BEM Books & More is a bookstore in downtown Brooklyn that exclusively sells Black food literature – cookbooks, foreign literature, novels, children's books, photo books, and any book that has rich, sumptuous descriptions of food. Jade sits with Gabrielle and Danielle Davenport, the sisters behind the first-of-its-kind bookshop. To learn more about BEM Books and more, please visit bembrooklyn.com
At the end of the journey, back in Brooklyn, and putting all the pieces together. Season 2 host Jade Verette (@JadeofallJades) sits down with Black food historian, Soul Food Scholar, and host of Season 1, Adrian Miller, to make sense of all that she’s encountered over the course of her travels, and why Black food writing lies at the center of it all. Jade also sits down with Chala June to discuss why Black food writing is an act of resistance as much as it is an expression of love.
In addition to being a non-profit founder, executive director, community leader and recipient of very many awards, Kelly Carlisle is also incredibly funny. Hear her tell the story of the time she met President Obama at the White House under the most unexpected of circumstances.
We all know that food is more than food. It’s medicine – for the body, the soul, the heart…and for the community? The future? The wounds of the past? Host Jade Varette (@JadeofallJades) chases some sunshine in California and meets with two women harnessing the healing power of food in transformative ways: Kelly Carlisle – founder and Executive Director of Acta Non Verba: Youth Urban Farm Project out of Oakland – who is rewriting the narrative around the youth of her community, and chef/artist/Black Food Futurist Nia Lee, who is creating radical sites of healing and joy for Black queer femmes.
To keep up with ANV news, follow them @anv_farm. You can donate to the mission at anvfarm.org/. To follow Nia on her journey, find her on Instagram at @nialeeomg and @stormesupperclub.
Before their interview, Marlon takes Jade on a tour through HiFi Mycology, where he does his daily mushroom shopping. In between descriptions of his favorite mushrooms, the Plant Based G drops some delicious cooking tips, bodybuilding wisdom, and other insights he’s gathered along the way.
Jade’s (@Jadeofalljades) journey through the South has so far brought her closer to community, closer to family, and now…closer to body? In this episode, vegan chefs Folami Geter of A Peace of Soul Vegan Kitchen in Columbia, SC, and Marlon Rison of Community Vegan in Austin, TX, share how they came to the plant-based lifestyle, what’s keeping them there, and how it connects us to each other and our history in unexpected ways.
Follow Folami’s restaurant on Instagram @peaceofsoulsc and Marlon’s food truck @communityvegan to learn more. And to learn more about Hi-Fi Mycology, check out https://www.hifimyco.com/.
After their conversation, Rollen took Jade and the team on a tour of Turnbridge Plantation, where they met up with alligators and birds and poops of all kind.
In our next stops on this road trip, we go straight to the heart of the Lowcountry to learn about two ancient and storied grains making big waves today: fonio and Carolina Gold rice. At James Island, our host Jade (@JadeofallJades) chats with matriarch in the making, Amethyst Ganaway (@thizzg) of Yolélé, about the so-called seed of the universe, before heading further south to Hardeeville, where she meets with master rice grower, Rollen Chalmers of Rollen’s Raw Grains (@RollensRawGrains). We may be far from home now, but Jade finds herself closer to her roots than ever before…
To learn more about Yolélé’s mission, head to Yolele.com. And to purchase Carolina Gold rice from Rollen himself, head to RollensRawGrains.com.
KJ Kearney is the charismatic, community-oriented influencer driven by the love of his people. He may be behind the James Beard nominated @BlackFoodFridays TikTok and Instagram accounts, but what drives him goes much deeper than what you can find on the internet. Jade (@JadeofallJades) spends the day with him in Charleston and Savannah, and chats with him to find out how (and why) he’s making sense of social in this day and age.
This is the story of the Williams family and their business, Delta Dirt Distillery, in Helena, Arkansas, the only Black farm-to-bottle distiller in the country, and the only ones turning sweet potatoes into spirits.
To purchase merch, and for more information, head to DeltaDirtDistillery.com
The Soul Food Scholar, Adrian Miller, interviews Ms. B.J. Chester-Tamayo, cookbook author and owner of Alcenia’s Desserts & Preserves Shop in Memphis, TN.
With the help of our friends at the Lee Initiative and the Southern Restaurants for Racial Justice Coalition, we announced the 71 Fellows of the Black Kitchen Initiative Black-owned restaurant grants. With this podcast, we dive a little deeper into 6 of their stories. Learn more about the Black Kitchen Initiative at BlackKitchenInitiative.com.
Cover art by Lo Harris.
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