This one's for the foodies: I need your input

Nobody wants a peanut butter sandwich that's been sitting in the sun.

A few weeks ago I wrote out a map of the visitor experience at a high-end restaurant versus the reader experience on the average news media site or app. It’s been my most shared newsletter so far. Immediately after getting laid off I cancelled a handful of national news subscriptions, Amazon Prime and downgraded my Netflix subscription (working toward removing it completely), but have gone out to restaurants a lot more. And that’s why you haven’t heard from me for two weeks. Let me explain where I’ve been.

Mili Semlani says it eloquently, “we need community, not more content.” We are aching to be connected, and for most people, eating together fills that need. The restaurants and food experiences I’ve spent money on are not fast food bags filled by Uber Eats, in fact I’ve closed all Doordash, Seamless and similar accounts. Instead, these meals are two and three hour events where the sourcing of the food is explained, preparation happens in front of you, and you leave with new friends from the next table over. Yes, some of these experiences are pretentious and available only to a select few. It’s expensive and time consuming. I’ve definitely gained a few pounds. And yet, with these imperfections, I still prefer it to the media sources I was contributing to. My circle has expanded. I’ve learned things. I feel nourished.

I wish these experiences were open to more people. Everyone deserves to understand where their food comes from and to eat locally sourced ingredients that haven’t been on a truck for a week. SNAP benefits barely cover hot meals (they don’t, but loopholes!) while big corporations encourage snacks and sugary items that work against our longevity.

I’ve never considered myself a food writer, even though so much of my life, from rolling meatballs with my nonna, to understanding GLP-1 agonists, revolves around putting food into my body. Even my theme park plans center on the newest restaurant and snacks (I was sold on Epic Universe after one view of the vampire-themed steakhouse). But I’ve never been into wine classes or James Beard or Michelin star ratings. I’m deeply uncomfortable at influencer-centric restaurant openings. The New York Times cacio e pepe recipe makes me gag. My scientific knowledge of food goes as far as Greek gas station frappes and I’d rather host a dinner than attend one. In truth, I believe that cooking together, not necessarily just eating food in the same room, is the greatest community connector, and for that you need access to quality ingredients.

My entire life I’ve been volunteering with organizations that cook and serve food, from church kitchens in Brooklyn, delivering Meals on Wheels on Staten Island, and now handing out hot meals to the community in South Philly. I’ve watched the access to fresh food become more gate-kept, put behind grants and dollars that require loopholes and lawyers and boards, more murky rules about who can serve and where they can do it. But this hasn’t stopped people from feeding those in need.

The most amazing brains are still at work on this challenge, community organizers who understand where the food is and how to connect people to it, how to get it safely around town, how to build menus around the few items at hand, how to grow produce and fish for yourself, and how to remove the stigma to remind everyone that its okay to take free food, even if you are not in desperation.

As I’ve been writing independently about culture, the arts, theme parks and entertainment, it’s been impossible to ignore the outsized impact of food. But I’d like us to focus on food holistically for a moment. In the next few weeks I have two articles on Philly’s food redistribution network upcoming with partner publishers. But these articles barely skim this important topic. So, I’d like to open my reporter’s notebook to you on this Substack. That could include more about where food is sourced from and how it’s prepared, including for cultural and religious relevance. You’ll meet people who have taken it upon themselves to cook for others in need and how they compile menus. I will also try to highlight groups on the ground who bend the rules to ensure those most in need are fed.

The best compliment I’ve ever received while reporting happened during this redistribution research, “we don’t speak to the press, but we’ll talk to you.” I hope you’ll forgive me for protecting their identities since the main effort here is not gotcha-journalism, but to get food in mouths and continue being the trustworthy reporter the sources believe me to be.

I assure you that cosplay, gaming, Disney, Meow Wolf and more are still on the schedule — and food will play a part there, too. My hope is that in this newsletter you might learn more about upcoming theme park food plans and new bars and restaurants. But you’ll also learn about the food at our own tables and how you can feed your neighbor.

So while I put these reporter’s notes together, I want to hear from you, narrowing the topic: What do you want to know about food redistribution and waste? What are you curious about regarding how restaurants share food, and how hot meals end up in people’s hands? What can I explain about the cultural relevance of meal preparation and the community connection of handing someone their dinner? Do you want more information on how you can assist, too?

Let me know, and reach out any time while we explore food systems together.

Goodnight, Commenters. I hope you have a great long weekend, and to those of you in the food service industry, thank you for working this weekend.