry compound on top, it was so good to my God, in our plates. Okay. Definitely a good combo. Coconut, you strawberry comp on top. You mentioned water main, getting into summer, I think watermelons are really great fruit to talk about.

 

0:47:33.4 S2: It is such an economical fruit, especially when it's season, I like that, and you can get a big old water as like... Oh my God, I do.

 

0:47:43.0 S1: Well, a lot of people are intimidated by our water Montano, what tricks can you give us for cutting it up and then dealing with it overall, just dealing with it not...

 

0:47:54.7 S2: It's only children in a house to... And I can only eat so much. Right, but I will buy the big long moments, they're buying water Morice up, 'cause you're paying basically the same price at that point in time, and so I can buy the whole one and then I just take some of the water main stuff, innate Bryan part, and just chop it up and didn't beside tubes and bag it and put in my freezer, 'cause I can always take a lot of million cubes and incorporate it into either a drink of some sort. I love my migrates mothers, we were talking about, or chopping them up here and them up and making a nice cold watermelon, the suit would be great as well. Or

 

0:48:33.6 S1: Like a monastir something?

 

0:48:35.6 S2: Yes, exactly. So for me, what know it doesn't go to waste. Like the whole thing in one time, it would take me more than a week and I want you one every day... Maybe two times.

 

0:48:45.1 S1: But not every day. Yeah, last summer, we had some really hot days and I had some water melon freezer and we put that in the blend... Or what do we add? We added mind and a little bit of extra honey or maple syrup as a little extra sweetener, but didn't much, but a whole bunch of minds and some lime juice and and blender that up and then added some bubbly water to it, that was so good. And then a drop of your favorite vibration few one you go to, but we were a heavy duty farm workers, so we kept it clean, but yeah, I was the best being out in the hot field and then coming into a nice is cold watermelon drink was definitely a treaty.

 

0:49:31.4 S2: You make an area out of it, me out of it, and have a workout variety of watermelon. No, I kinda almost really like... It's a little bit more work, but almost kinda like 'cause it's just more of a natural product and not a hybrid or manufacture it at the seeds really... I really do. I know it's a natural product, and I can think soon, eat the sea.

 

0:49:55.1 S1: I know people toast the anyone, for listeners, if you know what a Maliseet is not gonna grow water mountain, you're Tonawanda, males don't even grow on trees, but it is not gonna grow in your stomach, but they're actually... There's a lot of nutritional value and I don't remember the details in the seeds, and you can... To some, like you would pump in scene and they're real, I just think the same thing on orders, of course, need to booed then I'm sure...

 

0:50:22.3 S2: And I know it. Very interesting. Yeah.

 

0:50:26.4 S1: Yeah, yeah. I was given... I feel like watermen. There's cords in general, water Malabar squash. I feel like as a gardener and farmer, those seeds feel like they carry really deep traditions and really old traditions, and I love the stories, all of the stories of a lot of seeds and varieties, which is why I grow all air loom Fridays of things. Part of why I go, but watermelon, I was gifted from a personal mentor of mine, water melons, she's grown garden and grown food her all life and... Her whole life, but for many, many years, and so she was at a hot springs retreat center, and they had water means that they grew on their own farm there in Santa Fe, I think, and she said it was the most incredible water mom she'd ever eaten her entire life, which is saying something. And so she saved some seeds and she gave to me some in a green last year, and one of my helpers, we took the first taste, and one of my helpers was like Sweet Ambrosia from the guns, was like... That is how sweet was so amazing, I never tasted to warn me like it, now I know I actually wrote to the farm, I'm like, What the heck water main is this, 'cause it's so good.

 

0:51:43.0 S1: And I had different varieties, so I can't save the seeds 'cause of cross pollination, what is this? So I can get more CS, and they told me it was called Sweet Dakota Rose Street, Dakota Rose, looking forward to growing some more, but this year, but there's so many varieties of one of my on, there's big ones or smaller ones, red, yellow, orange.

 

0:52:04.6 S2: I do like if I'm playing with the salad or something like that, then I do like to pick and choose 'cause the colors I just fabulous. But if I'm at ordinal, I just want the main one, the big one, the big pink one

 

0:52:20.4 S1: Yet... Yeah, you have a secret on how to pick a really good ripe on. What's your shuffle tip on that? Yeah.

 

0:52:26.8 S2: You still bump them. And like I say, film. Sure, you want it solved. And still something I'm getting a nice hollow sound too as well...

 

0:52:37.1 S1: Yeah, I just feel like they should feel... When you're picking up, but you feel heavier than it seems for its size...

 

0:52:44.4 S2: Yeah, if you pick it up and it's very light, you want... That was in there.

 

0:52:48.8 S1: Yeah, 'cause the wait is all that water and so... Yeah, so that... And something I... Anushilan, how do I sound Hollow or full? Yeah, there's actually... There's Petra from Fruition seeds, which is a regional seed company up here, she do fun video last year, a couple of years ago called Ping Panton, so it doesn't tell you if any old watermelon is right, but if you're comparing amongst other water melons, you can tell... So if you tap on it and it's like Ping or paying like a higher tone, it's not ready, but then the poem... Like the lower tone, so if you've not done a few of them, you wanna listen Pink pen pal, I want the pond one of that or... I think that's how she could probably talk about, but I'll find the link and I'll put it in the show notes for all of our listeners of the video, 'cause it was a super fun video on how to... And once again, it's not necessarily... I won't tell you that this watermelon is right, but compared to the others, the rapist one of the group will be the is sounding one, so you've got a fun and interesting way to prepare what I'm on for us.

 

0:54:02.0 S1: If I see

 

0:54:04.3 S2: Also all my years of living, I think it was like seven years, I lived in Texas, in Dallas. And so I grew to love my Tex Mex cuisine as well. So I like a little spice grew, but a spice anyway, but this one, I love you using existing POs that are in season, so this watermelon pico de gallo and you can just eat that as a shooter, he did as a salad at that as a compliment to a fish or shrimp, 'cause I am Costa as well, so we get a lot of sections going on around here, bolete oysters when they have season... Oh my God. And it's just, it's a watermelon, it's such a great thing, it's refreshing, but it's got a little bit with... If you put the raw Halpin with it, so between a nice small dice watermelon and then submits red onion, keep deduces with it. And I like the cilantro, but for those who don't like Colonel flatly, partly chopped up is a rout and then test the line and juice half of it, and then just toss it all together and let me get happy for a little bit in the boat and then like I said, serving it as a salad, like some built us or a servant in a cocktail by itself, but a company, fish shrimp or whatever she wanted...

 

0:55:29.7 S1: Yeah. Top of a fish. Taco.

 

0:55:32.5 S2: Okay, so talk. They go, see. So it's just such a great thing to do is different, it's not so finely gonna eat every day, 'cause we do

 

0:55:41.0 S1: Meet as well or just the watermelon instead.

 

0:55:44.4 S2: I have done to battle with it as well, but I just like... I like the Watermelon, I prefer that one by itself, but the man, he's good too, I

 

0:55:50.9 S1: Like... I like to do watermelon, tomato and matara together as a solid. So you get a little sweeter fruit and the more acidic fruit, like a more acidic... To me, that was a... Not a sugar unite, watermelon has the sugar sweet, the tomato has the acid, and then the creamy cheese and the earache... Okay, there you go. See, Makoto, got to go on with watermelon this summer, we're gonna see it all over before you know it would be the next tiktok bad... You start to go right here on women in food podcasting go, so... Yeah, you know what I wanna ask about water mountainside might go down this conversation, I thought it was interesting to celebrate that you're the first woman of color President of ACF, and I thought it was fascinating that the fruit you chose to talk about was watermelon because... And maybe our listeners do or don't know this, watermelon has an interesting history and relationship to racism in America and has been a trope in various ways, and so I was just like... I remember hanging up the phone with our first conversation, I'm like, Wow, that's interesting. Of all the things...

 

0:57:10.3 S1: She chose a watermelon. We're gonna have to talk about this as I'm curious. I can say a little more, but I'm curious your own thought on that or perspective on that...

 

0:57:21.7 S2: Yeah, I know this has a historical nature to a little connotations to it, have been used to integrate and her people, but I came it... That stopped me to be a good product, I just didn't... I distrust and take it that way, I just can't... So I have every stereotype when it comes to watermelon ribs and fried chicken

 

0:57:45.6 S1: As the biggest store tops is damn good food, very. Okay.

 

0:57:50.0 S2: They're... There you go, I'm going to eat this and enjoy it, there nothing you can make me feel guilty about, so I'm gonna take it and keep it in the light, and God made this water out, I'm going to enjoy... Yeah, yeah.

 

0:58:03.8 S1: I appreciate that perspective. I've seen a lot of things, my awareness to that relationship between one of my own racism came through some people who had an uproar about a seed company, and I'm gonna leave names and that kind of thing out, but a seed company that showed a man of color holding a water monitor mount, and people are like, That's so racist. And did, and I thought was interesting because I did a little research, and the person who was holding that watermelon, who wasn't a model, it was like one of the horticulturist for that company, and the water Menard he was holding was like a prize watermelon. He worked really hard to be a valiant. Interesting. Just to flow. And that peaked my curiosity, 'cause I didn't know that watermelon had that kind of potential symbolism, and I was telling you this before we started recording that I thought it was interesting that when you look into the history of watermelons and racism, that it's... How I say that it was something that really represented freedom, they particularly... Right at emancipation. And that was one of the first things that these now freed slaves, America grew to earn their own money and to step in to create freedom for themselves and that...

 

0:59:35.6 S1: But then white people took that stereotype and denigrated it and made it a negative offensive thing, and actually I thought it was really interesting that I found in researching history that it goes further back into Middle Eastern cultures, and just this perception that water mains are kind of messy, and then the rims are left on the floor, just tossed aside and it's dripping down your face and it has no nutritional value necessarily, but it's sugary and delicious and water, and it's cheap, and so there was a connotation that only kind of lovingly unkempt child-like dumb people would eat watermelon, so that perspective came long before America, but certainly has been used in American culture. Unfortunately, I agree.

 

1:00:29.4 S2: True. If it's something that we as something so innocent that people who are allowed to grow and sell and enjoy to be turned into something they were supposed to have Lowell in the out... No, it's food. Any girls and I can eat this.

 

1:00:50.4 S1: Yeah, yeah, and the ability to... I think we were talking about before, the seeds, I think water melons are really easy food to save seeds from so to me, watermelons and most of your cords and squashed represent food sovereignty and the ability to feed yourself because it's so much easier. It's just an easy... It's a really easy... Watermelon and butter, not lawsuits were the first two seats I have received and learned how to say even and replant, and we hit never try. I have been trying to point that if you haven't later, moon, not a modern lanyon hybrid or man, but in Arlington, you can say we need just spin them out to a ball or run some off... Let them dry out. I actually know what I use as a paper and carton and just put them in the cups of the paper had carton and the paper will absorb all the extra moisture Landrieu and then plan the next season now, depending where they were growing, you might get a slightly different watermelon then the one you originally at because there could be cross-pollination and things like that, but how you get all these amazing, interesting varieties, but if you eat a particularly good one, it's like, Oh, save the seats, don't spit them into the lawn.

 

1:02:05.4 S1: That's the one... That's the... Yeah, that's the one, that's the one to a really good one. Save those seeds and see what happens the next year, so it's one of the easiest, so seven to me, like saving is so amazing because how many hundreds of seeds are in one giant water melon, like definitely thousands, and each one of those seeds makes five, 10 15 fruit, that's just such a symbol of abundance that is naturally available to us and that we used to weigh that I remember growing up, I have a little speed at Spin contest, just put them out. Yeah, you're never gonna waste to watermelon seat again, it's food freedom, if you can grow... If you can grow a one piece of food, save the seas and grow it again, you stepped one little step off of the food system cycle.

 

1:02:56.9 S2: Well, that's what I was doing in a awhile, I learned how to take the different season, I've got two avocado pits that are doing very well, and in my yard right now, the tree is about three feet high from last year, I did that with a strawberry piece and that took off pretty good, I did that with them, hoodoo it, I'm not... I was taking seeds and let the writing yet last year and doing this coverages and trying to figure out and find my

 

1:03:27.0 S1: Greenport me, you do that. It's like you are one step less dependent on really harmful food systems.

 

1:03:35.6 S2: Definitely tomatoes. When I learned, I could think of the male seed plant that I am to see, I just took two slices of a Roman tomato and I got to Milstein like, Oh my.

 

1:03:45.1 S1: Oh my God, I got so man's coming out of my compost pile every year because pieces of toil get tossed or the rotting ones get estate, all kinds of unique Fridays, I harvest them and mix them in with what comes to my customers sometimes 'cause they're still a go. Yeah, cool. So I'll ask a couple of questions here. Some lightning round questions. Sort of lightning round questions, I'm curious, being a woman of action and not just top, what are you seeing as your biggest mission or a piece of work here you wanna do as the new ACF president?

 

1:04:23.7 S2: Well, my number one task is to grow membership, we did lose membership over the last two years or a little bit longer, especially what covid didn't help as our industry is still trying to recover in the pandemic, so getting our membership back and growing it is key. I'm focusing on students keeping our students engaged, like I say, we do accreditations from the college level, but once they get out of the college, then get into the field, doesn't make missing. So keeping them engaged, 'cause that's our future. The average agent, an ACF member, is 50. And we need students, the younger ones to take this up and keep going, it's a professional organization, just like any other professional organization, be the doctor, an attorney, or commerce, you have professional organizations where your growth ing or in your education does not stop. And so focusing on students, focus on our membership, growing that and making sure I may be the first, and I said, But not the last female to own this position to their pipeline up, but other ones I... Neurosis on is a well.

 

1:05:34.3 S1: Awesome, well, we hear Wayanad are Syrian support of that. For sure. Yes, I also carry us in a sentence to what... Coming from a long line of powerful women, it sounds like in your family and mentors around you, what do you see as... What you bring to food as a woman, like what your women's perspective on food or anything like that, and

 

1:06:06.4 S2: I have always thought that any time I've watched a TV show and it's a cooking competition, and the person had a baking pastry background that that person had to edge, because of the thought process that they bring to a plate to the finished dish is so different than the average cook, 'cause it is an analytical... There is a process to make an inpatient is a science part, and so I think their analytics of how you prepare and put things together just so much different, the patient Hittites for the sarcoma, so just having the perspective of being one to a minority who has always felt like or thought of less than or got approved myself more, so I bring that... 'cause I understand as a student who grew up in this business and where it like kind of excluded, have chefs older shows and what... Right by you, like you were there. Been there, done that. And so to be more welcoming and embracing of everybody, especially our students, like I said, 'cause I don't waste die out because we're all older and retired. I like it. That we did there to 9, 90 years. I like to have cheers 180 for somebody.

 

1:07:17.6 S2: And so the legacy is making sure that we are an inclusive organization

 

1:07:23.3 S1: To something that women tend to be future relationship in that way, both future and past generations and fostering generations forward and honoring generations back to a... Catherine's a very feminine perspective, I believe, you say

 

1:07:43.9 S2: Well, yeah, 'cause every time I have taught in culinary classes and my classes have always been majority of women, but we don't translate that into leadership positions, and there's reasons why it could be child care, it can be... The message, attitudes of a lot of people still in this organization, so in this business, and so how do you address that? How do we help foster and mentor Lavinia they can have the pathway to success to be leaders, to take the rope, it's kind of hard to do that to work a 12-hour day if you got a fire in the house, and so we gotta find ways to help women be more successful in this business...

 

1:08:24.5 S1: Well, I think that was a great note to complete one, can really thank you so much for sharing your stories, your passion for watermelon and RESP with us today. And your vision for the future, I appreciate all of that. And to all of our listeners, I hope you enjoyed this episode of women in food and got a bit of inspiration for your next meal. The 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 quick act that helps us a ton. Once again, thank you for accompany me on this delicious adventure, try me around the table for our next episode and get ready to eat a

Previous
Previous

#11 | Sarah Klein: Food As Art As Food + Olive Oil Cake

Next
Next

#9 | Heather Fukase: Innovation vs. Tradition + All Things Rice