@ForkReport - Hour 2

Neil is joined by Memo Torres of LA Taco to discuss the hardships of food journalism. Also, Neil tells us why we should avoid giving our kids Lunchables. Who knew excess sodium and lead in my food could be so delicious!   

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
You're listening to the Fork Report withNeil Savedra on demand from KFI AM six
forty KFI AM six forty live everywhereon the iHeartRadio app. Hey everybody,
it's the Fork Report, all Thingsfood, beverage and beyond. I am
your friendly neighborhood. Fork Reporter NeilSavedra had the you do thanks for hanging

(00:22):
out on this rainy ish overcast theSaturday. A lot going on in the
world. We have our finger onthe pulse of course as to what's going
on, so there's no reason togo anywhere else. We're gonna stick with
the format of the Fork Report fornow, but as there's breaking news going
on in the Middle East, wewill break in should we need to.

(00:44):
No reason to go anywhere else.Iran says that it targets It said that
it was going to target any countrythat opens its airspace for Israeli attack against
Iran is what's going on now.This is after Iran launches doesn't of drones
towards Israel. As more information comesout and we'll make sure that you have

(01:07):
it, So no reason to goanywhere on that. Also, want to
remind you that I will be outnext week on the twentieth, I will
be out in Glendora at the Wendy'sthere on Route sixty six. I've been
there before. Come out, sayhello. I have some swag and some
stuff to give you, including thefolks from Zelman's are coming out and they'll

(01:27):
have plenty of these boxes of Zelman'sminty Mouth mints for you. My buddy
Simon Majumdar from the Food Network,and of course the host of the podcast
Eat My Globe will be out therewith me as well, so it'll be
good fun. Had by all.Put that on the calendar two to five
next week. A week from today, we'll be live at Wendy's there in

(01:51):
Glendora on Root sixty six on thepatio outside. Come by, say hello.
Sucky news. And this is oneof those bummer things that happens from
time to time. Something that welove says, hey, we're not doing
well. We might have to goaway. Whatever it is. The good

(02:15):
thing is if you sound the alarmearly enough, then those of us who
love it can step up to thebest of our ability. This happens to
deal with La Taco, a renownedindependent journalism outlet, and James Beard Award
winner. It's facing major shakeup rightnow with the temporary furloughs of its full
time staff starting on April fifteenth,as reported by Eater and Beyond. One

(02:37):
of the places I heard at firstwas from Memo Toores. Memo Torres is
a multimedia taco journalist. I enjoyhis work on his own social media and
then on La Taco as well.He's got their new plant and gardening column,
y because he's a third generation landscaper, host of Apple Maps La,

(02:57):
a food guide on all iPhones,a director of partnerships for the James Award
winning aforementioned La Taco finalist for andthis has got to be, a proud
moment finalist for the Reuben Salazar Awardfor Latino Journalists, and a taco scout
for just about everyone on the planet. And I welcome to the program for

(03:19):
the first time. Memo, welcometo the Fork Report. Hey, thanks
so much for having me. Neil. I appreciate you taking the time man.
You know I followed you for along time. We have a lot
of friends that we share, butI've never had the time to actually hang
out or chat with you. ButI appreciate all the work you do now
with La Taco. When you firstcame, you volunteered your first year.

(03:40):
Is that right? Yeah, Imean it was. It was back when
when there was it's almost like historyrepeating itself. There was a lot of
media layoffs. Ella Weekly had beengutted under new ownership, and we were
losing a lot of local publications backthen too, and the founders of Li
Taco decided to relaunch Ali Taco asa publication. It used to be just

(04:03):
a blog where anybody kind of posedarticles and stuff. It wasn't that's serious.
But when I relaunched that kind ofI was like, you know,
we need an all publication in Laand I had been following Ali Taco for
a little bit. And my friendDaniel Hernandez got brought in as the food
as the main you know, editor, to relaunch Li Talco with the publication.

(04:27):
He's alread at Eli Tank's Food nowhe's a chief editor over there for
the Li Tanks food section. Butyeah, I was like, they had
no money, and I you know, I've had my own businesses. I
have a separate business like you mentioned, and I knew that, you know,
without any money, it's pretty hardto start a business, So I
yeah, I was like, Ibelieved in it, and slowly I got
more involved and you know, justkind of grew into another thing, putting

(04:49):
a lot of food equity and yeah, now you know, I'm all about
Elictaco. You know, you talkabout, you know, all options like
this, having alternatives to regular journalism, and you know, coming from mainstream
journalism like KFI. We have ouryou know, we have our talk shows

(05:11):
like this, and then we haveactual journalists for our news department or winning
and they do a fantastic job.But I support in a small way with
a monthly donation to LA and havefor a while. I encourage others too.
We're going to tell you how youcould be a part of this by
the way coming up. But becauseI believe that the more eyes on something,
the better, the better, themore truth you get from having multiple

(05:35):
layers of journalism and people watching andnot only the food scene, but some
of the great stories that have beenbroken or have been focused on with La
Taco. What is your reason whyyou're so passionate about alternative journalism? You
know, I think it goes backto me growing up in LA and also

(06:00):
kind of just as a landscaper drivingaround all over LA and just being able
to explore different communities and I've I'vefound comfort to you know, the laborious
and tedious business that is anti beingby visiting neighborhoods and seeing what there is

(06:20):
to eat and getting to meet differentpeople and experiencing different cultures. And I
just think that that's something that needsto be told more. I think I
think a lot of people get hyperfocused on LA as being like this area
between Santa Monica to Hollywood, andthat gets promoted a lot that's hyper focused

(06:43):
and a lot of the major publications, that's where a lot of the more
expensive restaurants are, that's where transplantscome and one of the influencers and then
give us a bad image to therest of the country. And for me,
LA is more than that. Lais San Fernando Valley, at San
Gabriel Valley, It's Southeast LA.It's South it's South Central, It's Lynnwood,

(07:05):
Inglewood, Cover City, It's SouthBay. There's just there's so much
to LA that I just think that, you know, there isn't enough publication
already at there as it is bringingnow to cover all of it. And
I just think somebody like a publicationlike Eli Tago just is a perfect median

(07:26):
to be able to showcase that tothe world. I couldn't agree more.
As a matter of fact, whenI started, you know, gosh,
I don't know, fourteen years agoon this program or whatever, you know,
a lot of people wanted the mainstream, famous shafts, chefs or whatever,
and I'm like, I want tofocus on our stars, you know,

(07:46):
I want people to meet someone thatthey wouldn't necessarily meet understand things here
at home, because we're not likeNew York where they have these pockets and
you go, Okay, this isManhattan, this is the bron what have
you. We are so spread outin La there's just no way to understand
it by getting the most populous areas. And You're right, when it comes

(08:09):
to money and focus, they're goingto focus on the places where the most
people live and not the outskirts asmuch because they're the ones that are going
to pay for a publication or youknow, use sponsors or what have you.
And therefore, having an outlet likeLa Taco means a lot, and

(08:30):
it means it's when everything happened withLa Weekly, it was more than just
the fact that you know, apparentlysome conservative guy came bought it and fired
everybody. It was more than that. There were people that I knew that
it affected. It affected me asa reader, but it affected Los Angeles.
That voice, and there's been thatabsence, and like you said,

(08:54):
La Taco was one of the voicesthat filled that void when we come back.
My guest right now is Memo TorresMultimedia, the multimedia, and I
love this title. Taco journalist fromLa Taco and you know, just an
all around guy who loves this Southlandplace that we all call home and goes

(09:18):
to the nooks and crannies. Theyintroduce us to people we might not know,
and some food and some talent andsome stories that we might not hear
otherwise. So we'll hear more fromhim as we call come back and talk
about what's going on at La Tacoright now, how we can help through.
And it's not just charity. Imean, it's whether it's buying merch

(09:39):
whether it's getting a subscription, whetheryou know, paying monthly, the nine
ninety nine or whatever the lowest is, if that's what you can afford,
if you can't do anything else,spread the word, go on to the
social media, push it out.You know, we can't be impotent in
this because we lose these and thenall you get is And it's not to

(10:01):
bash corporate stuff. I belong to. This is being broadcast on a corporate
station. It's that you need thefull ecosystem or it all breaks down.
And that's with food, that's withjournalism, that's with information as a whole.
And so if there's anything I cando today is to remind you that
how necessary it is to have thisoutlet. We'll come back more, talk

(10:24):
to Memo about some of the thingsgoing on, how we can participate,
what's going on with some of theevents, the problems that they've had leading
up to this, and how wemight be able to do our part.
So go nowhere. It is thefour Report on Neil Sevadra KFIM six fortyfi
AM six forty live everywhere on theiHeartRadio app. Hey everybody, it's the

(10:45):
Foe Report. All things food,beverage and beyond coming together every Saturday for
three hours from two to five toshake off the ugliness of whatever's going on
in the world, news heaviness andget together in a sanctuary. If you
will, a little place where wecan celebrate food, the people that make
it, the culture behind it,ingredients, cooking at home, going out

(11:05):
and supporting local restaurants and the like. This is what I've said all along,
is that the economy locally rises andfalls on hospitality, whether you're going
out and you're eating at restaurants,your local restaurants. And if we don't
do that, got pretty bashed upduring the PANDE. But we're back and

(11:28):
we're doing our best to make surewe're putting money into these things. And
as we get into the topic againof what's going on at La Taco,
I mean this is a renowned independentjournalism outlet, an alternative outlet, if
you will, and that means thatit's not backed by big companies or corporations.

(11:52):
Every dime, every nickel, everypenny comes from people's support, whether
it's buying swag or their merch,whether it is buying a subscription or paying
for a subscription, which is whatI do, and I will change and
up my subscription today. Don't knowhow that's going to help much, but
the key is if we all lift, it gets lighter. We need these

(12:16):
outlets. It's imperative not only dothe food scene, but also the perspective
of journalism, having more eyes onany story, taking things from a local
perspective from people that have lived here, grown here, or love this Southland
the same way we do. Myguest right now is Memo Torres. He

(12:37):
is a multimedia taco journalist, thirdgeneration landscaper. He's host of La Taco's
Plant and Gardening column. He isthe host of apple Maps La Food Guide
on all phone iPhones. There justyou know, a finalist for the Reuben
Salazar Award, which you must bevery proud of, for Latino lists and

(13:00):
attack a taco scout for just abouteverybody on the planet. He knows what
he's talking about, and we havehim with us. Now, what's going
on at La Taco right now?What should we know? How can we
help as people that enjoy and Ithink it's important to have as part of
the culture here in Los Angeles.Well, right now, we're we're kind

(13:22):
of we're starting Monday, almost everybody'sgetting furloaded except for a cup Yere.
I'll still be volunteering my time,but people are gonna be furloaded until the
end of the month, and we'rehoping we can get back to we need
we need up to five thousand subscribers. And it's not a it's not a

(13:43):
lot. I don't describers are nota lot. And and and it's really
hard to get people to sign up. I mean people will sign up for
Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus,no problem, but you know, ask
him to support local journalism and it'slike it's like what, No, it's
it's it's hard. I get it. And I know that that's been a
focus of yours. I mean itwas to you that I signed up.

(14:05):
It was following you on social mediaand it's like I never thought about that
and here I'm using it and itwas a reminder from you that got me
to do it. Appreciate that.Yeah, So you know, where are
you guys that I'm sorry, areyou guys at hovering around what fifteen hundred,

(14:26):
eighteen hundred subscribers? What are youlooking at? So when we started
we started sounding the alarm on Thursday, we were at about fifteen hundred subscribers,
and we've had an incredible response fromLa, from people on Twitter,
on all social media, celebrities andother publications. We were able to get

(14:46):
around subscribers in twenty four hours andthat is awesome. Yeah, Like,
I mean, so it's possible you'relooking at you're looking at half, you're
looking at another half, so you'relooking at another twenty five hundred or so
that would balance everything out and keepeverything afloat. Yeah, And honestly,

(15:07):
like we were we were talking alittle bit earlier today about how because so
many of those subscriptions that people haverenewed have renewed in that like, because
we have three tiers. Can youcan do a basic five ninety five a
month, you can do a Founderwhich is nine ninety five, where you
can do the Premiere which is nineteenninety five, and each each one has
a little bit more perks, Right, you will get some merch with some

(15:28):
of them, but all levels,you get access to all our events,
you get free tacos, and thisguts around the city. I mean,
it's like the best subscription you canget. So we've we've we've worked with
so many vendors, businesses and lathat support La Taco and are willing to
give anybody it's an La Taco member, a free taco. You can get

(15:48):
three dollars off of beer at BoomtownBrewery for example, you can you can
get if you're like a medical dispensary. We have a couple of parties in
medical dispensers will give you thirty percentoff, which are basically all the taxes
off me. There's it's such acool subscription program. There's nothing like it
in the nation or in the world. I just don't know, like if
people really realize that. I mean, you get so much for it too,

(16:11):
and it's such a cheap and easeof subscription. But going back to
the numbers that we're at, becauseso many have been buying the higher tiered
ones as founders of premiums, wemight actually need less than five thousand.
So we're getting close to our goal, but we're still a long way there.
We still need we still need acouple of thousand more subscribers. Well,
I got to tell you, becauseof Amazon, I get I subscribe

(16:37):
to their Prime for their videos andtheir TV streaming. You know what they
gave me commercials commercials. Yeah,so free tacos sound a lot better than
freaking commercials. That is really great. Now people can buy some of the
merch too, right, they cango on the website and buy some of

(16:59):
the merch support as well as justgiving a donation if they want. Yeah,
thinking that we can take a donation. Honestly subscribing what we would prefer,
we'd be able to have retain longtime subscribers because the donation can come
and go. But we're up againstthe clock. Can I can I pull
you? Can you hang out foranother segment? Yeah? For sure.

(17:22):
Okay, let's let's keep talking.We just have to get some news here.
Obviously a big news day today withstuff going on in the Middle East,
So hang tight, we'll be backwith more Memo Torres from La Taco.
We have to do our part tosave these things. We lose this
and we start losing the heart andsoul of Los Angeles. And you know,
we've been let down by some ofthe bigger ones like La Weekly and

(17:45):
the like, and even you know, the La Times. Although it's got
the best food, it's just anincredible food section, the reporting is not
what it used to be. Andsometimes we need to go to these local,
smaller outlets for both food and forinformation. So we'll talk more about
that and how you can set upa subscription and get some of those perks
as well, like free tacos comeon now, all right, so go

(18:07):
nowhere. It is the Fork Reporton Neil Servadra. This is KFIM six
forty. You're listening to the ForkReport with Neil Savedra on demand from KFI
AM six forty KFI AM six fortylive everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. Hey
everybody, it's the Fork coort allthings food, beverage and beyond. I
am your friendly neighborhood Fork Reporter NeilSavedra. How do you do breaking news?

(18:33):
Of course going on as I Ranlaunches a dozens one hundred or so
drones towards Israel. As more comesout, we will keep you posted here.
There's no reason to go anywhere else. Andrew Caravella is in the KFI
newsroom and along with our KFI newsfolks, and we'll break that down.
We'll switch programming if we need to, but for right now, we're just

(19:00):
keeping you posted on that. Also, Tula Sharp with SoCal Saturdays coming up
at five o'clock, so go nowwhere. That's followed by Unsolved with Steve
Gregory. So stick around right here, won't you. Right now, we're
talking about something that's close to myheart, and that is having multiple forms

(19:21):
of journalism, insights both when itcomes to food and beyond, and being
bummed out when I heard about thefact that La Taco, one of my
favorite and beloved local independent food andjournalism's alternative outlets here in Los Angeles,
was going through financial issues to thetune of needing to furlough its workers,

(19:45):
all full time workers. Coming upon Monday with me right now is Memo
Torres, and he's there from fromLa Taco as well, a writer,
and he is one hell of ataco scout for just about everybody. If
you've never followed him before, heis the man to follow. We're just

(20:06):
talking about the importance of alternative journalismin Los Angeles, taking care of focusing,
finding stories and the smaller, thelittle gaps that sometimes get overlooked in
this beautiful but often frustrating place welive in Los Angeles and southern California.
Memo, you were talking about subscriptions, Now, what about sponsors sponsorships on

(20:30):
Lataco dot com as well? Isthat a possibility if there's anybody listening that
wants to maybe partner or do somethinglike that. Yeah, and then we've
had We've had plenty of sponsors itcan be difficult at the times to get
sponsors because it's a local publication.We've had most success with local sponsors.

(20:52):
North Seat Markets have been great supportersLa Metro. We've been working with them
a lot, and there are greatorganization to support as well, Ride the
bus right the Metro, and we'vebeen doing a lot of work with them,
like putting Metro stops and bus stopson all our guides and doing specific
guides for the Metro stops if youwant to know where to eat or get

(21:12):
getacos around their lines or bus routes. So yeah, there's definitely option there
for sponsors. The reason we're inthis predicament though, is because the sponsors,
you know, they come and go. You know, you have a
you have you know, deliverables todo with them, and and it's also
difficult because you know, having towork with sponsors can be a blessing,

(21:34):
but it's also a burden because nowyou have to draw your your attention away
from some of the things you wantto cover because you have to fulfill deliverables.
So we prefer our goal is toget our membership up, get up
to five thousand subscribers. That'll that'llcover all our basic costs so that we
can focus on the work we'd loveto do for LA, which is telling

(21:56):
you about the communities, the food, the stories, the local issue is
and really building community around that andkeeping yourselves independent. I imagine too,
your patient by the people that areconsuming your content exactly exactly. You know,
it's it's really important for us tostay as an independent publication. If

(22:18):
you go non people that are like, why don't you go nonprofit? Well,
if you go nonprofit, now you'regoing into grant writing. You have
to have a whole staff to getgrants, and then you're beholden to whoever's
writing you these grants, and everybody, anybody that gives you money wants to
have an influence in the narrative.We've had sponsors that have wanted to influence
the narrative. And the only wayyou can truly be independent is to do

(22:41):
is like having people support. Youknow, we always say we're a publication
by the people for the people ofLA, and we we'd love to keep
it that way. Well, itis. Your stories have showed up on
my show many times, most recentlywhen we talked about the news of that
saga of downtown La bar our staffnot getting paid and you know that was

(23:06):
back on the tenth and so thesestories are important, and sometimes I don't
find them anywhere else. Oftentimes Idon't find them anywhere else. So I'm
a fan of what you guys do. I'm a fan of your work and
Javier as well. Javier is isthe editor, and so you know this,

(23:29):
there's only so much I can do. I'm hoping that this is hitting
the ears and the hearts of peoplethat have either read La Taco but or
have gone to it today at Latacodot com seen it. There's a red
button at the top that says subscribe. You can subscribe there. They have
different wrongs from around five dollars ninedollars to around twenty dollars. And if

(23:52):
you're so moved and it's put onyour heart to do so, I encourage
you to do so. It isto me imperative. You know, I
came up, grew up in thealternative music scene with punk rock, and
it shaped me in a big way. Continues at fifty four. The crap
you here on the show and myperspective comes a lot from that as well.

(24:15):
So having alternative voices ideas eyes onthings. I think is even if
that's not your jam, I thinkit's important to the health and well being
of the Southland and La proper.So do with that, which will.
I just wanted to get the messageout there, memo. I appreciate you

(24:36):
taking the time to come on andsuch short notice and do that. And
you Bill and maybe Javier and Ican sit down and have some food sometime
soon and me love to try somegreat taco I will follow your ass anywhere.
I got to tell you this manknows his tacos. I seriously,

(24:56):
you think you get hungry listening tothis damn show? Follow this guy,
memo. Thanks so much, brother. I wish you guys the well well
with all this, sending up prayersfor those like me of faith that we
continue to have this move forward,and I will do my part as well.
I think I'm probably in the middlerange. I will upmine and hope
that listeners will do the same withMeil. Thank you so much. We

(25:19):
really appreciate all your support throughout theyears. We appreciate you as a member,
and we appreciate you bringing attention tothis. You know, we love
you man, and really thank youso much. We got a partner on
an event. Let's get this going. All right, my friend, we
will talk soon. Memo Torres fromLa Taco a really great opportunity to talk

(25:40):
with him today and again Lataco dotcom. If you feel it upon your
heart to subscribe, go subscribe there. We'll be back with more. It
is the Forkport on Neil servadri KFI am six forty k I AM six
forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. Hey everybody, it's the Fork Report
all things food, beverage and beyond. I'm your well fed host, Neil
Savadra. How do you do?Lot going on in the Middle East?

(26:03):
As of we're being told that notonly were one hundred or so drones flown
towards Israel from Iran, but nowyou are hearing the aerial defense fully operating
and taking out drone fire. Thereis air raid sirens, the alarm that

(26:26):
sounds, and everyone needs to gointo their shelter wait there for no less
than ten minutes, as we arebeing told. As people are told to
shelter in place, you may hearexplosions and interceptions of debris falling. The
civilians are being told in Israel asthis is now coming to fruition. This

(26:48):
of course is in a response aretaliation for and Israeli strike on the Iranian
consulate in Damascus earlier this month.We are following it, and anything you
need to know you are hearing heretoday is we're breaking down the news for
you, and Andrew's covering everything.No reason to go anywhere else. If

(27:10):
we need to switch from food talk, we will. This is obviously one
of those things that we are veryfocused on. I'm also told that you
know the air defense system that theMiddle that they use there in the Middle
East, that's a US airfice defensesystem as well, so it's intercepting some
of the Iranian drones now according toour officials here in the States. But

(27:36):
as we are finding out, theattack is likely going to unfold over numerous
hours. So this is something thatis going to be for a while throughout
the evening as we go into theevening or late afternoon as the case may
be. Right now, so stickaround and we will break format if necessary.

(27:56):
Right now, we're sticking with ourtopics very quickly. Lunchables, they've
been in the news, you know, those wonderful Deli meat cheese and crackers,
all packed in that neat, littleBento style box. You know,
kids are crazy for them. Quitehonestly, US adults like them as well.
They're just fine. I don't know, it's easy, it's not nothing

(28:18):
special. But now the belief andconcern is they're not great for anybody.
In this particular case, you're dealingwith consumer reports breaking down what's in them.
And this is not only the onesthat you can buy in the grocery
store. But if you remember sometime ago we talked about this on the
Fork Report that they were making aspecial version for in partnerships with schools,

(28:42):
and we found out that not onlyare the regular ones in the grocery store
salt bombs, they are even worsein the schools. For some reason,
the ones they made for them hadeven more sodium in there. If that
wasn't about an apparently there are otherthings as well, including lead lunchables,

(29:04):
turkey and cheddar, cracker steckers.Lead is seventy four percent sodium forty nine
percent. This is based on maximumallowable doses levels, so the MAADL that's
ark for here in California, that'swhat these numbers are based on. Pizza
with pepperoni lead seventy three percent sodiumforty five percent. Extra cheese pizza lead

(29:27):
is sixty nine percent sodium thirty fourpercent. Now this goes through a more
arm More lunch Makers, Good andGather. That's the one from Target,
Greenfield Natural Meat Co, oscar MeyerP three. These are all brands of
similar things. They're all pretty high, but the ones that were the highest

(29:48):
were the lunch Bulls and the AR moo u r arm or a more
arm more No, that doesn't lookright. Lunch Makers were the highest.
Then going into Good and Gather thereat Target, with the lowest being the
P three. Oscar Meyer also comesin fairly low as well. So just

(30:11):
something as it heads up. Muchmore to come some people that I wanted
to introduce you to when we comeback, So go no where. This
is the Fork Report on KFIM sixforty you've been listening to the Fork Report.
You can always hear us live onkfi AM six forty two to five
pm on Saturday and anytime on demandon the iHeartRadio app