Feeding People
48 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 days ago - ★★★★★ - 40 ratingsThe best conversations happen around the table, specifically a table full of food. Each week, join host Amy Dolan and her dinner guests—chefs, pastors, bakers and soup kitchen volunteers—for conversations about the magic of the table. If you’ve always wanted to host meals but haven’t known how, or you host one every night and you’re looking for ways to bring greater meaning to what you do, Feeding People is for you.
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Episodes
Raeghn Draper: The Chicago Hospitality Industry + A Vision Forward
April 24, 2024 04:00 - 33 minutes - 46.4 MBRaeghn Draper, a Chicago-based community organizer, writer, and hospitality professional, joins Amy to discuss the current state of Chicago’s hospitality industry, the history of tipping in America, and how Raeghn’s organization, the CHAAD project, is working to advance accountability and end labor abuses within the industry. Raeghn shares their vision for an equitable hospitality industry and practical ways customers can show support when visiting restaurants.
Elsie DuBray: The Beautiful Buffalo
April 17, 2024 04:00 - 36 minutes - 50.9 MBElsie DuBray, an Oóhenuŋpa Lakxóta, Nueta, and Hidatsa woman and enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Lakxóta Nation, joins Amy to discuss her role in the film Gather, her life growing up on her family’s buffalo ranch, and her vision of food sovereignty for her community. Elsie shares the importance of buffalo, and how her work as a community health graduate student at Stanford is leading her towards buffalo restoration and creating a just and beautiful food system for Native people.
Julia Turshen: Food as Revolution (Encore)
April 10, 2024 04:00 - 32 minutes - 45 MBIn this encore episode from 2019, Julia Turshen, bestselling cookbook author, food writer, and food equity advocate, discusses with host Amy Dolan how food can and has changed history. Julia reflects on the writing of her book, Feed the Resistance, and describes the crucial role food played during the Civil Rights Movement and the Stonewall Uprising. She also shares how her Jewish identity informs the way that she views and experiences food and cooking.
Sebastian White: The Healing Power of Cooking
April 03, 2024 04:00 - 31 minutes - 43.2 MBSebastian White, private chef and Founder and Executive Director of The Evolved Network, joins Amy to discuss his journey from psychotherapist to chef to creator of The Evolved Network. Sebastian shares how he’s using the vision of The Evolved Network—a farm to table process—as a means to create space for kids that is both healing and therapeutic, and how he hopes the kids see their infinite possibilities, versus their limitations, when they cook.
Dr. Evelyn Figueroa: Food Insecurity — A Problem With A Solution
March 20, 2024 04:00 - 45 minutes - 62.1 MBDr. Evelyn Figueroa, Family Physician, Professor at University of Illinois Chicago, Director of Pilsen Food Pantry, and Executive Director of the Figueroa Wu Family Foundation, joins Amy to discuss the social determinants that affect health and poverty, how her personal journey in medicine led to the creation of the food pantry, and the role we all can play in assuring that everyone has the food they need.
Chloe Keene: Empathy at the Table
March 13, 2024 04:00 - 29 minutes - 40.9 MBChloe Keene, the digital creator behind Chicago Master List, talks with Amy Dolan about using Instagram to highligh restaurants on Chicago's south side, growing in empathy through adventurous eating, and the power of shared meals to connect people with one another.
Eliana Pinilla: Building Strong Regional Food Systems
March 06, 2024 04:02 - 30 minutes - 41.9 MBEliana Pinilla, Director of Partnerships, Great Lakes Region at The Common Market, discusses with Amy Dolan the need to "connect communities to good food grown by sustainable family farmers." She explains that when institutions get more of their food directly from local farms, the quality of food they serve—and the health and wealth of the entire region—get better. Eliana breaks down how The Common Market helps make it all happen and the vision she has for future generations.
Laurell Sims: Urban Farms and Building Community
February 28, 2024 03:49 - 40 minutes - 56 MBLaurell Sims, Co-Founder and former Co-Executive Director of Urban Growers Collective, talks with Amy Dolan about her journey to creating an eight-site urban farm in Chicago, what it will take to address the problems in the current U.S. food system, and all of the ways local food and farming build community.
Jana Kinsman: Honeybees and Food Stories
February 21, 2024 04:59 - 45 minutes - 63.3 MBJana Kinsman, Founder of Bike a Bee, shares with Amy how her lifelong fascination with insects led to becoming a beekeeper, the unique quality of each batch of honey, and how being thoughtful in the way she purchases and enjoys food creates stories for her to share with others.
Dominique Leach: Holding the Crown Up
February 14, 2024 03:31 - 41 minutes - 61.7 MBDominique Leach, chef and owner of Lexington Betty Smokehouse and the 2023 champion of Food Network's BBQ Brawl, kicks off Feeding People Season 4 with her third appearance on the show! Dominique shares with Amy her experience on BBQ Brawl, what winning the show has meant to her, what it takes as a Black woman to be a successful pitmaster, and what she does to feed and take care of herself, even as she continues to build a successful career by feeding others.
Introducing Feeding People Season 4
February 08, 2024 04:30 - 1 minute - 6.7 MBHost Amy Dolan previews the upcoming season of Feeding People, including the season opener interview with Chef Dominique Leach, Owner and Chef of Lexington Betty Smokehouse and this season's champion of Food Network's BBQ Brawl.
Chi Chi Okwu: What is the World We Hope For?
December 11, 2019 04:20 - 50 minutes - 93.5 MBChi Chi Okwu, Content Producer and Host of The Next Question web series, joins Amy at the table to talk about race, black and white women in friendship and how wholehearted living for everyone requires every person doing the work. Mentioned on the Show: Chi Chi’s first appearance on Feeding People (season 1) EverThrive Illinois The Next Question Follow: Chi Chi on Instagram Chi Chi on Twitter Amy on Instagram Amy on Twitter Feeding People on Facebook Sunday Supper ...
Rabbi Lizzi Heydemann: Radical Presence at the Table
December 04, 2019 05:20 - 49 minutes - 92 MBRabbi Lizzi Heydemann shares her journey from growing up on the south side of Chicago to her decision to found Mishkan Chicago, a spiritual community "reclaiming Judaism’s inspiration and transformative essence,” and which seeks to “resonate with the next generation, as well as people who have felt on the fringes of the Jewish community.” Rabbi Lizzi also discusses the role that food—and sitting around the table with others who might be different from each other—plays in the life of the Mish...
Dominique Leach: This Is Only The Beginning
November 20, 2019 05:32 - 33 minutes - 65.4 MBDominique Leach, chef and owner of Lexington Betty Smokehouse, makes her second appearance on the show and shares with Amy the challenges and joys of opening her first restaurant, her commitment to be herself, and the importance of supporting black-owned restaurants. Mentioned on the Show: Lexington Betty Smokehouse Dominique’s first appearance on Feeding People (Season 1) Truth Italian Batters and Berries Sweet Maple Cafe Egg Rolls Etc Tips and Toes Bowen’s Pizza ...
Julia Turshen: Food as Revolution
November 13, 2019 03:09 - 43 minutes - 80.1 MBCookbook author and podcast host Julia Turshen discusses the crucial role food played during the Civil Rights Movement and the Stonewall Uprising, the unifying human connection that cooking creates, and the correlation between her Jewish identity and her love of food, eating, and gathering together for meals. Show Notes Mentioned on the Show: Keep Calm and Cook On with Julia Turshen Feed the Resistance Now and Again Small Victories Equity at the Table Georgia Gilmor...
Emily Scott: Showing Up at the Table
November 06, 2019 03:26 - 51 minutes - 47.7 MBAmy talks with Emily Scott, the former founding pastor of St. Lydia’s dinner church in Brooklyn and the current founding pastor of Dreams and Visions in Baltimore, on the connection between food and spirituality, centering church around the practice of the table and the beautiful nature of seeing the humanity in each other when sharing a meal. Mentioned on the Show: St. Lydia’s St. Gregory’s Sunday Supper Church Dinner Church Movement Give to Dreams and Visions Shelter (write...
Amy Dolan: Becoming a Home Cook
October 30, 2019 01:44 - 23 minutes - 21.9 MBAfter much reflection (and hesitation), Amy shares her journey towards embracing her identity as a home cook—how someone without formal training can still be a great cook and feed people with great love.
Rudy Garrett: The Role of Food in Activism
October 14, 2019 20:50 - 44 minutes - 44.3 MBAmy talks with Rudy Garrett, Co-Deputy Director of Chicago Votes, on connecting her passion for food with her profession in politics. Rudy also shares her perspective on engaging at tables with people you disagree, and the simple mind shift we can make when engaging volunteers to ensure they have what they need to do their work.
Abby Davis: There is Power in Eating
October 09, 2019 03:50 - 45 minutes - 42.3 MBAmy talks with film and television producer Abby Davis about how she’s becoming comfortable in her Korean identity, what the entertainment industry in Los Angeles highlighted for her about body image, as well as how she currently centers business meetings around meals and cares for herself through prepping meals on Sundays.
Chef Nicole Pederson: Food is Community
October 02, 2019 03:48 - 39 minutes - 36.8 MBAmy talks with Chef Nicole Pederson, Director of Culinary Arts at Center on Halsted, about her passion for connecting food and community. Nicole shares how her 20 year journey as a chef—working at Gramercy Tavern in New York City, and Lula Cafe and Marcus Samuelsson’s C-House in Chicago—led her to train unemployed and under-employed people within the LGBTQ community how to cook and find work in Chicago restaurants.
Season 2 Finale
August 14, 2019 03:16 - 21 minutes - 19.8 MBAmy reflects on Season 2 of Feeding People, announces the launch of the show’s brand new Patreon page and discusses ways to help create Season 3 together.
Sarah Deardorff Miller: Refugees and Food as Welcome
August 02, 2019 04:59 - 45 minutes - 42.1 MBAmy talks with longtime friend Sarah Deardorff Miller, Senior Fellow at Refugees International, about the current refugee and family separation situation in the U.S., the role of food in the refugee resettlement process and the ways which Sarah has experienced beautiful hospitality as she has eaten food all around the world.
Emma Brewster and Joe Lindsay: Take a Risk
July 24, 2019 06:10 - 44 minutes - 41.3 MBAmy talks with Emma Brewster and Joe Lindsay, owners of David’s Delicatessen & Coffee, about the importance of sourcing local food in their restaurant, their famous Corned Beef Off that brings the community together, and their desire to create a welcoming, one-of-kind experience for all who walk through their doors.
Zuri Thompson: A Passion for Food
July 03, 2019 04:31 - 43 minutes - 40.3 MBAmy talks with Zuri Thompson, the founder and director of Pearly Peas, a program designed to feed seniors living in food insecure communities nutritious food. Zuri shares how she found her passion for food and feeding seniors, as well as how she currently sees cooking food for family and friends as her most important work.
Darren Calhoun at Sunday Supper Church: Healing Changes Everything
June 26, 2019 17:16 - 21 minutes - 19.8 MBIn celebration of Pride month, Chicago artist and activist Darren Calhoun shares his experience as a black, Christian, gay man and encourages us to embrace change and healing close to home. (This episode was recorded live at Sunday Supper Church, June 23, 2019.)
Amy Dolan: On Food and Faith
June 20, 2019 02:13 - 31 minutes - 29.3 MBAfter participating in the Food and Faith event alongside one hundred interfaith leaders, politicians, climate change experts and farmers, host Amy Dolan shares her inspiring and life-changing experience and how she plans to connect her learnings on land, labor and food with her life and work. The conference was presented by the Methodist Theological School of Ohio, Center for Earth Ethics, The Climate Reality Project and the Ohio State University Initiative for Food and Agricultural Transfo...
Amy Dolan: On Food and Faith
June 20, 2019 02:13 - 31 minutes - 29.3 MBAfter participating in the Food and Faith event alongside one hundred interfaith leaders, politicians, climate change experts and farmers, host Amy Dolan shares her inspiring and life-changing experience and how she plans to connect her learnings on land, labor and food with her life and work. The conference was presented by the Methodist Theological School of Ohio, Center for Earth Ethics, The Climate Reality Project and the Ohio State University Initiative for Food and Agricultural Transfo...
Wendy Zeldin: Creating Access to Good Food
May 29, 2019 17:53 - 44 minutes - 41.5 MBAmy talks with Wendy Zeldin, the 61st Street Farmers Market Manager and Food Educator, about Jewish grandmothers, food accessibility and her hope that the Chicago agricultural scene will grow to provide access for all to healthy, affordable, good food.
Amy + Kelly Dolan: Our Story of Infertility
May 22, 2019 03:40 - 52 minutes - 48.5 MBHost Amy Dolan and her husband, Kelly, share their story of infertility, and the role of food and tables in times of grief and loss.
Amy + Kelly Dolan: Our Story of Infertility
May 22, 2019 03:40 - 52 minutes - 48.5 MBHost Amy Dolan and her husband, Kelly, share their story of infertility, and the role of food and tables in times of grief and loss.
Maui Jones: In All Things, Love
May 15, 2019 02:52 - 52 minutes - 48.9 MBAmy talks with Maui Jones, Founder and Artistic Director of Echo Theater Collective, about their shared love of ketchup on hot dogs, how food shapes connection and healing, and their dissatisfaction with the institutional church and its upholding of white supremacist ideals.
Dan Stanford: Food As the Great Equalizer
May 08, 2019 04:40 - 37 minutes - 35.2 MBMusician, artist and social justice activist Dan Stanford reflects on how his family’s relationship to meal time shaped his current thinking about food, as well as how sharing a meal with someone and sitting at the table eye to eye with others provides equalization in a world of social imbalances.
Erica Bauer: Equity at the Table
May 01, 2019 03:01 - 42 minutes - 39.8 MBIn this first episode of Season 2, school administrator Dr. Erica Bauer joins Amy for a meaningful conversation around the power dynamics that exist at every table, and how her experiences growing up shaped the way she approaches food and justice work today.
Erica Bauer: Equity at the Table
May 01, 2019 03:01 - 42 minutes - 39.8 MBIn this first episode of Season 2, school administrator Dr. Erica Bauer joins Amy for a meaningful conversation around the power dynamics that exist at every table, and how her experiences growing up shaped the way she approaches food and justice work today.
Thank You: Season 1 Finale
February 20, 2019 21:12 - 21 minutes - 19.8 MBAmy reflects on the first season of Feeding People, plays messages recorded by listeners, shares some thoughts about season two, and gives all the details for the $50 restaurant gift card giveaway!
Jenn Gaudreau: Cherishing Food and the Present Moment
February 13, 2019 05:09 - 41 minutes - 38.8 MBLifestyle and brand photographer Jenn Gaudreau joins Amy for a laughter-filled conversation about the seasonality of food, Jenn’s unique perspective on the intentionality of food and gatherings, and how her recent spiritual journey has helped her discover the way food allows each of us to be more mindful of the present moment.
Caleb Johnson: Bravery at the Table
February 06, 2019 04:45 - 32 minutes - 29.8 MBWriter, communicator and performer Caleb Johnson recounts how he reconstructed his life from the ground up after coming out to his pastor and losing his job at the church. Caleb shares with Amy how that experience led to greater bravery at the table and the kinds of people he seeks to sit at the table with each day.
Danielle Tubbs: The People You Come From
January 30, 2019 22:29 - 28 minutes - 26.8 MBDanielle Tubbs, CEO of Tubby’s Taste, joins Amy for a discussion about how her family, which she describes as “Jamaican cake ladies on one side and a host of African-American foodies on the other,” shaped her earliest memories of food and how even with that foundation, she finds herself surprised to be running a vegan dessert company. She also talks about the upcoming anniversary of her father’s death and the role it played in starting Tubby’s Taste.
Brian Wolters: The Pastor Chef
January 23, 2019 04:15 - 37 minutes - 34.7 MBChef Brian Wolters sits down with Amy to discuss his journey through the culinary world of Chicago—restaurants, hotels and catering. He reflects on the amount of food wasted within the industry, and the way he currently feeds and leads people as Pastor Chef of Sunday Supper Church.
Dominique Leach: Finding Purpose in Gathering People
January 16, 2019 18:43 - 33 minutes - 30.8 MBAmy shares a meal with Dominique Leach, owner and chef of Lexington Betty Smokehouse. Joined at the table by her wife Tanisha, Dominique discusses how she discovered—through tragedy and triumph—her life's purpose to gather people.
Mid-Season Bonus Episode
December 20, 2018 18:32 - 45 minutes - 42 MBHost Amy Dolan and Co-Producer (and husband) Kelly Dolan reflect on what has been most meaningful to them in the first half of season 1, what has most surprised them, and what's in store for the future of the show. Amy and Kelly also provide a behind-the-scenes look at the creation, planning and production of Feeding People.
Darren Calhoun: Making Space for Others
December 12, 2018 05:49 - 40 minutes - 37.1 MBChicago artist and advocate Darren Calhoun sits down with Amy to talk about food justice and the ways each of us can make space for the needs of others at the dinner tables, church tables and boards room tables in our lives. Darren describes how being given food choices during his childhood complicated his visits with extended family, but also shaped the way he thinks about the choices we give to others. Darren also makes is case against cilantro and for Giordano’s pizza.
Mari Ann Wulbecker + Myra Minuskin: The Family Table
December 05, 2018 06:31 - 37 minutes - 38.2 MBIn this very special episode, Amy’s Mom (Mari Ann) and Aunt (Myra) join her at the table to celebrate Hanukkah, and to discuss their Jewish culture of food and family. Having spent their childhood Friday nights at their grandparents’ table, they talk about the importance of now inviting people into their homes, how they’ve learned to host alongside their spouses, and they encourage listeners to worry less and simply enjoy the magic of the table.
Rosario Wolters: Abundance at The Table
November 28, 2018 17:09 - 35 minutes - 35.9 MBRosario Wolters, a former pastry chef, discusses how her mom’s generosity and creativity in the kitchen, while living on food stamps, inspired her love of food and belief in the abundance of the table—that when you share food, food and love will be returned to you. Rosario recounts her journey through culinary school and working in Chicago restaurants, including meeting her husband (also a chef) during her first internship. Rosario reminds listeners of the importance of inviting people to ou...
Rosario Wolters: Abundance at The Table
November 28, 2018 17:09 - 35 minutes - 35.9 MBRosario Wolters, a former pastry chef, discusses how her mom’s generosity and creativity in the kitchen, while living on food stamps, inspired her love of food and belief in the abundance of the table—that when you share food, food and love will be returned to you. Rosario recounts her journey through culinary school and working in Chicago restaurants, including meeting her husband (also a chef) during her first internship. Rosario reminds listeners of the importance of inviting people to ou...
Rich Havard: Beautiful Food for All People
November 20, 2018 05:30 - 37 minutes - 38.6 MBRich Havard, Executive Director of the Inclusive Collective, discusses how his mom’s southern cooking influenced his love of food and caused him to create environments for people to eat. In his work hosting beautiful dinners every Sunday night for people experiencing homelessness, he shares the importance of connecting and having fun around the table as you eat with people of different ages, ethnicities and socio-economic status.
Chi Chi Okwu: Everyone Belongs at the Table People
November 20, 2018 05:27 - 37 minutes - 38 MBChi Chi Okwu joins the show to discuss how Nigerian culture and her childhood growing up in Alabama influenced her love of food and desire to intentionally gather people and feed them great meals. We talk about creating opportunities for people to know they belong, and starting with what you have—whether a couch, table, or kitchen island. Chi Chi reminds us that life is too short not to eat great food with great people.
Welcome to Feeding People
November 20, 2018 05:14 - 7 minutes - 10.5 MBIn this introduction to the podcast, Amy Dolan shares how she went from a lonely non-cook to a pastor of a dinner church and host of regular dinner parties in her home. Inspired by Rachael Ray, Amy learned to cook by practicing on her friends and family, and inviting people over as often as possible to her tiny Chicago apartment. Alongside husband Kelly Dolan, Amy now hosts and cooks for people as an expression of love, and as a connection to her faith. Join Amy each week as she sits down wi...