Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1017167
EDITOR'S LETTER New Viewpoints, Fresh Ideas FALL 2018 1 SPECIALTY FOOD ASSOCIATION MEMBERS: Discuss this topic in the Solution Center on specialtyfood.com W hen I was 12, I began a newspaper route delivering The Bergen Record after school. When Haile Thomas was 12 she founded a nonprofit organization that promotes the importance of nutrition and culinary education. Five years later, she's a recognized speaker, podcaster, and author who has shared her message with 16,000 children through her HAPPY (Healthy Active Positive Purposeful Youth) Org. (Though, I did receive an All-Star Paper Carrier plaque, Haile.) Denise Purcell Editor, Specialty Food Magazine dpurcell@specialtyfood.com Haile is the youngest of the inspiring selections in our second annual "12 Under 35" feature in this issue. Some— like Haile, who was spurred into action by her father's Type 2 diabetes diagnosis—started their efforts to help others. Danny Alas and Justin Rodriguez, two New Orleans chefs featured on our cover, are self-described queer chefs of color who establish a welcome space in their restaurant for those who, like themselves, encountered hostilities and challenges in the restaurant world. Twenty-two-year-old Francesca Chaney opened a cafe to serve nutritious foods to underserved Brook- lyn communities. Goni Light and Yonatan Sela are a married couple who created a brand with a social impact by creating economic partnerships between Israel and Palestine. Tech advances play a major role in many of these youth- ful entrepreneurs' innovations. For instance, when Komal Ahmad was a college student, she was appalled by the on-cam- pus dining hall's food waste and developed an app to match restaurants, caterers, and event venues with untouched sur- plus. "There's plenty of food to go around for everyone on the planet," contends Ahmad. "It's a logistics problem." These young people are concerned and outspoken about social issues and can use technology to take a new view of issues and solutions. It is fostering fresh ideas like those mentioned here and ones seen across the industry. For instance, 19-year-old Priya Mittal joined SFA's disruptor panel at the Summer Fancy Food Show education program to explain how her GoGreen Tech platform, which combats food waste and educates about so-called "ugly" produce, was born after watching a woman at a farmers market spend 20 minutes discarding apples with slight imperfections. Mittal is also part of the growing Teenovator program through Seeds&Chips, an organization devoted to con- necting the food eco-system of makers, suppliers, buyers, policy makers, activists, and media to create a more sus- tainable system. You can hear more about Priya's story by viewing her interview on SFA News Live from the Summer Show at specialtyfood.com/sfanewslive-summer18, as well as read about this year's fascinating group of 12 Under 35 breakout talent, beginning on p. 29. "There's plenty of food to go around for everyone on the planet," contends Ahmad. "It's a logistics problem."