BODY POLITIC X MOFAD: BODY CARE
In October, we partnered with the Museum of Food and Drink for a panel discussion on the intersection of wellness and food, a cooking demo by Chef Woldy Reyes, and a night of sipping, snacking, & chatting! We wanted to delve deeper into the topic of nourishment, and really explore how we can reconcile interests in food and self-care with the urgent need to dismantle diet culture and prescriptive wellness.
Our moderator, Anna Lipin, started off the evening by asking our panelists how they practice self-care amidst demanding schedules as chefs. We heard from cook, farmer, and creator Raina Robinson on the pressures of self-care under capitalism, and chef and entrepreneur Gabriela Álvarez on how sometimes you just need to buy that face mask. Chef, author, and social advocate Liz Alpern talked about her journey with meditation, and the ways that self-care became easier when she recognized and accepted she’s not person who thrives off of routine.
Video by Heaven Jones and Kristina Teschner
“RIGHT NOW, WHAT I’D SAY IS ON MY MIND AS FAR AS WELLNESS IS HOW I CONNECT MY NEED FOR COMMUNITY WITH THE NEED FOR QUIET SPACE AND FOR ME TO LEARN ABOUT MYSELF. HOW DO WE BALANCE OUR INVESTMENT IN COMMUNITY WITH OUR INVESTMENT IN OURSELVES AND WHAT WE NEED?”
— LIZ ALPERN, CHEF, AUTHOR, SOCIAL ADVOCATE
Our panelists talked about creating space in the food and wellness industries for groups and cultures that have historically been marginalized. Ironically, these are often the same groups whose food and wellness cultures have also been negatively thoughtlessly reappropriated by the mainstream wellness industry for profit. Chef and consultant Ora Wise delved into the challenging work of collaborating with communities to reclaim medicines, foods, and healing practices that have been stripped of their cultural histories and contexts. Anna read us Audre Lourde’s original words on self-care, and our panelists debated the ways in which self-care has been co-opted for capitalist gain.
“CAPITALISM DEHUMANIZES AND EXHAUSTS UNTIL IT CAN’T ANYMORE SHUT DOWN THE RESISTANCE TO IT. AND THEN IT ABSORBS AND REDISCOVERS THE CULTURES THAT IT HAS BEEN [HIDING] FOR SO MANY YEARS, AND REPACKAGES THEM TO SELL BACK TO US”
— ORA WISE, CHEF AND CONSULTANT
We closed the discussion by hearing our panelists’ visions for the future. Anna shared her hope for a future in which we can remove “good” and “bad” labels from our discussions of food and wellness. Raina agreed, explaining that equating virtuosity and wellness can be harmful in that it can lead to perfectionism and make cooking nourishing foods seem daunting and inaccessible. Gabriela reminded us that positive change also occurs all over the world, and that sometimes becoming a part of that movement is a matter of simply “tuning in” beyond posting a hashtag.
“THERE ARE PEOPLE DOING THE WORK IN PALESTINE, THERE ARE PEOPLE DOING THE WORK IN NEW YORK, THERE ARE PEOPLE DOING THE WORK ON THE WEST COAST. TRUST ONE ANOTHER TO DO THAT WORK AND JUST GO IN AND BE REALLY COMMITTED AND HONEST ABOUT IT RATHER THAN USING ALL THE WORDS IN HASHTAGS.”
— GABRIELA ÁLVAREZ, CHEF AND ENTREPRENEUR
After our panel discussion, Chef Woldy Reyes led a cooking demonstration with help from Gabriela and Raina. Woldy runs Woldy Kusina, a boutique catering company. Woldy derives inspiration from his family’s recipes, and is interested in exploring and modernizing his approach to Filipino cuisine. At Body Care, Woldy showed us how to make portobello mushroom tacos - and we each had the chance to try them!
We closed out the evening and event with a reception, where we sipped beers, savored tacos, and mingled – a true recipe for self-care.