interview

Chicago Artist Z Saj Wins Austin Eats’ Verses & Vittles Lyrical Slam with Poem on Food Inequity

Chicago Artist Z Saj Wins Austin Eats’ Verses & Vittles Lyrical Slam with Poem on Food Inequity

In collaboration with One Earth Collective, the Austin Eats’ Verses & Vittles Lyrical Slam aimed to promote healthy eating and advance food justice in Chicago’s West Side neighborhoods. This year’s event featured a screening of They’re Trying to Kill Us, a documentary about the intentional inaccessibility to healthy food options in predominantly black and brown neighborhoods. The poetry slam was a chance for attendees to share their responses to themes in the film, as well as personal observations of food injustice and associated health crises in Chicago.

Two Nourishing Nourishers

Two Nourishing Nourishers

My path crossed with that of Chef Max Musto in early October, during the wonderful Austin Eats event at the Bethel New Life Mildred Wiley Wellness Center in Chicago’s  Austin neighborhood, and I wanted to know more about him. And, in a way, I also crossed paths with Chef Qia C at the same event (or at least my palate did; I tasted her food!), so I reached out to both of them to learn more about these two Chicagoland nourishing nourishers, and here they are. First, Max. Then, Qia.