Why Food?

Join co-host Ethan for a conversation with Jose Alvarez, founder of treestar*. Jose is a native New Yorker and entrepreneur who has always been excited by social psychology and consumer behavior. Has worked in law, wine importing, and most recently started treestar*, a feel-good, experience driven soap and candle company with a mission to spread love, not germs. Why Food? is powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Join cohosts Vallery and Ethan for a conversation with activist, model and chef DeVonn Francis. DeVonn is a queer, first-generation Jamaican-American artist with a background in design and performance studies. He founded Yardy in fall 2017 as a way to investigate his own role in Caribbean culture and to encourage others to seek joy and celebration in their own identities. Since then, Yardy has gone on to create brand campaigns, develop activations, and redefine and reaffirm the importance of food and culture. Learn about how DeVonn has blended his wide range of experiences to build a company that engages on important issues through both food and design.Why Food  is powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Join co-hosts Vallery and Ethan for a conversation with Priyanka Naik. Born and raised as a first generation Indian-American in Staten Island, she is a self-taught cook who entered and won the top prize on Food Network's Cooks vs Cons. Priyanka has been featured in GQ, works with several food brands and contributes to the largest digital food publishers including The FeedFeed and Tastemade.Why Food  is powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Join cohosts Vallery and Ethan for a conversation with Ben Simon, Founder & CEO of Ben to Table, a food subscription service. After a career in political campaigns with Greenpeace, Amnesty International and Unicef, Ben launched an online food subscription company for avid home cooks. Listen in on his career story and how he's combined his interests in politics, environmental sustainability and food!Why Food is powered by Simplecast.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Join Vallery and Ethan for a conversation with Sufia Hossain, Founder & CEO of Silly Chilly Hot Sauce. Sufia left a successful career as a fashion industry executive after realizing the damaging impact of clothing manufacturing on the environment and communities around factories. She started making hot sauce in her home kitchen to share with her coworkers, and Silly Chilly Hot Sauce was born. She sources peppers from local NJ farmers to make unique, delicious hot sauces that are good for farmers and customers.Why Food is powered by Simplecast. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Join cohosts Vallery and Ethan for a fascinating conversation with Rahim Diallo, co-founder of Ginjan Brothers, a line of ginger juice and a new cafe in east Harlem. His career path has taken him from materials sciences to bartending to launching is current company with his brother.Why Food? is powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Shannon Roddy is an Amazon expert, specializing in helping food business launch and scale on the Amazon marketplace. Join cohosts Vallery and Ethan for an enlightening conversation about how food entrepreneurs can use the reach and popularity that Amazon provides to build their businesses. Why Food is powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode was pre-recorded. Vallery Lomas sat down with Alex Berkley, Frieda Caplan's granddaughter and Head of Sales for Frieda's Produce. Frieda's Produce is a unicorn of sorts-- a business started by Frieda Caplan when she introduced the "Chinese Gooseberry" (which she later renamed the "kiwifruit") to the United States produce market in 1962. During the beginning of Alex's career, she faced the decision that so many children and grandchildren of small businesses face: "Do I go into the family business, or do I do something else?"Alex grew up around produce--attending trade shows and doing just about everything to help her mom run the business. In this episode, she shares how she used her college experience and internships with other companies in her decision to remain in the food business and carry the torch that her grandmother started nearly 6 decades before.Frieda Caplan, founder of Frieda's Specialty Produce, passed away on January 18, 2020 at age 96.Image courtesy of Alex BerkleyWhy Food? is power

Welcome back! Vallery and Ethan speak with David Mawhinney, chef and founder of Franklin + Emily, a children's furniture company. Unlike most of our guests, David has pivoted away from the food industry while using the skills he developed in Michelin-starred kitchens.Why Food? is powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Join cohost Ethan for a conversation with Chef Woldy Reyes, founder of catering company Woldy Kusina. Woldy came to New York City for a career in fashion, starting in the editorial departments of Nylon and Elle and later working for designer Phillip Lim. Join us for a conversation about his career path through fashion to food, and how he expresses identity through his food.The holiday season is all about food and community. There’s no better time to show your support for food radio by becoming a member! Lend your voice and help HRN continue to spreading the message of equitable, sustainable, and delicious food – together, we can change minds and build a better food system. Go to heritageradionetwork.org/donate  today to become a crucial part of the HRN community.Why Food is powered by Simplecast. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Join cohosts Vallery and Ethan for a conversation with Chef Hannah Wong of Van Da, a modern Vietnamese restaurant in NYC's East Village. Before beginning her culinary career, Hannah was a Fulbright scholar and editorial assistant at Harvard University Press. After switching gears and returning to school to pursue a culinary degree at Johnson & Wales, she worked at Daniel Boulud’s dB bistro Moderne and Gramercy Tavern before being tapped to help run the kitchen at Battersby. She has also appeared on Food Network’s Chopped and Beat Bobby Flay. Since 2017 she has been the Executive Chef of Real Food Catering. In March, she and owner Yen Ngo opened Van Đa, a modern Vietnamese restaurant in the East Village. It received one star from Pete Wells in the NYT and was recognized as a Bib Gourmand by the Michelin Guide.The holiday season is all about food and community. There’s no better time to show your support for food radio by becoming a member! Lend your voice and help HRN continue to spreading the message of e

Join cohost Vallery for a conversation with Janet McCracken and Joseph Hernandez. We discuss how to balance our time and energy as freelancers, while still working on larger projects that are important to us. Over the past 20 years, Janet McCracken has served as an editor, recipe developer, and recipe tester at a variety of publications, including the Los Angeles Times, Bon Appetit, and Rachael Ray Every Day. She believes in the zen of pie-making, that ice cream is the perfect food, and that sharing a meal with family and friends is the finest way to spend any part of the day.  She splits her time between NYC and Connecticut. Joseph Hernandez is an award-winning freelance editor and writer. He previously served as the deputy editor of food and dining at the Chicago Tribune, senior travel editor at Thrillist, and most recently as senior editor at SevenFifty Daily, overseeing coverage of the wine and spirits industries. A proud Chicagoan, he resides in Brooklyn home with his husband and hedgehog.Why Food? is po

Join cohosts Vallery & Ethan for a conversation with Benjamina Ebuehi, Quarterfinalist of the Great British Baking Show and author of the new cookbook The New Way to Cake. We discuss Benjamina's previous career in education, her competition on the Great British Baking Show and her more recent work, both on the book and with the social enterprise Luminary Bakery.Why Food? is powered by Simplecast.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Join cohosts Vallery & Ethan for a conversation with Denise Woodard, founder of Partake Foods. Denise had a career with huge corporate food companies but when her young daughter developed serious food allergies, she decided to launch her own allergen-free line of cookies. Tune in to hear Denise's story, and how she wound up with Jay Z as an investor in her company!Why Food? is powered by Simplecast.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Join co-hosts Vallery and Ethan for a conversation about alternative paths to food media. Our guests this week are Majed Ali: law school graduate, amateur baker and winner of the 2018 Saveur Blog of the Year, and Rachel Gurjar: former marketer and Test Kitchen Manager at thefeedfeed. We'll talk about their career paths, translating recipes across cultures and cuisines, and the role of new media in teaching people to cook.Join Heritage Radio Network on Monday, November 11th, for a raucous feast to toast a decade of food radio. Our tenth anniversary bacchanal is a rare gathering of your favorite chefs, mixologists, storytellers, thought leaders, and culinary masterminds. We’ll salute the inductees of the newly minted HRN Hall of Fame, who embody our mission to further equity, sustainability, and deliciousness. Explore the beautiful Palm House and Yellow Magnolia Café, taste and imbibe to your heart’s content, and bid on once-in-a-lifetime experiences and tasty gifts for any budget at our silent auction. Tickets

Join cohosts Vallery and Ethan for a conversation with Klancy Miller and Rochelle Oliver. Klancy is a pastry chef and cookbook author, and her book is Cooking Solo: The Fun of Cooking For Yourself. Rochelle is a journalist and the editor of IslandandSpice.com, an online magazine covering Carribbean cuisine. They'll share the stories of their careers in (and out) of food media and discuss the state of food writing today!Join Heritage Radio Network on Monday, November 11th, for a raucous feast to toast a decade of food radio. Our tenth anniversary bacchanal is a rare gathering of your favorite chefs, mixologists, storytellers, thought leaders, and culinary masterminds. We’ll salute the inductees of the newly minted HRN Hall of Fame, who embody our mission to further equity, sustainability, and deliciousness. Explore the beautiful Palm House and Yellow Magnolia Café, taste and imbibe to your heart’s content, and bid on once-in-a-lifetime experiences and tasty gifts for any budget at our silent auction. Tickets a

Join co-host Vallery Lomas for a special conversation with Aaron Hutcherson, a writer, editor, and recipe developer based in New York City. He obtained a master's degree in finance and worked on Wall Street when he decided to take the leap and start an evening and weekends culinary program at the French Culinary Institute. He now works for Robert Parker Wine Advocate and MICHELIN Guide US producing digital content and helping manage social media for both publications, maintains a recipe blog, The Hungry Hutch, Saveur Blog Awards 2019 nominee, and contributes to a variety of other publications on a freelance basis. Previous employers include Tasting Table, Food Network, Food Arts, and more.Join Heritage Radio Network on Monday, November 11th, for a raucous feast to toast a decade of food radio. Our tenth anniversary bacchanal is a rare gathering of your favorite chefs, mixologists, storytellers, thought leaders, and culinary masterminds. We’ll salute the inductees of the newly minted HRN Hall of Fame, who embo

Join co-host Vallery Lomas for a special conversation with former attorneys, Nisha Vora & Jessie Sheehan, as we celebrate our 100th episode! These three women all turned in their pant suits and legal pads to focus full time on food writing, Instagram and publishing cookbooks.Nisha Vora is a cookbook author, food blogger, and food photographer. After graduating from Harvard Law School and working as a lawyer for four years, she launched a career in her dream world of food by creating RainbowPlantLife, a popular vegan Instagram account, blog, and YouTube channel. Nisha is a Californian at heart but has lived in New York City for the last seven years, where she resides with her partner in Park Slope, Brooklyn.Jessie Sheehan is a cookbook author, food writer, recipe developer, and baker. She is the author of The Vintage Baker (one of the Washington Post’s best cookbooks of 2018) and the co-author of Icebox Cakes (both published by ChronicleBooks). She has contributed recipes/and or written for Rachael Ray Eve

Join cohost Vallery for a conversation with Kanchan Koya. Kanchan has a doctorate in Molecular Biology from Harvard Medical School and training from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. While studying DNA repair as a PhD student, Kanchan’s lab began studying the cancer-fighting powers of curcumin, the active compound in the ancient spice, turmeric. This sparked Kanchan’s interest in the science-backed health benefits of spices, which she had grown up enjoying on a daily basis in India. Upon becoming a mother, she founded Spice Spice Baby, a platform dedicated to shedding light on the healing potential of spices, demystifying them for a global audience, and inspiring their use in food for the whole family. Kanchan’s recipes are original, eclectic, nutritious, and packed with spice. She is part of the Creators Program at Buzzfeed Tasty creating recipes and digital content for a global audience of millions. Kanchan recently launched the Momlightpodcast and platform helping mothers feel their best using cuttin

Join cohost Ethan Frisch for a conversation with Monica Lozano and Daniel Reza. They're partners and the cofounders of La Rifa Chocolateria in Mexico City, working with Mexican cacao farmers to reclaim their country's ancient traditions of eating and drinking pure chocolate. Hear their stories of starting and building the company, building relationships with cacao farmers in southern Mexico and changing the way that modern Mexican citizens engage with their past. Why Food?  is powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.