EVST 315: Food Studies

This podcast explores Samin Nosrat’s work to educate people on food, culture, and cooking as a whole; While demonstrating this through her intrinsic practice with food, rather than the typical view of cuisine from Americans. She is the author of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, the James Beard Award-winning cookbook that became a New York Times bestseller and a Netflix Documentary series. We see how her upbringing as an American-Iranian shaped her views on culinary practices, and her groundbreaking moment at “Chez Panisse” —Which confirmed her decision to follow her dreams in the cooking world. This eventually brought her to Italy, learning from top-class chefs on cooking and the holistic ways of culinary food. It was soon enough until she came to a realization to the main pillars to cooking—Salt, Fat, Acid, and Heat. This is what motivated her journey to becoming a best-selling author and part of Netflix series. This way, she had the opportunity to educate Americans of the intrinsic nature of cooking, and how cultures are deeply important in learning about these techniques. These four pillars are intrinsic and natural to many cultures around the world, and her realization came to teaching Americans about this. In her Netflix series, she travels to Italy, Mexico, California and Japan and integrates her four groundbreaking pillars to each tradition. Samin also puts an emphasis on community and bringing people together when it comes to food—and what that really means. Her perspective on food and understanding culinary cuisine serves a great guide for Americans to learn through her lens—and what it means to cook with love. All around the world, we see how culinary food is brought from generational knowledge, where the core values and skillset is intrinsic. Samin Nostrat serves as the educator to Americans who never got to gain this perspective of food growing up. Her work gives the audience an opportunity to shift from marketing muppets of the industrial food system, to learning behind what food really is at its core—the intrinsic values that bring people to health and longevity.

This podcast explores Amirah Mitchell’s early life and how it informed her career path as well as the practice of seed keeping itself. The goal of this podcast is to inform the listener about seed keeping with the life and experiences of Amirah Mitchell as a guide. Her journey from being a young child playing in the forest to an apprentice seed keeper to founder and owner of Sistah Seeds is not only inspiring but informative. The podcast takes the listener through Mitchell’s life, stopping at major events to expand and connect to broader ideas. There were a few events that were crucial to Mitchell’s development and career path, specifically her experience speaking with Ben Burkett and subsequent shift towards seed keeping. Her education at Temple University in horticulture gave her the skills necessary to work at both Truelove Seeds and Greens-grow Farms. Utilizing work experience and education as stepping stones, Mitchell started her own business, Sistah Seeds, in 2021. The business is young and she is looking to move her farm to land with a richer Black community. An undercurrent that follows through the entire podcast is seeds as resistance and connection to culture and history. Also included in the podcast is a short explanation of how to seed save at home as well as resources available for more in depth information.

J.I. Rodale emphasizes the vital connection between organic farming, soil health, and public well-being. While some of his health claims may be met with skepticism and should be met with skepticism, he raises an important point—everyone should be conscious of what they consume, where it comes from, and how it’s grown. Healthy soil leads to healthier food, which ultimately supports a healthier society. As the old saying goes, “You are what you eat.”