Food: Four Short Talks brings community to the table – Dailyuw

On Thursday, the UW Alumni Association (UWAA) hosted a diverse range of panelists to speak on the topic of food from a wide variety of perspectives. Food: Four Short Talks was an event that was the first of its kind.

The event was collaboratively built with all the panelists in order to reflect the diverse and unique experiences involved with food, according to UWAA senior director Ellen Whitlock Baker.

The whole thing is new, Baker said. Weve never done anything like this.

All of the panelists for Food Talks were either UW faculty or UW alumni. Senior lecturer Anita Verna Crofts, kicked off the night by sharing her experiences as a visual communication trainer to Syrians in Turkey. The talk also showcased speakers Laurie and Leslie Coaston, restauranteurs and former owners of The Kingfish Cafe in Capitol Hill; My Tam Nguyen, tastemaker; and Branden Born, UW professor of urban design and planning.

In her talk, Crofts shared her reflections on a comparison between her breakfast in Turkey and a students breakfast in the Syrian war zone.

In extreme circumstances, meals and the mundane take on an added significance, Crofts said. Who you eat with and what you eat defines who you are, your taste, and your kinship ties. You could also see it as an act of resolve, [as in] You can bomb my city, but Im going to start my day with my tea and my wife and my two kids.

Though the training was in Turkey, her student was stuck in Syria due to closed borders. The sense of both strength and fragility from her students breakfast perfectly captured Crofts teaching philosophy of turning what is most personal into meaningful narrative.

For these visual communication trainings, my goal is to take that vulnerability and transform it into stories that show optimism and show a certain sense of resilience in what is sometimes the most excruciating, profoundly sorrowful point in a persons life, Crofts said.

While Crofts talk focused on foods potential as fodder for compelling storytelling, Nguyens talk raised pressing questions about the local food community in Seattle.

As an immigrant from Vietnam, the Vietnamese community in Little Saigon was reminiscent of the close community Nguyen experienced in her childhood. Though the Vietnamese community in Seattle gave her a sense of a home-away-from-home as a newcomer, the local Seattle Asian American community today faces some challenges.

According to Nguyen, the recent Womens March was beautiful, but it coincided with the busiest shopping weekend for Chinatown, the International District, and Little Saigon, disrupting small businesses and restaurants.

Its a moment of reflection for our community: What happens when our values clash? Nguyen said. How can we share space and build community? How can we be intentional about building these spaces together and share this community together?

Nguyen wasnt the only panelist asking difficult questions about how to sustain food communities. Restauranteurs Laurie and Leslie Coaston enjoyed close-knit ties with The Kingfish Cafes staff and patrons for the nearly 20 years it was open, but closed it in January 2015 when their rent increased by 68 percent due to the local neighborhood development.

We were always this huge family, Coaston said. It was an amazing place to be, and Id love to see those kinds of places remain in the city. But with it being so expensive, our question is, how do you do that? How do we keep those businesses, those communities strong and vibrant?

Professor Branden Borns talk about the intricacies of the global food system concluded the night, followed by a Q&A session between audience members and panelists focusing on food citizenship.

Heres the problem: The food system, that which brings that food to you and everybody else in cities around the world every day, is super complicated, Born said. Its a really complex thing, and its not working for you.

Born emphasized the importance of being informed food citizens who know where food comes from. Some practical ways for being a good food citizen he shared were to grow your own food, learn about the food that you eat, and be aware of how the food system operates. He also encouraged audience members to support local nonprofit food organizations involved in food advocacy, such as the Food Empowerment Education Sustainability Team.

The most political decision you make every day is what you eat, Nguyen said. Be active. Show up. Be a citizen with your dollars, but also with your heart, and your hands, and your feet.

Reach contributing writer Cecilia Too at development@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @ceciliatooo

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Food: Four Short Talks brings community to the table - Dailyuw