Leading online culinary school Rouxbe has launched a new Live Series, Pull Up A Chair, focused on food and the rich diversity that surrounds what we eat. In each episode, the Rouxbe team leads discussions with various leaders in the food space and touches upon the topics of equity and inclusion throughout the broad landscape of what we eat.

The next episode will kick off Wednesday, April 27 at 11 am PST with guest Enrique C. Ochoa, a professor of Latin American studies and history at Cal State Los Angeles. The author and editor of multiple articles and several books, Ochoa’s research focuses on Mexican and Central American history, food studies, Latinx studies and immigration. During this conversation, Ochoa will dive into the global climate impacts of food policies and how they affect the local communities and cultures and most importantly, how we can address climate change and the threats facing our global food supply chains.

Interested individuals can register for the session in advance at Rouxbe’s website.

“The idea for the Pull Up a Chair series of live events at Rouxbe came internally from team members Adante Hart and Eryne Zerihun and a desire to promote food industry engagement and to encourage conversations about inclusion and diversity across the food landscape,” says Ken Rubin, chief culinary officer at Rouxbe. “It is our hope that the experiences of the team inform and inspire others and prompt action toward meaningful change - whether on an individual or broader industry scale.”

The first episode of Pull Up a Chair focused on food literacy, Black history, and Black food with Chef Njathi Kabui, with discussions around Chef Kabui’s personal odyssey through food, how he started a food literacy center in his home in Kenya, and how he engages in social and political discourse through what he calls Afro Futuristic Conscious Cuisine. Chef Kabui is ranked as the top chef in sustainability in Africa.

The second episode is centered around Food, Power, and Gender with guest Jamila Robinson, Food Media Editor for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Robinson discussed the role that media plays in food, the visibility and climate of Women and Persons of Color trailblazing through the glass ceiling, and her vision for building a more socially and racially equitable restaurant world.