New campaign uses food to share Asian American stories
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A new campaign spotlighting Asian American history through food kicked off Saturday in Hayes Valley.
Driving the news: The Feed it Forward campaign, spearheaded by the nonprofit Asian American Futures (AAF), hosted a one-day pop-up featuring small bites curated by Sincere Justice, chef and co-founder of Tacos Sincero.
- One of the highlights was the "Yuri & Malcolm's Birthday Tostada," a dish honoring the friendship of Japanese American activist Yuri Kochiyama and Black civil rights leader Malcolm X.
- People filtered in to enjoy the food, learn about their history and participate in an interactive art installation in honor of their predecessors.
What they're saying: "We have so much to be proud of in terms of our legacy of resilience ... but that's not something people always learn about in school," Kana Hammon, AAF's director of narrative of strategy, told Axios ahead of the pop-up.
- "So we thought that using something as universal as food to create connections for conversation and try and make that cultural memory accessible to everybody would be a way to help people connect to that legacy in a way that's more fun and accessible."
The big picture: Asian Americans comprise over a third of San Francisco's population.
What's next: Saturday's event marked the beginning of a monthlong Bay Area eatery crawl that will run through October and feature collaborations with locales like Tarts de Feybesse, Christine's and York Street Collective.
- That includes a dish telling the story of the Delano Grape Strike and the partnership between Filipino farmworkers led by Larry Itliong and Mexican farmworkers led by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta.
Editor's note: This story was updated by removing the name of a vendor who withdrew from the event.