Get to know all about this year’s Food Policy Changemakers! Read below to dive deeper into the lives, histories, and work of three of New York’s most impactful food justice advocates working for a more just and sustainable food system
How has your experience across global contexts—from Mali to London to New York—shaped your approach to food access work in NYC?
Living in a variety of communities across the globe has allowed me the opportunity to always be learning, always be listening, and always remember how little I know. In each locale, I take the key model I learned in the Peace Corps, remember how little you know, take time to listen and learn, and find out how you can simply help, in ways your new neighbors want you to help. It’s one of the reasons I love helping lead the West Side Campaign Against Hunger; it’s a community, we work together, we learn from one another, and we share all.
The Roundtable model is unique in how it brings emergency food providers together. What does true collaboration look like in a space that often feels competitive or under-resourced?
As a chef and former multiple restaurant owner, I never saw my work as art, but as teamwork and craft. I always shared every recipe with other chefs, with customers, whoever wanted them; there were no secrets, just recipes to share. It’s the same, on the frontlines in emergency feeding, right away, when I came to WSCAH I met with several leaders of amazing frontline anti hunger organizations like NY Common Pantry, St John’s Bread and Life and Project Hospitality, those meetings and the welcoming nature of our sector truly created the Roundtable.
True collaboration is about a round table. It’s what my ideal meal looks like: folks sitting in a circle, enjoying a meal, sharing joy and sorrow, and advancing as one. At the Roundtable, we sit together, sharing ideas, sharing information, sharing ways to help our community. It’s pretty simple, really, and if someone tells you otherwise, I would question why.
As someone who’s worked in both direct service and policy spaces, how do you balance immediate hunger relief with long-term systemic change?
We drive change forward and know that both direct service and policy are two sides of the same coin. One must support the ever-growing immediate need and be unwavering in demanding change to systems. At the same time, one can’t try to do it all so we focus on where we can be most helpful in reaching more customers, collaborating with other best practice organizations, and working to change policies at the city and state levels at the same time.
You’ve helped transform WSCAH into a fresh-food-forward organization. What’s the most powerful shift you’ve seen when communities gain access to nourishing options?
WSCAH has always been fresh food forward, but for sure, we have been supercharged ever since we first sent back a full truckload of ultra-processed foods in my first year here at WSCAH. That refusal to accept unhealthy food and to dive deeper into fresh, healthy produce was an outgrowth of what our community had been demanding. Fresh healthy food is a right and should be the norm, so we at WSCAH simply help make sure people and our entire sector have the dignity and choice they deserve. People and organizations know what they need and want; it’s always a question of access to the means to procure those healthy products. It’s why we focus so deeply on advocacy, to transform policies that can help get more people and communities have access to the foods they want and need.
Grew up: Born and raised in Utica, NY. Then had my restaurants in Ithaca, NY.
City or town you call home: I live with my wife and two daughters in Washington Heights, NYC.
Background and education: Chef and restaurateur for a dozen years in Ithaca NY. BA in Politics/Anthropology from Ithaca College, Culinary degree from French Culinary Institute, MS in Food and Nutrition Policy from City University of London.
One word to describe our food system: BROKEN
Food policy hero: Nick Saul
This morning’s breakfast: 2 hard-boiled eggs, whole wheat bread with butter and homemade strawberry jam (my last jar of the 2024 canning season), a banana, and a cup of tea.
Favorite food: Whatever is homemade, but especially a good curry.
Favorite last meal on earth: Anything with my wife and kids.
What is your favorite food hangout: ROCK in Hamilton Heights (closing this summer 🙁 ), any pub in London with a good Sunday roast, any meal sitting around a common bowl or common table with friends, shared plates and flowing wine.
Food policy and social media must-follows: Food Fix via Helena Bottemiller Evich, Katherine Miller (Table81), FRAC, Alliance for a Hunger Free NY, Kenneth Cook(EWG), Food Bank News, Marion Nestle, Robert Egger, CSPI, Karen Washington, Joel Berg, NYC Food Policy
