Podcast Dispatches from Vol. 21: What to Read Now with Melissa Fuster

For our sixth season of podcasts produced in collaboration with Meant to Be Eaten on Heritage Radio Network, we sit down (virtually) with authors who have contributed to our third issue of 2021, edited by Krishnendu Ray, and featuring articles and creative pieces which collectively address the issue of “gastropolitics,” as described in that issue’s editorial letter. You can find all previous episodes in the series under “Web Exclusives.”

For this episode, Reviews Editor and Collective member Jaclyn Rohel highlights three titles recently reviewed in Issue 21.4 which may be of interest to both food scholars and lay readers of topics related to food production, consumption, and representation:

The Uncertainty Mindset: Innovation Insights from the Frontiers of Food, by Vaughn Tan

FoodWISE: A Whole Systems Guide to Sustainable and Delicious Food Choices, by Gigi Berardi

Tasting Difference: Food, Race, and Cultural Encounters in Early Modern Literature, by Gitanjali G. Shahani

Jackie is then joined by Gastronomica colleague Melissa Fuster to discuss Melissa’s new book, Caribeños at the Table: How Migration, Health, and Race Intersect in New York City (UNC Press, 2021). An expert in both public health nutrition and food studies, Melissa weaves together research in history, policy, health, and everyday life to connect newcomers’ culinary practices to the complex structural factors that shape well-being. Melissa also discusses how this work led her to develop her community-based research initiative, the Latin American Restaurants in Action Project.