84: Anti-Racism in Dietetic Practice and Training with Gurneet K. Dhami

November 24, 2020

We’ve talked on the show before about how there are a lot of really white-centric connotations around the idea of “Canadian” food – a lot of people say there’s no such thing as Canadian food, or joke about poutine… and those whitewashing tactics in our food landscape are woven in more insidious ways into the fabrics of how nutrition and dietetics are taught and understood.

My guest today is Gurneet Kaur Dhami, a settler of Panjabi-Sikh descent travelling between Kanadario and Mi’lma’ki as she completes her Masters of Science in Applied Human Nutrition at Mount Saint Vincent University. She is currently completing her studies to become a dietitian and her thesis focus is on the experiences of racialized dietitians in Canada.

Gurneet is on the show today to share some of her work and knowledge on the main issues that racialized dietiticians face – not just in being dieticians but also in the process of becoming dieticians, and how the racist structures guiding nutrition and diet studies perpetuate racism and food security issues for BIPOC communities seeking nutritional guidance.

Gurneet’s approaches to social justice and anti-oppression work within the many communities she works in are so multi-faceted, and I am really excited to share this conversation with you!

Learn More About Gurneet:

Website: https://www.gurneetkdhami.com/
Support Gurneet on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/gurneetkdhami
Instagram: @gurneetkdhami
Twitter: @GurneetKDhami

83: Diners, Dudes, & Diets with Dr. Emily Contois

November 16, 2020

The phrase “dude food” likely brings to mind a range of very specific images: burgers stacked impossibly high with an assortment of toppings that were themselves once considered a meal, crazed sports fans demolishing radioactively hot wings, barbecued or bacon wrapped…anything. But there is SO much more to the phenomenon of dude food than how outrageous the plate looks.

My guest this week, Dr. Emily Contois, is an Assistant Professor of Media Studies at the University of Tulsa. Dr. Contois is here to explore dude food and chat about her fresh out this week book, Diners, Dudes, and Diets: How Gender and Power Collide in Food Media and Culture. Her book begins with the dude himself – the man who retains masculine privileges but doesn’t meet traditional standards of economic and social success.

Dr. Contois explores how the Great Recession’s aftermath contributed to this collision of dude masculinity and food producers and markets, and the lasting impact this gendering of food has had on food production, consumption, and informs the way we carry out our personal identity contests and media lives.

She is truly one of my absolute favourite food researchers out there – I mean she has papers out that explore Guy Fieri’s Flavourtown, and she’s got these accessible syllabi and reading lists for food media studies that really get the weird ways social media and Instagram have interacted with our own identities, so suffice to say I’ve been very excited to share this interview!

Learn More about Dr. Contois

Get a copy of her book, Diners, Dudes, and Diets!
Website: https://emilycontois.com
Twitter: @EmilyContois

82: How to Start a Feminist Restaurant with Dr. Alex Ketchum

November 9, 2020

With much attention finally being paid to sexual harassment and labour issues within the restaurant industries, it’s easy to view restaurant and food culture simply as being rooted in misogyny and patriarchy. But there are many feminist restaurant and coffeehouse spaces, some incredibly long standing, that serve to really challenge the structures and spaces we operate in. So what does a feminist coffeehouse or restaurant look like?

My guest this week, Dr. Alex Ketchum, is here to unpack that question more. Dr. Ketchum is currently a faculty lecturer at the Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies at McGill University. Her doctoral dissertation from McGill focused on feminist restaurants, cafes, and coffeehouses in the United States and Canada from 1972-1989. Searching through women’s lesbian, and gay travel archives, she creates a data base that built a series of maps showing where American and Canadian feminist restaurants and cafes were located. She has a newly launched DIY guidebook, How to Start a Feminist Restaurant, that gleans the lessons of what makes an intentional feminist restaurant space work, and what to consider.

Today she’s on the show to explore some of the key findings from her research, and how she used them to launch the feminist restaurant project website to share her findings to highlight how past feminist restaurant owners navigated gender and racial barriers to opening restaurants, and what these takeaways can offer for today’s feminist communities.

Get Social with Dr. Ketchum!

Website: www.alexketchum.ca
Twitter: @aketchum22

81: Changing Your Mind About Veggies, One Soup at a Time with Carolyn Davenport-Moncel of Simply Souperlicious

October 27, 2020

Today is our first real episode of the 6th season! Thank you all for joining me here today, it really means the world to share these conversations with you, and especially so when we’re all living in these very difficult new realities and a changed world, that you take the time to tune in.

My guest this week is Carolyn Davenport-Moncel. Carolyn is an American expat and Chicago native, who wears many, many hats as a writer, entrepreneur, digital marketing professional, mum of two, and Souper-in-Chief at Simply Souperlicious. Simply Souperlicious is a food recipe website, app, and community that is devoted to converting those veggie haters into veggie lovers – one local, seasonal, homemade soup at a time. Carolyn carries a wealth of knowledge and experience in digital media and communication, which spans more than 20 years. When she’s not cooking in her kitchen, singing loudly and off key to some 90s indie song, she’s serving as the Head of Digital Marketing at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy in Switzerland, where she oversees integrated marketing and digital transformation strategies. She is also the author of three collections of published short stories and numerous online media relations and lifestyle articles.

I will warn you that this episode might make you feel very strong soup cravings, so maybe just pin that idea for your next lunch! I am really excited to share this conversation, because through her Simply Souperlicious website and work, she’s really tackling these issues of who has access to healthy food, challenging what healthy food and wellness “is” or “isn’t” and making delicious and nutritious meals much more accessible for all those of us who are incredibly time crunched, stressed, and wanting to make some small first step changes for ourselves and our families.

80: Season 6 Launch [Solo Episode]

October 20, 2020

And I’m back! Really excited to share the launch of the 6th season of AnthroDish with a solo episode. I’m sharing some personal behind the scenes struggles and reflections I’ve had over the past summer, and what that means for the upcoming season (hint - it’s a season I’m incredibly excited and honoured to share).

Regular interview episodes will be back as of next Tuesday, and I can’t wait for you to hear them!

79: Bringing Holistic Nutrition into Pancakes with Elizabeth Stein of Purely Elizabeth

May 19, 2020

Have you ever heard about health foods or superfoods, and been curious to try them out, but not really sure how to go about it? My guest this week, Elizabeth Stein, is here to help alleviate some of that! Elizabeth is the founder and CEO of Purely Elizabeth, and is on the show today to share her story about how Purely Elizabeth came to be and how it’s working to innovate food and wellness spaces to be more inclusive, affordable, and tasty too!

Long before ingredients like chia or quinoa became popular, holistic nutritionist Elizabeth Stein dreamed of starting a natural foods company. Coupling her personal expertise and love for all things food and wellness, she founded Purely Elizabeth in 2009. Since it’s launch over 10 years ago Elizabeth has transformed the natural category by putting ancient grains on the map with their Ancient Grain Granolas, jumping from the #9 granola brand in the natural channel to #1 and selling over 17 million units worldwide.

Her latest achievement has Elizabeth going back to her roots in celebration of the brand’s 10 year anniversary with the launch of delectable, nutrient-rich Pancake Mixes, including a paleo-friendly, grain-free version and the FIRST featuring grass-fed collagen. Now, health-conscious foodies can enjoy this beloved breakfast food, guilt-free, and with more options to align with dietary and lifestyle choices. Elizabeth strives to promote a healthy food system through sustainability and transparency, and to be a force for good in everything that she does.

Learn More About Purely Elizabeth: