Premieres Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024 at 6 p.m. on KPBS TV / PBS app
On LIDIA CELEBRATES "America Changemakers," internationally renowned chef, author, and restaurateur Lidia Bastianich throws a national spotlight on progressive chefs, farmers and entrepreneurs around the U.S. striving to change the future of food – whether by increasing local access to produce, creating communities that teach people to grow vegetables, reviving indigenous ingredients for healthful Native cuisine, or introducing the American palate to sustainable ingredients such as insects.
In this hourlong special, Lidia travels from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Stockton California, to Inglewood, California, and Middletown, Virginia, to visit those who work hard to change the availability of healthy food in their communities and to alter the way we perceive food in America.
“In Changemakers, I meet with inspiring and passionate Americans who are trying to improve our lives by helping us attain better access to nutritious food, and by re-connecting us with nature and our environment,” Bastianich said.
Born in Pula, a small city on the southern tip of the Istrian Peninsula in present-day Croatia, Bastianich grew up in a poor community where food was scarce. When it came to cooking and eating, she and her neighbors demonstrated a remarkable spirit of ingenuity and of sharing. Resourcefulness remains a fundamental part of who Lidia is today, a chef bolstered by the belief that food is increasingly being wasted, and increasingly scarce. "Changemakers" follows Bastianich on her 13th journey across America as she meets up with everyday Americans who are reimagining what the future of food could look like.
“Our approach to food needs to be increasingly rooted in using local and available products, cooked with less waste,” she said. “With 1.3 billion tons of food going to waste each year, that’s enough food to feed two billion people.” Lidia is intent on getting out the critical message that when we waste food, we also waste all the energy and water it takes to grow, harvest, transport, and package it. “We need to take steps toward ensuring a more secure food future for everyone, and we need to do it now.”
Individual stories featured in LIDIA CELEBRATES AMERICA "Changemakers"
In Minneapolis, Lidia meets with James Beard award-winning chef and restaurateur Sean Sherman at his most recent undertaking, The Indigenous Food Lab Market – a teaching kitchen and market for indigenous foods, and also at his upscale restaurant, Owamni, which focuses on Indigenous food, flavor and culture. Sean serves Lidia dishes filled with ingredients and flavors unique to his heritage, such as smoked bison, tepary beans, mushroom tacos, and wild rice.
Also in Minneapolis, Claire and Chad Simons strive to make edible insects more accessible to the American palate with their company, 3 Cricketeers. Insects represent sustainable protein and are consumed by 2 billion people worldwide. After stopping by the popular “Great Minnsect Show” at the University of Minnesota, Lidia visits the 3 Cricketeers’ test kitchen to taste-test a new pasta made with cricket powder and cricket pesto.
In Middletown, chef Kari Rushing is on a mission to change America’s perception of Appalachian cuisine. Her restaurant, Vault & Cellar, marries the resourcefulness of Appalachia – making do with what you have - with the refinement of fine dining. In the special, Kari prepares cabbage steak and “rabbit food,” incorporating rabbit, braised greens and roasted carrots.
In Stockton, Lidia visits Patricia Miller, who works with Centre Plate LLC helping to run an aggregated CSA for local farmers that grows healthy food and educates families with recipes and container farming instructions. She is also co-founder of the Black Urban Farmers Association (BUFA) of Stockton.
In Inglewood, Lidia volunteers to distribute fresh produce with the Social Justice Learning Institute, which strives to improve access to healthy foods across Inglewood by delivering free produce to pop-up markets, schools, and medical clinics. Every Friday, SJLI brings produce to their distribution center, giving away up to 15,000 pounds of produce to community food banks, churches, non-profits and individuals.
The special closes with a final celebratory meal at Sean Sherman’s Owamni, where Lidia and the changemakers unite and sample a diverse array of dishes, with each incorporating forward-thinking ingredients selected wisely, used resourcefully, and with the planet in mind.
Watch On Your Schedule: LIDIA CELEBRATES AMERICA "Changemakers" is available to stream on the PBS app.
CREDITS: Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Producers: GBH, Five O’Clock Films LLC and Tavola Productions. Executive producers: Lidia Bastianich and Laurie Donnelly.
