CELEBRATING DIA DE LOS MUERTOS SUSTAINABLY: ALIGNING TRADITION WITH KITCHEN ACTIVISM

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As I woke this morning, the aroma of my grandmother's signature lentil stew filled the air, at least in my memory. It is Dia de los Muertos—the day we honor our deceased loved ones by preparing their favorite meals. It got me thinking about the power of food, not only as a means of remembrance but also as a tool to impact our planet positively. I invite you to join me as we journey into the world of Kitchen Activism, where our meals become intentional acts of respect for our ancestors, our environment, and ourselves.

Beneath the surface of every bite are stories of how our food choices impact the world. As I reminisced about my grandmothers, I realized the best way to honor them is through food, but not at the expense of the environment. How can we align our culinary traditions with our values of protecting Mother Earth? The answer lies in cooking with purpose, shopping with intention, and supporting sustainable farming practices. Together, we can transform our kitchens into powerful platforms for environmental change while carrying forward the legacy of our loved ones. So here's to a feast of activism, purpose, and memory, one meal at a time!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome.
I'm glad you're here.
Together, we will turn ourshared concern about the state
of our environment into a forcefor change.
It will require you toreimagine the role of your home
kitchen as more than a warehouseof food or a room where we cook
and gather to eat.
The time has come to enter yourkitchen with eyes open to the

(00:24):
transformative power itharnesses for the planet and you
.
The home kitchen has alwaysbeen ground zero for positive
environmental and social change.
Waiting for you to take yourposition as a kitchen activist,
now that you arrived, you willchange the world with what you

(00:45):
eat.
Welcome, I'm so glad you'rehere.

(01:11):
As I record this, it's November1st, day of the Dead, dia de los
Muertos.
I'm sure you're familiar withthis tradition, but I want to
focus in on something that Ithink is really special around
Day of the Dead, which is tomake the favorite food of
someone that you want to honor.
So the idea for Day of the Deadis you build an altar, put

(01:35):
pictures out and special theskeletons and some flowers the
marigolds as well because whenyou take the petals of the
marigold and you scatter them onthe ground, creating a path so
that the dead can remember howto get to your altar, but one of
the big aspects is to put theirfavorite food and drink on this

(01:58):
altar.
It's a great opportunity tothink about cooking with purpose
and remembering those who'vepassed that you want to honor.
I always think about mygrandmothers during this time my
grandmother Virginia and myabuelita Chole.
When we really start to thinkabout those who've passed and

(02:20):
we've had the pleasure and theprivilege to spend time with
those people, the thing thatreally comes up as joyful
moments or moments that weremember do revolve around food,
and I think the reason, atleast for me, is that our senses
are heightened, they'reawakened when we eat, because

(02:45):
all the senses are engaged.
It's why, when I do eat lesswater presentations if there is
the opportunity I want food tobe involved, because the senses
are there and when we can tastesomething or smell something, we
remember it and we remember themoment and it's marked in our

(03:09):
minds.
I think the best way to honorsomeone for Day of the Dead is
to remember them through thefood that they loved.
When I think about a meal withmy grandmother, my abuelita
Chole, I am always taken backinto her kitchen as a little

(03:32):
girl when we would go to herhouse to recognize Ash Wednesday
, which is a Catholic holiday,and the in the tradition, or at
least what I was told, was thatthe food the angels ate on that
day was lentils, these shrimppatties and fresh dorthias.

(03:54):
And I remember her over thestove the entire meal making
fresh dorthias.
So this week, as part of mymenu, I'm going to make fresh
dorthias and some lentils and ashrimp dish to honor my abuelita

(04:14):
Chole this week.
I want everything about thatmeal to be beautiful, to honor
everything about her, so I don'twant it to be attached to
stories of exploitation.
So that's the differencebetween cooking and cooking with
purpose is to be intentionaland to align ourselves with the

(04:37):
solution and to align ourselveswith cultivation or agricultural
practices that are growingwell-being on the planet and I
feel like that is the way we canhonor those who have passed is
to really use this as anopportunity to start to practice
that muscle of curating foodsthat are part of the solution.

(05:04):
Because the kitchen activism,yes, it's about meal planning,
yes, it's about wasting lessfood and keeping your
refrigerator organized and yourkitchen organized so that you
can reduce your food waste, butthe other part of it is shopping
with purpose and starting toalign our food purchases with

(05:27):
our value and our desire to helpheal this planet.
And I think that is a great wayto honor our ancestors is
remembering them in this way andhonoring them and their beauty
in this way.
The idea around Dia de losMuertos, to me, is we only die

(05:51):
when we're forgotten.
So this is a great time toremember those that you want to
live para siempre, right foreverin your hearts and in your
minds, and I wish you abeautiful holiday with those who
are present with you now andthose who have passed.

(06:14):
So this is your day of the deadkitchen activism tip, which is
to cook a meal for someone whoyou want to honor and remember
their favorite meal.
And if you don't know whattheir favorite meal is, maybe a
favorite meal that you remembersharing with them, or something

(06:36):
that you could imagine that youthink that they would have loved
if you didn't have theopportunity to spend time with
that person.
That would be the action tip,but taking it further, which is
to be mindful and curate theingredients from sources that

(06:58):
are dedicated to grow well-being, so supporting your farmers
markets and your small scaleshops from food makers who are
intentional about the food thatthey produce and the ingredients
they use in their food.
We have to support them ifthey're going to exist.
We have to support them if wewant the work that they do to

(07:23):
flourish and what better way tohonor those people we love than
to bring things that are goodand beautiful?
And we want to flourish and arevibrant and are swirling with
life force.
I know that when my time comesand it's time for me to move on
from this physical space, thebest way I could think of to

(07:47):
honor me would be to liveprofoundly, just to live fully,
and to live the life that you'redesigned to lead, and to take
your unique talents and bringthem forth into the world, to do
good work, to live with purposeand feel the radiance of who

(08:09):
you are.
I want to end thinking about somany people who've passed
recently to the hands of war,water scarcity and these
devastating weather events thathave been made worse or caused
by climate change.
So I want to recognize them.
As I put together my altartoday, I have a bowl of heart

(08:34):
rocks that I've collectedthrough the years as I walk
along the shore near my home,and I'm always on the lookout
for heart rocks.
So those heart rocks I plan toplace on the altar to recognize
all of those who have passedrecently, that I've not had the
privilege to meet or to know,but their passing is felt and I

(08:58):
send my love and light toeveryone who's holding space in
their hearts or feel the absencereally deeply now of somebody
who's passed, sending everybodyhealing and love and light in a
time that feels raw for so many,and remembering to hold those

(09:19):
that we love, who are presentwith us right now, in this
moment, a little tighter.
Be resplendent, and I'll seeyou here next week.
Let's stay connected.
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(09:41):
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(10:04):
Together, we will write thestory of wellbeing for this
planet we have the privilege tocall home.
Meet you back here everyWednesday.
There is power in thecollective.