Published Work Archives - Page 6 of 23

The Global Cooking Class That Promotes Diplomacy

January 22, 2025March 30, 2016

National Geographic

“The Plate,” National Geographic • March 30, 2016

When Razi Jafri, an Indian-American from Detroit, saw a Facebook post about a cooking class with an Iranian chef, he knew he wanted in on it. “I love cooking for people and I love looking at different types of cuisine,” he said. Plus, said Jafri, a fellow with micro lender Kiva, he was fascinated by Persian food and diplomacy; he’d followed the Iran nuclear deal closely. This would be perfect.

The catch? It required an application, and if Jafri made the cut, there would be no trip to a formal kitchen. Instead, he’d share a lesson over a Google Hangout with eight or nine others.

Organic Foods Still Aren’t As Mass Market As You Might Think

January 22, 2025March 28, 2016

National Public Radio (NPR)

“The Salt,” National Public Radio • March 28, 2016

Organic food has gone majorly mainstream, right? Wal-Mart has been driving down the price of organic with an in-house organic line. Whole Foods has begun experimenting with cheaper stores to catch up. And the increase in sales of organic food has dramatically outpaced that of conventional food. What’s more, 30 percent of shoppers report an interest in paying more for organic food — and a significant interest even in low-income neighborhoods. Given all that, it’s easy to assume that organic has become just as common in downmarket groceries as in upscale ones.

But a recent study in the Journal of Food Products Marketing suggests that the growth of organics might not be so diversified.

2 Breakfasts May Be Better Than None For School Kids

January 22, 2025March 17, 2016

National Public Radio (NPR)

“The Salt,” National Public Radio • March 17,2016

When it comes to school breakfasts, two is better than none, says a new report released Thursday in the journal Pediatric Obesity.

Researchers tracked nearly 600 middle-school students from fifth to seventh grade, looking to see if students ate no breakfast; ate breakfast at home or school; or ate both — and whether that affected obesity rates. The result: Weight gain among students who ate “double-breakfast” was no different than that seen among all other students. Meanwhile, the risk of obesity doubled among students who skipped breakfast or ate it inconsistently.

African Diet, Jobs Will Be Hit Hard by Climate Change

January 22, 2025March 11, 2016

National Geographic

“The Plate,” National Geographic • March 11, 2016

Corn, beans and bananas could start to disappear from sub-Saharan Africa—where those crops are among the most important for local consumption—by century’s end. The culprit? Climate change.

Urban Farms Fuel Idealism. Profits? Not So Much

January 22, 2025March 7, 2016

National Public Radio (NPR)

“The Salt,” National Public Radio • Mar. 7, 2016

Pick a farm trend in the past decade and urban agriculture is likely to top the list. But for all the timely appeal of having a little house on the urban prairie, the practice often raises a simple question: Can anyone earn a living doing it?

The SNAP Gap: Benefits Aren’t Enough To Keep Many Recipients Fed

January 22, 2025March 3, 2016

National Public Radio (NPR)

Read the original on NPR. Nearly one-third of households on SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, still have to visit a food pantry to keep themselves fed, according to data highlighted this week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 2014, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program supported 23 million American households. The same year, 32 … Read more

Farmers Work a Second Shift to Supplement Income

January 22, 2025February 25, 2016

National Geographic

“The Plate,” National Geographic • Feb. 25, 2016

The “average” American farmer earns an income above most Americans—but that’s often because they’re hustling in a second-job off the farm, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture last week.

What It’s Like to Live With Only Bottled Water

January 22, 2025February 17, 2016

National Geographic

National Geographic News • Feb. 17, 2016

Nine-year-old Kaniya Fuqua-Strickland fidgets as the adults talk about her memory loss. Flint born and raised—just like her mother, a nurse’s aide—Kaniya leans forward on her long legs. She pivots against the kitchen table and shifts her gaze from morning cartoons to the floor to her grandmother, who is holding forth a few feet away.

“Kaniya is a child that …” begins her grandma, Gail Fuqua, mother to five and grandmother to 14.

“The memory loss!” Kaniya’s mom, Felecia Waters, interrupts.

Some Restaurateurs Are Building Better Benefits Into Food Jobs

January 22, 2025February 2, 2016

National Geographic

“The Plate,” National Geographic • Feb. 2, 2016

The eggs and flour at Rose’s Fine Food, a diner on Detroit’s deep east side, are local. The bread and mustard, the donuts and pickles and beets, are all made in-house. The lunch menu offers a $13.75 rabbit sandwich; the chef apprenticed at San Francisco’s famed Tartine bakery; and there is a well-worn Ottolenghi book among the stack of cookbooks displayed on a kitchen shelf. In this, Rose’s is unmistakably a trendy kind of place.

But Rose’s is also becoming known for a new kind of trend: Paying restaurant workers a decent wage and offering opportunity for advancement.

‘Forked’ Rates Restaurants On How They Treat Their Workers

January 22, 2025February 2, 2016

National Public Radio (NPR)

“The Salt,” National Public Radio • Feb. 2, 2016

Saru Jayaraman may be restaurant obsessed, but don’t call her a foodie. She’s the founding director of the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, a national organization that advocates for better wages and working conditions for restaurant workers. She’s also published several studies in legal and policy journals as director of the Food Labor Research Center at the University of California-Berkeley.

The combination of grassroots and ivory tower makes Jayaraman arguably one of the country’s leading experts on what it’s like to live as a restaurant worker in America. She’s someone celebrity restaurateur Danny Meyer turned to as he decided to banish tipping at some of his restaurants to try and close the pay gap between what his servers and dishwashers make.