Dining with diversity while dodging the nasties
A warm welcome to all my new followers and huge thanks to my returning ones. For those of you who don’t know me, I write about culture, diversity and sustainability with a weekly podcast episode on food matters for food lovers. This newsletter is free but you can choose to support my work with a subscription.
The final weeks of the year are here and I’ve been out and about enjoying a taste of the world on London’s streets. Tongue tingling Szechuan , the epic value Mexican feasting menu, Bao and even a cheeky biryani delivery. But for all this variety, does London’s vibrant food scene reflect its diversity?
I was commissioned to write about this for Borough Market. On the face of it, the answer is yes: of course it is! London’s nearly nine million residents speak around 300 languages, more than any other city in the world. Almost half of all Londoners identify with non-white ethnic groups, and more than a third were born abroad. Nowhere is that multiculturalism more deliciously evident than in its food.
Walk down any high street and you’ll find food that tells the story of its local community. The south Indian and Pakistani family diners of Tooting, the kebab shops of Little Turkey in Haringey, the Caribbean eateries of Brixton all speak of migration, adaptation, enterprise and resilience. There are some amazing success stories of commercial success, growth and international fame.
But if you look closer, the fortunes of many of these restaurants is mixed. Many founders from diverse backgrounds still face...
...Barriers to capital, investment and understanding
...Limited access to influential networks
...Uneven visibility in the media
...Structural hurdles that make it harder to scale and sustain a business
And these are only getting worse in the current tax regime, political and economic climate. So while London’s plates reflect its diversity, the system behind those plates still has work to do.
If we want a food culture that truly mirrors the city, we need to keep dismantling these barriers and create space for businesses and voices that too often go unheard. When barriers fall, flavour flourishes and everyone gets to taste the benefits.
If you fancy a read, the piece is here.
Pic: One of the best Mapo Tofus I’ve had, meal for one so no sharing involved!
While on the subject of dining tables…
My big observation from talking about diversity and inclusion to more broadly about the food system is that conversations often take place in separate spaces with not a lot of dot joining. We speak about diversity in one room, sustainability in another, health somewhere else, and then there’s the everyday realities of home cooks. Yet in real life, all of these things are served on the same plate.
So I’m delighted to have been invited to join the Transformation Table, a new advisory board for the Future Food Movement that brings together leaders from across the food system. It was quite exciting to see someone from a cultivated meat company, a farmer, a UPF policy activist and commercial bread maker sitting around a table and having a thought-provoking conversation, politely over some excellent food at The Sussex.
I’m bringing a socio-cultural lens, helping connect food culture, consumer behaviour and the lived realities of home cooks and eaters (where most change succeeds or fails). I’ve already thrown in the hand grenade by reminding everyone that UPFs emancipated women and we need to have a sensible discussion about it that doesn’t create more confusion, anxiety, embarrassment or shame.
It’s rare to be part of something this cross-sector, this candid and this constructive. I’m excited to see what comes next. Wish me luck!
Other winter preoccupations
In amidst all this, I’ve had something else keeping me very busy: the struggle to steer clear of flu germs. It should be obvious by now to my longer-term subscribers that I might have undiagnosed ADHD. While this means I can do six things at once (most of the time), it also means I have a tendency to run myself into the ground and then get very ill.
I reach for homely food and drink remedies to stave off germs, or recover quickly when I inevitably succumb to them. I know you’ll have your own go to, so please share away!
I say this with all the deep concern about the flu germs sweeping the UK right now. For some households it’s an inconvenience, but for others it can be genuinely worrying, especially with vulnerable family members in the mix.
The final episode of my first podcast series is all about germs, comfort food and self-care. I’m joined by Dr Ayan Panja, a lifestyle medicine GP and tell doc with over 25 years’ experience, who has a brilliant knack for putting medicine into the context of real life. His 15-minute podcast Saving Lives in Slow Motion is well worth a listen and he has a great book called The Health Fix.
We talk about why some of us seem to catch everything going, and what we can realistically do about it without becoming wellness robots. A few things that I enjoyed learning about:
You can’t “boost” your immune system, but you can build immune resilience
Why we crash the moment we stop
The science behind comfort food, and what works
A simple, useful home remedy
The winter non-negotiables
If you’re sniffling already, looking after someone who is, or just want to get through winter without burning out, I think you’ll find this one reassuring and practical.
You can watch the episode on YouTube or listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
That’s all from me this week folks! Don’t forget, my upcoming book In Good Taste: What Shapes What We Eat and Drink - and Why It Matters (published by Kristin Jensen of NIne Bean Rows in Jan 2026. It’s available to pre-order already on Waterstones, TJ Jones and Amazon.
Look forward to your thoughts, as always. Thank you for being here!
