Speaker 1: I want to introduce you to Vanessa Parrish. She's the
Speaker 1: executive director and co founding member of the Queer Food Foundation.
Speaker 1: She's with us via phone, and I hear that there
Speaker 1: was some train issues with you, so I'm glad that
Speaker 1: you are with us.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the Fork Report.
Speaker 4: Hi, how are you?
Speaker 3: Yeah, so sorry about that, but I'm so excited to
Speaker 3: be here.
Speaker 1: Well, we're happy to have you as well. You out
Speaker 1: there on the East Coast.
Speaker 4: Yes, it's New York City Pride weekend, so you know
Speaker 4: it's just as crazy as ever.
Speaker 1: Yes, as if the rest of the time is not
Speaker 1: crazy enough in New York. But welcome you to the program,
Speaker 1: and we're excited to talk about what's going on tomorrow
Speaker 1: five to eight pm on Daily Street there here in
Speaker 1: Los Angeles. So why don't you tell us first a
Speaker 1: little bit about a Queer Food Foundation. People can find
Speaker 1: out more also at Queerfoodfoundation dot org. But tell us
Speaker 1: a little bit about the organization, and then the chef
Speaker 1: a sandwich showdown of course.
Speaker 4: So the Criers Foundation, we are a nisan wide nonprofit
Speaker 4: that specializes in feeding, funding and elevating queer feed workers.
Speaker 4: And that's from Smallier's bartenders, farmers, food service workers. Our
Speaker 4: big goal is making sure that people are supported, they're
Speaker 4: getting equity pay, and they're also meeting and connecting with
Speaker 4: each other because where everyone is spread out all over
Speaker 4: the country, so we want to make sure that people
Speaker 4: know where they can find their safe.
Speaker 1: Spaces and support, you know, and it's all across the country.
Speaker 1: Is an important part of it because here on the
Speaker 1: coasts we don't think of this the same way. Now,
Speaker 1: it's not that there isn't still a fight to be had,
Speaker 1: but we don't think in Los Angele know, my dear
Speaker 1: friend Susan Finneger fought as a chef, you know, just
Speaker 1: a sweetheart of a human being, she and her wife Liz,
Speaker 1: but they're you know, here's a woman who fought against
Speaker 1: even being a woman in the culinary industry and also
Speaker 1: a gay woman on top of that, and the things
Speaker 1: that she has struggled through and continues to help through
Speaker 1: organizations as well. But we don't think of it the
Speaker 1: same way. But this is for across the country where
Speaker 1: the fight still continues to go on differently than it
Speaker 1: does here on the coasts. So do you get a
Speaker 1: lot of the dinner, you know, inside Middle America type.
Speaker 4: Folks right exactly, like you know in the South, like
Speaker 4: you know, Los Angeles, New York, Miami have those, you know,
Speaker 4: really nice bubbles of safety that we don't think about,
Speaker 4: but there's a lot of cities and states that don't
Speaker 4: have that whatsoever.
Speaker 3: You know, people fly in from all.
Speaker 4: Over just to go to Los Angeles Pride because they
Speaker 4: don't have those type of places in their own hometowns.
Speaker 4: So we definitely try to meet people where they are,
Speaker 4: Like you know, Los Angeles, we do things like the
Speaker 4: chef Dammich sow down to kind of elevate the queer
Speaker 4: chefs that are already out and about, you know, and
Speaker 4: then we also do other events in smaller regions to
Speaker 4: just build their network that they're just getting started with.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I often joke when people get hot headed about certain
Speaker 1: books displaying different types of families and the like being
Speaker 1: in children's libraries, and I laughed and I said, well,
Speaker 1: my eight year old does go to school, and you know,
Speaker 1: those families exist and he sees them in real life.
Speaker 2: He doesn't have to open a book.
Speaker 1: When we have friends over and families over, they're all
Speaker 1: kinds of families, So we get it. A little differently.
Speaker 1: As you call them bubbles, I think is pretty appropriate.
Speaker 1: So we've been chatting with Vanessa Parrish. She is the
Speaker 1: executive director and co founding member of the Queer Food Foundation.
Speaker 1: You can find out more Queerfoodfoundation dot org. They have
Speaker 1: an event going on tomorrow, Sunday, June twenty ninth, from
Speaker 1: five to eight pm at eighteen twenty one.
Speaker 2: Now is that Daily Street.
Speaker 1: Let's see Los Angeles, California at nine zero zero three
Speaker 1: one and you can check that there at Benny Boy Brewing.
Speaker 1: This is the Chef Sandwich Showdown. Tell us more about that, Vanessa,
Speaker 1: Did we lose you?
Speaker 2: No? There you go? Thank you?
Speaker 3: Oh sure.
Speaker 4: We have four amazing queer chefs known from the Los
Speaker 4: Angeles Long Beads community that are coming out to do
Speaker 4: the best of the best and their sandwich durations. We've
Speaker 4: got Charlie Ray from Long Beafs, Private chef Qloon Eliza
Speaker 4: from UI's Studios are also amazing. Private chef Sammy Schwartz
Speaker 4: from Slutty Sammy's. If you have not had a Slutty
Speaker 4: Sammise sandwich, you have to go and get one.
Speaker 2: The name alone on the list.
Speaker 3: It definitely needs to.
Speaker 4: Be on the list, and then Journey Rain, who is
Speaker 4: the chef and owner of Grits and Waffles in Ktown.
Speaker 4: You've got four very different concepts of chefs coming to
Speaker 4: battle it out, and then a few of them will
Speaker 4: also be coming earlier, so if you want to grab
Speaker 4: a bite just to support them, they'll be out there
Speaker 4: all day slinging whatever they've got going on, and then
Speaker 4: the actual chef sandwich battle will be from.
Speaker 3: Five to eight.
Speaker 1: That's you know, sandwiches is I mean, it's just it
Speaker 1: is one of the perfect meals because it's like, you know,
Speaker 1: we all love pizza because it's all your favorite things
Speaker 1: on an edible plate, and a sandwich is kind of
Speaker 1: the same thing. It's all these great things whatever your
Speaker 1: heart desires between two edible plates basically, so you can
Speaker 1: just eat it. What's your what's your favorite? I mean,
Speaker 1: you've got great choices there on the East Coast. What's
Speaker 1: your favorite go to sandwich?
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, I really think it is a mont
Speaker 4: of crystal on the menu.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna have to try it.
Speaker 2: Wow, goodness, so.
Speaker 4: Big ultimate brunch sandwich, you know what I.
Speaker 1: Mean, Absolutely it is. Yeah, it's one of mine too.
Speaker 1: It's super decadent and it's a lot. But if I
Speaker 1: see it on a brunch menu, I'm I'm going headfirst into.
Speaker 2: That as well.
Speaker 1: How does this event going on tomorrow? Is it's twenty
Speaker 1: five dollars? And do they get this? Do they get
Speaker 1: tickets on your website? I'm looking now for a link.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you can get the tickets on our website at
Speaker 4: Pride twenty twenty five. It's going to be right there.
Speaker 4: And the twenty five dollars you get a sampling of
Speaker 4: all four sandwiches and you get to vote, you get
Speaker 4: to crown the winner. So it's gonna be really awesome.
Speaker 4: I can't actually I told this if I actually don't
Speaker 4: even want to know what they're making, because I feel
Speaker 4: that kind of ruins the element of surprise for me
Speaker 4: because like I'm also a shop It's like I'm just
Speaker 4: going to kind of dissect it. So I was like,
Speaker 4: just at a mental fairness to my colleagues, I'm just
Speaker 4: going to like go and see how everything tastes and support.
Speaker 4: But yeah, please get the tickets online at our website
Speaker 4: Queerfreefoundation dot org. You'll see right at that's the top
Speaker 4: five twenty twenty five, It will be right there. Proceeds
Speaker 4: do go to US at QSF for some of the proceeds.
Speaker 4: So all tickets matter to help support our causes, keep
Speaker 4: these type of events and community building in Los Angeles growing.
Speaker 1: You know, twenty five dollars is the ticket price twenty
Speaker 1: one in Old and Over, But in LA and in
Speaker 1: New York that's that's the cost of one sandwich.
Speaker 4: Right for.
Speaker 1: I'm like, twenty five bucks for a sandwich is like
Speaker 1: average right now?
Speaker 4: So can you come get to grab a nice drink
Speaker 4: from Benny Boy. You know, they're grateful to them for
Speaker 4: hosting us, and they're really awesome.
Speaker 3: Patio space. I don't know if you've been.
Speaker 1: I know of it, but I have not been any
Speaker 1: patio space in Southern California.
Speaker 2: I'm aware of love.
Speaker 1: I love anything where they have eating outside in Southern California.
Speaker 1: I don't know why we don't do it more here.
Speaker 1: It took it took uh the COVID for us to
Speaker 1: start eating outside in southern California for some stupid reason.
Speaker 2: Yeah, oh, this is so nice.
Speaker 3: Whoever thought of its? Los Angeles? You all be doing it.
Speaker 1: Sometimes we get it backwards and again remind everybody where
Speaker 1: the money goes to and about the Queer Food Foundation.
Speaker 4: Yes, so a portion of the proceeds of the tickets
Speaker 4: we'll go to the Queer Food Foundation to help us
Speaker 4: funds feed and elevate Queer workers and food and that
Speaker 4: again goes to smallier's bartenders, bussers, your local chefs and restaurants.
Speaker 4: We have resources as far as food banks. We also
Speaker 4: had a hate Crime fund for restaurants that have may
Speaker 4: have been affected by hate crimes. We have educational resources
Speaker 4: and a multitude of partnerships all across the country. That's
Speaker 4: the key people safe in equity and also inclusive in
Speaker 4: their workspace environment.
Speaker 2: Well, it's a great cause. And I love the fact.
Speaker 1: When food it's just kind of the attitude of this
Speaker 1: show that you know, food is the one thing that
Speaker 1: kind of ties us all together. We all have to eat,
Speaker 1: and that there's something magical about breaking bread with somebody
Speaker 1: and it's always and people that work in the hospitality
Speaker 1: industry are some of the most generous people on the planet. Obviously,
Speaker 1: you talking about Benny Boy Brewery and the fact that
Speaker 1: you know they're opening up their space for you to
Speaker 1: do this event. I hear this stuff day in and
Speaker 1: day out on this program that you know, these people
Speaker 1: are constantly opening up their restaurants, their breweries, whatever it is,
Speaker 1: for great causes, and this is yet another one. So
Speaker 1: I wish you success.
Speaker 3: Wow, thank you so much.
Speaker 4: We always say comunity is a verb, you know, and
Speaker 4: these are the type of moments to show what that means.
Speaker 2: That's funny.
Speaker 1: I say that about father too. The word father to
Speaker 1: me is a verb you have. Do you have to
Speaker 1: actually participate in things?
Speaker 3: Uh?
Speaker 1: Well, I wish you nothing about success on the event.
Speaker 1: Please keep us posted when you have other events that
Speaker 1: we can help get the word out. And as Pride Rep,
Speaker 1: thank you. So wait, what do you do come July.
Speaker 2: July?
Speaker 1: First, you have fulled up the flags, everybody puts their
Speaker 1: assless chaps away, and uh.
Speaker 4: Get we take a much seeded break, but we have
Speaker 4: a big campaign that we call clear all year so
Speaker 4: you know, we're the equity and advocacy and people need
Speaker 4: to be said all year round. So we need to
Speaker 4: take a few weeks off to regroup and then we
Speaker 4: go right back at it again.
Speaker 1: Okay, Well, good to hear. Well, thanks for what you're doing,
Speaker 1: and I'm glad that the train didn't keep you forever.
Speaker 1: We were happy to have some time to spend with you.
Speaker 4: Well, yeah, thank you so much, all right.
Speaker 1: That, of course, was Vanessa Parrish. She's the executive director
Speaker 1: and co founding member of the Queer Food Foundation. You
Speaker 1: can find out more at Queerfoodfoundation dot org