Why Food?
About This Show
Show Info:
Do you daydream about dropping everything and opening a restaurant, or starting your own brand of condiments? So many trailblazers in the food world actually started their careers in entirely different fields. How did these folks decide to hit the brakes, start over, and become inspiring chefs, entrepreneurs, farmers and activists they are today? Hear their stories and learn how you too can fulfill your food dreams. New episodes available every Thursday. If you made a leap of faith to work in the food industry and want to share your story, please get in touch at why food@heritageradionetwork.org.
Most Recent Episode
Episode 41: Chi Bui: Uniting Chocolate and Olive Oil with Sustainability
Apr 12
·
54 minutes
Chi Bui led many lives before her current one in chocolate. Her well-to-do Vietnamese family fled their home city of Hue after the war; her parents lost everything immigrating to the U.S., but ultimately resettled her and her five siblings in Philadelphia. Chi's mother ran a food truck for 20 years, a feat of labor and love from where Chi learned preserverance and leading by example. She went on to major in literature at the New School while fixing computers part-time -- which serendipitously led her to working at the United Nations, leading efforts to install the first WiFi ports in countries like Pakistan and Bolivia. After 10 years, she decided to take time off to raise her two children; just like her own mother, she learned to cook as a requirement to feed her family. Her interest was piqued and Chi decided to go back to school in Pastry Arts as a way to challenge herself. There, she fell in love with chocolate. Now, she's combined her past experience in global development with her relentlessly curious, research-oriented mindset to deconstruct the chocolate-making process, starting with its supply chain. Join us as we talk through Chi's inspiring journey, why chocolate finished with extra-virgin olive oil is the perfect match and what changes she hopes to see in the international cacao trade.
