Last week I attended a thought provoking panel hosted by CUESA at the Ferry Building with the Golden Gate Bridge as the beautiful backdrop. Stephen Satterfield writer in residence for Food52 + so much more moderated the panel. Evelyn Rangel-Medina of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, Ediwn Carmona-Cruz of La Raza Centro Legal, Amelia Moore of Union of Concerned Scientists, and Leslie mah of Nourish|Resist graced the panel and shared their thoughts.

The content was action oriented; the speakers talked about how to get involved, who to reach out to, and organizations and people they look to as a north star. Here are some snippets from the night:

Good food comes with good practise. – Edwin

If you make less money you have less to spend on good food. Let us make access to good food ‘even’. – Edwin

It’s important ask ourselves: “how can the food movement intersect with the social justice movement?” – Amelia

How are the condition of people who harvest and prepare our food? – Evelyn

The labour in the food industry is reliant on People of Colour and Immigrants. – Evelyn

80% of the people in the front of the house [restaurants] are white men making most of the money. The back of the house is people of colour and immigrants, working in the worst conditions making significantly less. – Evelyn.

In the food movement if we can create demand for organic, local, sustainable, we can also create demand for racial equity. – Evelyn.

When we eat, we share a table, we are the same. That table can be local, national, the world. Food connects us as equals. -Leslie

-Divya

When I think about shopping in the 16th and 17th century, my Hollywood tainted imagination starts stirring up images of trading posts owned by old men with white hair, general stores that smell like horses, and markets on the streets.

I was not entirely off. In 16th and 17th century North America you would do your shopping and ordering at the general store. In Europe, markets and smaller general stores were the norm.

But, before all of this “in-person” buying and selling, most of the Western World also dabbled in a different method of retail: the mail-order* catalog.

*Mail Order traditionally, was the process of selecting an item through a catalog, sending the company your order along with cash for the product plus shipping through post. You would receive your product by post in the following weeks.

The first catalog ever published is older than your great grandparents.

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Originally posted on: The Ooomf Blog

Re-posted on: Life Hacker and Medium

When I went to university I ended up in a discipline (Sociology) that I surprisingly loved. I read the most fascinating books (such as this one, this, this, and this), my perspective on the world changed, and I got advice from some really smart people.

But I realized early on that the credentials I was going to graduate with were probably worth little in the real world.

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