The Kitchen Stories

In this episode, the last one in Season 2 (the dessert episode, you might say), join me (Liana) as I try to get to the bottom of the mysteries behind my family's secret chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Many Jewish institutions are facing a decline in young adult engagement compared to that of older generations. Could food and land-based programming be the solution? Hear from returning and new guests about how they get young people through the door (virtually and irl), and how previously disengaged Jews are finding community and connection through Jewish outdoor, food, farming, and environmental education (JOFEE) programs. Want to learn more about something you heard on the show? Here's the Seeds of Opportunity report mentioned in the episode. Click here for Hazon's list of JOFEE partner organizations. They also have a podcast series about some of the programs. One of the guests in this episode, Ilana Zackon, who lives in Moishe House Vancouver, hosts another Jewish podcast: The CJN's Bonjour Chai. Check it out!

Jewish food historian Kat Romanow talks about the Wandering Chew, converting to Judaism, which Montreal bagel is best, and much more!

What's the recipe for accessible, LGBTQ+, Jewish spaces? Carmel Tanaka from JQT Vancouver and Joe Isaac and L.M Jones from the Pink Peacock fill us in on the key ingredients, from community bridges made of rainbow challah to Yiddish Anarchist knishes.

The third and final part in this season's series on food security is all about Jewish Family Services of Vancouver's new food hub! What's a food hub? How's it different from a food bank? Where did JFS get the idea? All these questions and more are answered in today's episode as we learn about this big transformation in JFS's approach to food security. Be sure to check out the hub's Grand Opening event on April 18th.

In this episode, Part 2/3 on food security, hear from two clients of Jewish Family Services about their lived experiences of food insecurity, from the circumstances that brought them to rely on the food bank to how we can provide support as a community. Please note that this episode includes discussions of chronic illness and gender-based violence.

Food security is so much more than just receiving a bag of food. Part 1 of this season's series on food security is made up of highlights from a panel discussion hosted by Congregation Beth Israel and Jewish Family Services of Vancouver back in January. The panelists provide a big picture introduction to food security in all its complexity; from the lived experience, to global systems, to the spiritual impact of food (in)justice. Panelists: Mara Shnay - Chair of the Jewish Family Services Client Advisory Committee Cindy McMillan - Director of Programs and Partnerships at JFS Krystine McInnes - CEO at Grown Here Farms Dr. Eleanor Boyle - Writer and educator on sustainable food systems Dr. Tammara Soma - Assistant Professor and Food Systems Lab Research Director at Simon Fraser University Stay tuned for Parts 2 & 3 as we dig deeper into local food insecurity and learn about an exciting development in how it's being addressed.

Today's menu-- I mean episode-- is entirely plant-based! Listen to our guests reflect on their vegan journeys, adapting traditional Jewish foods to a plant-based diet, and the relationship between veganism and Judaism.

Travel through time and across British Columbia in this episode, as we delve into the history of keeping kosher in BC, learn about the first kosher food importing business in Vancouver, and hear from some of the people working hard to supply Jews in smaller communities with kosher products today. Head over to the Jewish Museum and Archives of BC Blog for more about Koffman Food Importers, including the drawing and 1975 Western Grocer article mentioned in the episode.

How can we draw inspiration from Jewish traditions to show up for others? In this episode, Madison Slobin and Becca Schwenk tell us about Shiva Delivers, an initiative they organized in the Spring of 2020 where Jewish community members prepared meals in an effort to stand in solidarity with the Black community following the murder of George Floyd. The resource Becca mentions, "The Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture," from Dismantling Racism: A Workbook for Social Change Groups, by Kenneth Jones and Tema Okun, can be found here: https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/white-supremacy-culture-characteristics.html And you can check out Strategem: The Podcast here: https://www.welcometostratagem.com/podcast

Whether we're gathering in person or virtually, a good host makes a world of difference. But what does the host get out of the experience? In this first episode of Season 2, we hear about food-centred gathering traditions and what their hosts love about them, and then we call call up an expert to dig into the psychology behind sharing food.

The Kitchen Stories Season 2 arrives March 4, 2020. Here's a taste of what you can look forward to with our new host, Liana Glass!

In this final episode of our series, we apply the ideas from the past two episodes on Food Security into practice by speaking with community members actively engaged in alternative movements that affect change in our local community. These voices come together to show Vancouver's strength as a city where innovative food initiatives are born and excel.

Continuing on from our last episode, we learn about work happening in food security through the lenses of plant genetics, dialogue, and race.

How has the Jewish community organized around the issue of food security? What do Jewish ethics teach us about hunger and justice? We begin to unpack these questions in this, the first of a three-part series.

Sit in on an evening of our supper club series, The Chosen Food.

We asked some of our guests what they miss about where they've come from and what they love about the place they've come to call home.

A small taste of the many topics we're working on for future episodes.

What is the relationship between food and gender? What are the expectations, the assumptions, the defiances? How have these changed over time?

Three young people employ food as a means of determining and expressing who they are.

The flavours that connect you to your past are often the ingredients that make you who you are.

Today we continue our tour of global Jewish culinary traditions with stories from three African expats.

On today's episode we hear of Jewish life and culinary traditions brought to Vancouver from Bangalore and Shanghai.

This week we learn about the ways agriculture informs Jewish tradition, and much more.

Exploring the links between food, community, and heritage with the Jewish Museum and Archives of BC.