Is Baba Ghanoush Bodacious? Meet The Senator Who Thinks So.

The Garden State's senator is connecting the dots on food

Senator Cory Booker is one of Washington’s smartest thinkers on food

I live in Washington. So I come across a lot of politicians. Young, old, Democrats, Republicans: What do they have in common? Well, they can be pretty cynical.

So I’m very excited to have a guest on today’s show who breaks that rule entirely: the great senator from New Jersey, Cory Booker.

If you know anything about Cory Booker and food, you probably know he is a vegan. (This is a big deal in DC where politicians like to show their patriotism by chomping down on a burger.) I love this about him because he is acting on the strong beliefs he has about food and how food impacts the rest of the world. 

Senator Booker and I had a very wide-ranging conversation about SNAP (formerly known as food stamps), school lunch, farm subsidies and Big Pharma, and how together they create the food system we have in 21st century America. Cory is trying to make big changes — the kinds of changes that could actually transform the country in big ways. I wanted to know where he thinks we’re heading and how food helped shape him into the man he is. 

One other note. You may know that Longer Tables is not the only podcast we are producing at José Andrés Media. Pressure Cooker is a podcast about feeding kids and why it is all so complicated. Next week, on June 7, we are sponsoring a breakfast in my hometown of Washington, D.C., about motherhood and how to make it more sustainable for women.

Co-host Jane Black will be on the panel. And it is being held at one of my favorite restaurants (that’s not one of my own) The Colada Shop. If you’d like to attend or know someone who would, you can buy tickets here. I hope some of you can make it!