In this episode, host David Crowley from Cooking Chat talks with local entrepreneur, Joshua Reed-Diawuoh, about his business that focuses on importing cashews from small, sustainable producers in West Africa. He then prepares them to sell as tasty, healthy snacks.

In this episode, we cover:

• How Josh's visits to West Africa inspired the creation of GRIA Food Co.
• Why the typical business model of large food importers don't lead to a sustainable living for local farmers in Africa.
• Josh's approach to identifying small producers of cashews in West Africa that use sustainable practices.
• The variety of cashew snack flavors that GRIA Food Co. offers.
• Nutritional benefits of snacking on cashews.
• Where you can purchase GRIA Food Co. snacks in the Boston area and online.
• How Commonwealth Kitchen supports local food entrepreneurs like Josh, as part of their mission to promote equity and inclusive entrepreneurship. 
• Information on the Fairtrade standard.

While the cashews come from Africa, far away from us here in Boston, this episode picks up on themes we cover on Cooking Chat such as sustainability and supporting small farmers and food entrepreneurs.

In this episode, host David Crowley from Cooking Chat talks with Alessandra Macaluso from Live for the Season about her tips for winter seasonal cooking and other ways lean into seasonality.

• How growing up in a large Italian family contributed to Alessandra's early interest in cooking.

• Alessandra's passion for seasonal cooking and her overall focus on seasonality.

• Background behind the blog, "Live for the Season," which emphasizez the importance of living in tune with each season and embracing seasonal ingredients.

• How Alessandra's interest in seasonal cooking deepened after having children, leading her to research and create a cookbook titled "What a Good Eater".

• Ways that her cooking in winter draws upon Chinese medicine principles, and ingredients she suggests using based on these ideas.

• Ideas for keeping fresh local produce in the mix during winter, including growing a tower garden in your home.

• Information about the Healthy Holiday Challenge that Alessandra is running.

In today's episode, host David Crowley from Cooking Chat talks with Chef Jen Murray about her ideas for our final CSA veggies of 2023 - delicata squash, Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes. We also learn more about the Wine and Dine classes she teaches and other culinary services she offers.

This episode covers:

• How Jen's family inspired her passion for food and wine.
• The story of how Jen switched careers to focus on culinary arts.
• Ideas for preparing and serving Brussels sprouts.
• A recipe for delicata squash.
• The Wine and Dine classes that Jen teaches at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts.
• Things to make with sweet potatoes.
• Wine pairing ideas for the vegetables discussed.
• Services Jen offers through her business, The Urban Chef Inc.