Jordan Birnbaum

Giving Food Its Due - The SoFAB Institute

Oct 2, 2013

LW
Stage· 182 messages
Oct 2, 2013

When Liz Williams founded the SoFAB Institute, her goal was to celebrate and explore the most universal and enjoyable element of human behavior - eating and drinking. With a physical museum waiting to reopen in its new space, SoFAB has been producing a series of well-received and reviewed events, including roundtable discussions, kitchen-crawls through New Orleans, and "Mixology Nights" celebrating particular liquors and spirits. In other words, Liz and SoFAB are having a GREAT TIME!

Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:00 AM

Liz Williams, I presume?
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:00 AM

★ Spotlighted from Blake Ian

I ate so much today to prep for this Tawk

LW

Liz Williams · 1:01 AM

Hello!
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:01 AM

That's smart Blake. You shouldn't go to the supermarket when hungry, and the same goes for a food Tawk.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:01 AM

Hi Liz! I'm so excited to be here with you!
LW

Liz Williams · 1:01 AM

I just returned from a meal with 4 Palestinian chefs. It was awesome.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:01 AM

I am happy to be here.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:02 AM

Oh my -now that's how you start off a Tawk! It's like the beginning of a great novel!
LW

Liz Williams · 1:02 AM

Yes. They are traveling around the US to share food and talk about peace. It is quite amazing.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:03 AM

Sharing food is one of the best ways to get beyond politics.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:03 AM

That's so funny - purely coincidentally I hung out with a Palestinian woman (as part of a group) on Saturday night and she discussed peacer all night too.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:03 AM

peace
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:03 AM

Anyway, back to the topic at hand.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:03 AM

Peace and cardamom.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:04 AM

a powerful combo. so just for a bit of context, I met Liz through a mutual friend.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:04 AM

I met with them yesterday and we discussed the New Orleans custom of drinking coffee and chicory. They drink coffee and cardamom
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:05 AM

excellent to do list item -coffee and cardamom. so I was so impressed by her organization that I wanted to tawk through it.wanted to Tawk it out
LW

Liz Williams · 1:06 AM

I am looking forward to discussing SoFAB with you.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:06 AM

I think you'll see why in a moment. So Liz, before we even talk about the institute, can you explain the motivations or insporations you were feeling that led you to formulate the concept?
LW

Liz Williams · 1:07 AM

I had been involved with opening other museums and I realized that we needed to have a museum about food and drink, and the attendant culture, in New Orleans. There really aren't places to explore food and to preserve the culture as it changes.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:08 AM

There are art museums, natural history museums, but not food museums.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:08 AM

one of the things I first noticed about your site is the extent of focus you place on the intersection of food and culture, and your description paints a vivid picture of how food impacts every single aspect of our lives.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:09 AM

It does. Everybody eats. Everybody drinks something. It is fundamental to our existence and touches every aspect of our lives.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:10 AM

even your profile gives a terrific nod to food driving global exploration thousands of years ago...(well, maybe not THOUSANDS, but a long time...)
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:10 AM

★ Spotlighted from Rick Rosner

Twinkies have had a big influence on me. Damn it, Mom!

LW

Liz Williams · 1:10 AM

It allows us to explore all aspects of life, history, economics through food.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:10 AM

Twinkies are the embodiment of the intersection of industrialization and food.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:10 AM

Rick brilliantly introducing a host of food related crises in one comment...
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:11 AM

indeed - something that I would imagine you find very troubling
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:11 AM

★ Spotlighted from ed goldsmith

this sounds great...thanks Rick...hold that thought...going to get some munchies...be right back!

Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:11 AM

uh oh -started an epidemic
LW

Liz Williams · 1:11 AM

When Twinkies first were introduced, they were a wonder food. Today perhaps they represent too far a swing of the pendulum.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:12 AM

But I am not a member of the food police. I think that people should be able to make their own choices.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:12 AM

Ahh -that's an interesting perspective, actually. I hadn't considered.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:12 AM

Too often the food police look for a silver bullet to affect change instead of looking for balance.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:12 AM

well said.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:13 AM

Food might as well be satisfying, sensually pleasing, and nourishing. We eat every day.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:14 AM

SoFAB isn't trying to make food change as much as document what is happening.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:14 AM

OK - so you realized that there is a need for food to be viewed from a museum perspective - measuring and and capturing its evolution. So what does one do when she decides she wants to open a museum?
LW

Liz Williams · 1:14 AM

Ah, fools rush in.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:14 AM

You know, just in case I ever get the urge.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:15 AM

We decided to just do it. That meant find a location, begin finding artifacts, and begin to tell a coherent story.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:15 AM

Did that mean you had to begin a ton of research, or did you already possess a great deal of information?
LW

Liz Williams · 1:15 AM

We decided that we would used a geographic format
LW

Liz Williams · 1:16 AM

I had already been interested in food. If I did it all over I would have studied anthropology instead of law. I have eaten may way through many countries and read about food whenever I could
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:17 AM

I did not know you were an attorney too. Wow, Liz!
LW

Liz Williams · 1:17 AM

The hardest part was making people take this seriously. They all know what an art museum is. Who knows what a food museum is? So we had to establish credibility by mounting exhibits in borrowed spaces.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:17 AM

Yes, I studied law. Didn't know what else to do
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:18 AM

cool - what kind of exhibits? and was it fun thinking them up?
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:18 AM

and btw Rick:
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:18 AM

I just ordered Chinese delivery because all these food comments are killing my empty stomach
LW

Liz Williams · 1:18 AM

Yes. Our very first exhibit was about drinks of New Orleans. How could we go wrong?
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:18 AM

you should have followed Blake's lead, as discussed earlier.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:18 AM

So it began as very New Orleans focused?
LW

Liz Williams · 1:19 AM

You can eat Chinese and tawk, R McCandless.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:19 AM

lol -good point!
LW

Liz Williams · 1:19 AM

The beauty of the tawk.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:19 AM

it is good for multi-tasking. Or is it multi-tawking?
LW

Liz Williams · 1:19 AM

Perhaps we should all have agreed to eat the same meal while we do this.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:20 AM

well, first you going to have to teach us how to prepare it...
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:20 AM

then we'll cook, then we'll eat and Tawk. I'm in.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:20 AM

I would like to see more home cooking. That is one of my soap box issues.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:20 AM

It can be fun. It does not have to be drudgery.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:21 AM

Well that's a good transition to my next question. Was fun your primary motivator when you decided on the topics of your exhibits? Because that seems like a smart6 way to go...
LW

Liz Williams · 1:22 AM

We try to find the balance between fun and educational.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:22 AM

We have had historical exhibits about people that the public is unfamiliar with. But we look for fun and interesting anecdotes.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:23 AM

so without fast forwarding over too much history, the physical museum is now awaiting launch in its new space, but the SoFAB Institute is doing ALOT more than justt the museum.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:23 AM

Yes. We have a really great Culinary Dictionary called Nitty Grits.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:24 AM

BTW -everyone needs to check out the site:http://sofabinstitute.org (but you know, after the Tawk...)
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:24 AM

you would have to have the Creole exhibit in there
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:24 AM

only one way to find out
LW

Liz Williams · 1:24 AM

We have been exploring a question around the country - Is Food Art? and that will culminate in a lecture soon
LW

Liz Williams · 1:25 AM

Yes, we have explored Creole cuisine. We have looked for its origins and looked at its future.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:25 AM

cooking in the south is a labor of love
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:25 AM

I'm guessing the museum is a testament to that...
LW

Liz Williams · 1:26 AM

We have what we believe is the only stand alone culinary library - not associated with a university, culinary school or corporation
LW

Liz Williams · 1:26 AM

Cooking in the south is a labor of love. I wish that it was that way around the US
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:27 AM

do you think other parts of the country are too dismissive of cooking?
LW

Liz Williams · 1:27 AM

But we cover the entire south - from Texas to Florida. Up to West Virginia and Maryland and Oklahoma
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:27 AM

any cultural /geographical contributors to that?
LW

Liz Williams · 1:28 AM

WHen you talk about an ethnic group in another part of the country, there is usually respect for that cuisine, But American food - frozen, nuked, powdered, and reconstituted - can be surreal food
LW

Liz Williams · 1:28 AM

We don't have time. We eat in out cars. Take out and drive thru windows are our meals.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:29 AM

that is sadly American
LW

Liz Williams · 1:29 AM

Families have such disparate schedules that they cannot share meals.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:29 AM

★ Spotlighted from Lucy Dyer

am in the wrong country,JB

Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:29 AM

So Lucy is in England - are they in better or worse shape than the US when it comes to cuisine?
LW

Liz Williams · 1:29 AM

Lucy, do you have family meals?
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:30 AM

★ Spotlighted from Lucy Dyer

nope. never did either

LW

Liz Williams · 1:30 AM

It seems that the family meal, whether it is breakfast of Sunday dinner, is a way to bring ourselves into balance
LW

Liz Williams · 1:30 AM

Lucy, do you eat in your car?
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:31 AM

well it is very sad that even the option for family dinner is becoming increasingly problematic
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:31 AM

It's not hard to understand how and why it can be such a life affirming process.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:31 AM

(assuming your family isn't awful)
LW

Liz Williams · 1:32 AM

That is why we have this museum to remind people that eating food is important.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:32 AM

OK - so we kind of flew through a few of your projects earlier, but I'd like to explore a little more in depth.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:33 AM

And we want to capture all of the changes in culture and the table as they happen.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:33 AM

So from your site I can see you have produced content that is informational, like the Nitty Grits dictionary which is very cool....
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:34 AM

but also advocating for farm to table food distribution
LW

Liz Williams · 1:34 AM

Yes, Nitty Grits is the largest culinary dictionary on the web. The definitions are in English, but the words are written in their native language.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:34 AM

We produce a word of the day on Twitter.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:34 AM

everyone should sign up for it - it's very cool
LW

Liz Williams · 1:35 AM

We have an annual Farm to Table symposium to discuss all of the issues from the dirt to the fork.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:35 AM

@nittygritswords
LW

Liz Williams · 1:35 AM

We also have a kid's camp to teach children to cook. They actually use knives and heat. They do not just assemble food.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:36 AM

I assume you have learned much distressing information about the state of agriculture in America, from both a chemical and corporate /political perspective.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:36 AM

what are some of the issues you feel it most important to create awareness?
LW

Liz Williams · 1:36 AM

Yes. But the issues are complex. The Farm Bill, the need to feed many many people. The elitist nature of many organic food issues.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:37 AM

★ Spotlighted from Rick Rosner

Monsanto must go - anyway possible.

LW

Liz Williams · 1:37 AM

If we could know what we are eating, perhaps not eat so much.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:37 AM

(have to admit I was thinking that about Monsanto...)
LW

Liz Williams · 1:38 AM

Monsanto - the company represents two major issues. One issue is the GMO seed issue. The other issue is the patenting of seed and the ownership of seeds. These are 2 separate issues.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:38 AM

certainly
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:38 AM

both seem pretty bad to me...
LW

Liz Williams · 1:38 AM

GMO seeds have been around longer than we know. It is hard to find food that isn't GMO.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:39 AM

really? I thought that cross-pollinatihng has been around forever, but that gene splicing is relatively new. But I am no expert, so that would need some verification...
LW

Liz Williams · 1:39 AM

If Monsanto weren't such a monolith, if there was more competition in the marketplace, the GMO issue might be a different one.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:40 AM

It is new, but it was on the market before we knew about it.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:40 AM

well, just because we've been getting experiemented on for longer than we thought doesn't make it OK, but that's a Tawk for another time.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:41 AM

i just noticed Monsanto is not shut down
LW

Liz Williams · 1:41 AM

Not saying its okay. only that it is hard to go back since it is better established than we think
LW

Liz Williams · 1:41 AM

Monsanto is going to keep going. The US SUpreme court affirmed the right to patent the seeds.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:43 AM

And I am afraid that labeling for GMOs will hurt small farmers and not hurt Monsanto. A major marketing campaign and boycotts would probably be most effective.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:43 AM

understood. and it is a much larger and complex issue than can be fairlly addressed in a short Tawk. I think you bring a pragmatic perspective, and I appreciate that. But let's get back to SoFab!
LW

Liz Williams · 1:44 AM

Always ready to do that.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:44 AM

so tell me about "Is Food Art?" Because I certainly thyink it is!
LW

Liz Williams · 1:44 AM

I think that it is too.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:44 AM

In different times it has been considered art in France
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:45 AM

how did you explore the question?
LW

Liz Williams · 1:45 AM

We are very Puritanical in the US and tend to be fuel oriented about food.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:45 AM

We held panels around the country.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:45 AM

We had one in Durham at Duke U.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:45 AM

One in Los Angeles.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:46 AM

One in NYC.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:46 AM

And there will be a final talk in New Orleans on Oct. 10. Then we will begin 2014 with a new Culinaria Query.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:46 AM

The Query for 2014 is "What is the skinny on obesity?"
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:47 AM

so you recruit experts for these panels, and involve the audience in the discussion?
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:47 AM

It's almost like Tawkers in real life!
LW

Liz Williams · 1:47 AM

Absolutely.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:47 AM

We like to have disparate points of view.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:48 AM

so this view of food as a utility, instead of as art -that impacts everything we discussed before about how Americans are eating in their car.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:48 AM

Yes.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:48 AM

It is almost evil to be too interested in the sensual aspect of food.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:49 AM

do you hope that by raising the issue in this light, it might be more impactful in getting Americans to re-assess their attitudes about how they feed themselves?
LW

Liz Williams · 1:49 AM

A Jewish scholar on the panel in Durham quoted interesting Talmudic thought on the importance of enjoying food. I found that inspiring
LW

Liz Williams · 1:50 AM

We hope so. As long as we deny the need to be satisfied by food, we are still hungry and we actually eat too much.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:51 AM

so obesity and food portions have come up a few times. clearly this is a motivating concern for you. what kind of information would you love to get out there?
LW

Liz Williams · 1:51 AM

And if you have seen the movie, Babette's Feast, the power of food is apparent. That movie contrasts the puritanical and the sensuous aspects.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:51 AM

#NetflixIt
LW

Liz Williams · 1:52 AM

I once made a meal from a 1950s cookbook, using pots and pans and serving pieces from the 1950s. The plates were smaller, the portions were smaller, there was less sugar, and more fat. Interesting.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:53 AM

wow - even our pots and pans are increasing in size? how did these decisions get made in the first place?
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:53 AM

is it efficiency?
LW

Liz Williams · 1:53 AM

I think that we went through a phase of plenty.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:54 AM

When you actually squeezed an orange for juice, the glasses were tiny because there isn't that much juice in one orange. But when you use frozen or presqueezed, you pour a big glass. It's easy.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:54 AM

Restaurants started doing all you can eat.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:55 AM

They started using larger plates. THen we started filling them.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:55 AM

If we have no bones after we have eaten meat, we eat more. We have lost the cues that tell us how much we have eaten.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:56 AM

wow -I have never considered that.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:56 AM

And large food companies benefit from this.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:56 AM

★ Spotlighted from Seth Hochman

The reason we eat more now is because we're loaded up with carbs, which increase insulin, which makes you hungry faster. Although the food companies are evil, they do know how to sell more food

LW

Liz Williams · 1:56 AM

Seth, the food companies are very efficient.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:57 AM

But that is their job. sell more. we eat it.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:57 AM

so it feels as though the unifying thread through all of the SoFAB projects is to elevate our understanding of and relationship with our food towardss almost endless benefit to our lives. It's very inspiring.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:57 AM

Thank you for summing that up
LW

Liz Williams · 1:58 AM

We think that if we understand our relationship with food, we will eat better and enjoy life more. Yes,
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:58 AM

so Liz - this hour FLEW by!
LW

Liz Williams · 1:58 AM

I hope that we can have more Tawks about this.
LW

Liz Williams · 1:59 AM

This was great. You ask good questions and the comments were insightful.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:59 AM

me too! I think the Tawkers community would really appreciate this kind of content.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:59 AM

And I know we all support what you are trying to accomplish!
LW

Liz Williams · 1:59 AM

Thanks so much. Good night all.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 2:00 AM

good night! Thanks everyone in the forum - you were great!
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 2:00 AM

★ Spotlighted from ed goldsmith

and...eating southern cooked food is a love in the North!

Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 2:00 AM

PS -where's the best soul food in NY?
LW

Liz Williams · 2:00 AM

The North deserves love too
LW

Liz Williams · 2:00 AM

I don't know. Sylvia's?
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 2:01 AM

PPS - how happy are you about the Saints?
LW

Liz Williams · 2:01 AM

The Saints are going to be a great team this season now that they have their coach back.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 2:02 AM

yeah, it has proven so thus far. OK all - g'night. I really had fun!
LW

Liz Williams · 2:02 AM

Me too
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 2:03 AM

★ Spotlighted from Seth Hochman

Thank you for the Tawk

LW

Liz Williams · 2:03 AM

Thank you, Seth.
LW

Liz Williams · 2:03 AM

And you too , Jordan.