We hope you are hanging in there, How Do You Like it So Far? crew. We want to thank you for turning to our podcast during such a difficult time in our lives. This period of self-isolation and social distancing is unprecedented and we know how tough this is for a lot of people. We appreciate your listenership and hope we are able to bring you a little something-something during this unique period. With that being said, this is our first episode which was recorded completely remotely. Our team is currently spread between LA and NYC (don’t worry we are all safe), so please bear with us as we figure out the kinks of recording a podcast across 2000 miles.
This week, Colin and Henry speak to LA-based, legendary Korean food truck chef Roy Choi of Kogi and KCET’s Chief Content Officer Juan Devis about their one-of-a-kind food show Broken Bread, co-produced by Tastemade. They discuss creating a food show that went beyond delivering recipes to people, but thought to introduce them to innovative, city-wide efforts in LA on food access, food deserts and more. Devis talks about the decision to work with Choi as someone who has his finger on the pulse on food in LA. Devis explains that Choi understands the relationships that Angelenos have to food and community. They talk about how the title Broken Bread is a play on the idiom to “break bread” to share a meal and solve problems. Through Broken Bread, they are trying to tell stories that go behind popular attention-grabbing headlines and ones that resonate with them. They use this opportunity not only to talk about the show, but the state of public media during this unique moment of change. Devis discusses the value of public media access especially right now as schools have closed across the country. This “free” resource is able to help bridge the digital divide for children who don’t have access to high-speed internet, mobile phones, etc. Listen in as Choi and Devis talk about their show’s evolution and give Colin and Henry a sneak peek at Season 2!
Here are some of the references from this episode, for those who want to dig a little deeper:
Episodes of Broken Bread mentioned in this podcast:
Ep. 2 – Access
Ep. 6 – Watts
Daniel Patterson
Aqeela Sherrills – grew up in the Jordan-Downs Housing Projects
Public Media Group of Southern California
Austin Beutner – President of LAUSD
School closures highlight digital divide
KCET and LAUSD providing educational content to students during school closures
Model being replicated around the country
Roy Choi’s trucks during COVID-19 crisis
LA doesn’t have a centralized fireworks display
Kogi – Expressed that they weren’t the beginning of the food truck movement
Created a dialogue for people to connect to each other
Food truck movement – Roach coaches and now called gourmet
2008 Banking crisis – Rise of tech and social media
LoCol
Crowdfunder to build healthy fast food restaurant in the neighborhood of Watts
Ambassadors Program
Chewbox – delivery service
LoCol receives inaugural restaurant of the year award in The LA Times
Jonathan Gold – City of Gold
Celebrated food as a gateway to people
Jonathan Gold benchmark for food criticism and scene in LA
Counter Intelligence
Top Chef Jonathan Gold episode
Food in the Southern U.S.
Symbols of traditional south deeply contested
Food might move South forward – Henry’s Blog
“Southern Cooking” taken from lower economic classes
Southern Foodways Alliance – Gravy podcast
Our episode with Tina Antolini of Gravy
A Chef’s Life – Vivian Howard
Vivian Howard’s Chef & the Farmer
Share your thoughts via Twitter with Henry and Colin and also through email at annlab@usc.edu!
