In The Closet With Fran Lebowitz
A wide-ranging conversation with the witty New York writer and humorist. By Nina Livingstone When I saw the first few episodes of 2021’s “Pretend It’s a City” on Netflix (made by Martin Scorsese), I was struck by Fran Lebowitz’s acerbic wit and savvy sense of humor. By the end, I knew that I would be [...]
Winter Bliss in a LizBiz Quilt
Meet Liz Gray, owner of LizBiz, and discover the warmest quilts for winter Dec 9, 2021 When I walked into the artist’s co-op ...it was as if a field of flowers had been projected upon the wall. It was a quilt, as magnificent as any painting. Luminous golds and blues dominated the design. I stood [...]
Some Like It Hot
Meet Kamaal Jarrett, founder of Hillside Harvest, a unique hot sauce company with Caribbean roots. Nov 29, 2021 By Nina Livingstone Kamaal Jarrett is the founder of Hillside Harvest. There, he taps his Caribbean roots, adding an American influence to his unique hot sauces. There are currently three hot sauces in the Hillside Harvest lineup: [...]
It’s More Than Just A Family Tree
Silloway Maple taps into its 80-year-old tradition By Nina Livingstone Following my father into Vermont’s mountains was an adventure that my family and I relished each fall. An experienced hiker with a love of nature, he guided us off the well-worn paths, letting his compass navigate the way. My father pointed out maple trees and [...]
Q & A: Boston Mayoral Candidates’ Food Policy Platforms and Their Vision for the City
By Nina Livingstone When the coronavirus slammed Massachusetts, it strained an already-delicate food system. Food banks saw a sharp rise in demand as restaurant owners watched theirs decline. Then-Mayor Marty Walsh launched a series of stopgap measures to fill the cracks before they widened into crevices. Long after the last lockdown, Boston’s food system remains [...]
‘Let’s Get Craic-in’ with Craic Sauce
Interview with Brian Ruhlmann By Nina Livingstone In the 1980s, the heart of Harvard Square was where cultures collided, and diversity emanated from its cafés, restaurants, bookstores, and bakeries. It was also where I discovered my taste for the exotic. My first brush with curry, cayenne, cumin, and coriander was at an Indian restaurant. I [...]
Looking at the Holistic Picture
Farmtrue founders explain their approach to the natural practice of Ayurveda. By Nina Livingstone I realize now that my parents unwittingly brushed up against Ayurvedic practices, never realizing that the path they followed was based on 5,000-year-old teachings. With a growing family, my parents’ lives demanded that they be both organized and economical. The [...]
Hoop Dreams
By Nina Livingstone To invest in women’s sports and the social justice platform the WNBA supports, Suzanne Abair and her partners bought the Atlanta Dream Suzanne Abair owns a basketball—as well as a professional basketball team. Abair is one of three owners of the Atlanta Dream, a WNBA team that sports commentators have described as [...]
Buzz! Buzz! The Bees are Back to Heal!
Buzzing with Hudson Hives Jun 3, 2021 Micro-batching raw, unfiltered and unpasteurized honey is the key to unlocking its healing properties. When Stephen and Jen Burney decided to flip their backyard hobby into a full-grown business, they didn’t want to let go of the qualities that they had so carefully cultivated. In 2016, the couple combined [...]
Q&A with Jared Auerbach of Red’s Best
Connecting local fishing communities with consumers. Red’s Best CEO Jared Auerbach’s commitment to the environment and sustainable fishing are what has allowed his company to grow its local roots into a global market. Yet it was hearing Jared’s childhood memories of fishing local waters that brought it all home for me. With daughters outnumbering sons in [...]
WGBH “In It Together”: Checking in with Nina Livingstone
On Wednesday March 10th, 2021, Nina Livingstone was featured on "In It Together", a WGBH radio show hosted by Arun Rath. This segment discusses Nina's lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic. Arun Rath: Throughout this pandemic and this show, we have found heroes everywhere, whether it's a grandfather teaching his grandchildren [...]
The Next Wave: a Q&A with Wholesome Wave’s Benjamin Perkins
AT THE HEIGHT OF FOOD APARTHEID BENJAMIN PERKINS SHARES HIS THOUGHTS This past December, Benjamin Perkins was named CEO of Wholesome Wave, a national nonprofit founded in 2007 by James Beard Award-winning Chef Michel Nischan and former U.S. Undersecretary of Agriculture Gus Schumacher. Its mission is to empower under-served consumers to make healthier food choices [...]
Revisiting Boston Chefs and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Profile Series
We’ve finally pushed past 2020 and ushered in 2021. Boston’s First Night was broadcast on TV screens and New York’s famous ball drop in Times Square happened without the crowds. The transition was marked with a spritz of champagne and the blow of a horn. And where there is hope, anything is possible. This past [...]
The Newest Demon: A Pandemic Halloween
“Judaism does have quite a folklore, mostly from Jewish mysticism, that posits Jewish spirits and even demons,” says Steve Schlozman, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the author of The Zombie Autopsies. “The problem with tying it to Halloween is the less than savory history regarding Halloween and Jewish people, especially [...]
Edible Food Finds: Sandpiper Bakery
With local roots deeply anchored in the North Shore, it’s not surprising that Sandpiper Bakery’s co-owner Susanne Clermont chose the bakery’s name while walking on Crane Beach with her infant daughter, Lucy. “One evening I spotted a sandpiper looking for food. It was so beautiful, walking on the sand, flying over the sea. I wanted [...]