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Ep. 2: Joanne Boston, Filipino Food Movement + Community Organizer

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Joanne Boston is a born connector of people especially when it involves food.  She started out like most bloggers covering her own dining adventures but moved on to banding people together and providing chefs with the necessary market to test out the menus they’ve always wanted to cook.  She’s helped organize massive food festivals in the Bay Area and is now the force behind the Filipino Food Movement and Savor Filipino Instagram accounts which have grown exponentially over a short period of time.  No matter the channel, Joanne’s found a way to band people together in the shared art of feasting.

We talk about:
- how to start and grow communities whether online or in-person
- having the confidence to practice your craft despite all the noise on the internet and the dreaded “Comments” section
- leveraging writing and social media to cultivate and democratize dialog
- what Filipino food looks like all around the world

HIGHLIGHTS

5:00 - Overview of the Filipino Food Movement (FFM) organization
13:45 - Joanne's start in blogging
15:40 - The hardest part about food writing and the need to research and write consistently
18:00 - The San Francisco street food scene, KappaMealYa, and how social media was leveraged
23:30 - On building communities and cutting through the noise
31:00 - How the perception of Filipino food has changed over time
33:25 - On "Mainstreaming", "Fusion", and "Authenticity"
39:50 - How Joanne selects what to feature on the FFM Instagram account
42:00 - The apps/tools Joanne uses
43:00 - The similarities and differences in how Filipino food is prepared around the world
48:30 - On online "trolls" and the need to add to the conversation
51:10 - On cooking confidently
53:15 - A big pet peeve amongst chefs

VOCABULARY

Lumpia - Egg roll
Adobo - Vinegar-based stew.  Sometimes thought of as the national dish of the Philippines
Sinigang - Sour soup usually made with tamarind
Tinola - Chicken soup with green papaya, chili leaves, and ginger