Operation Bon Appetit is a culinary-driven movement designed to help people effect positive change while enjoying great food, drink and conversation in a convivial atmosphere. I like to think of it as changing the world one dinner party at a time.
To spark conversations and ideas for change at these dinners, I took off on a road trip this summer for 2 ½ months to capture video stories of passionate people creating transformational change in their communities. I covered 13,026 miles and 36 states. My Prius had six problems and I consumed 1.75 liters of rum and countless glasses of red wine.
My anxieties, adventures and joys were many on the road trip. However, even though I knew transformational change was happening, I was still surprised by the powerful initiatives I found that are affecting the economy, education, art, neighborhoods and more.
These video stories are not fluff pieces. I am most interested and excited by change that addresses the source of the problems not simply the symptoms of distress, poverty, and damage that institutions and behaviors caused. There is no doubt in my mind you will find the videos not only enlightening but uplifting and they will give you hope for a future in which we take care of people and the planet. It is happening now.
My husband, Brower, had died from Alzheimer’s a few months prior and I think that part of my motivation was also just to “get out of Dodge” and away from painful memories. To my wonderful surprise, he was with me the whole way. Brower had an amazing spatial memory and every time I felt confused by the GPS, I “felt” the right way to go and it turned out to be so.
All my daughters and their husbands had some anxiety about my making the trip. Allison wanted me to carry pepper spray or some other weapon to protect myself. Andrea silently worried and kept daily watch on me through the iPhone’s Find My Friends application, which showed where I was at any given time. Amy assured me like she would her teenage daughter going off to college for the first time, that even if I just got to the border of Florida and came home, I had achieved something by planning the trip. Mark earnestly told me that whenever I wanted to come home, I could call him and he would drive the car back and I could fly home. John warned me that the moment I left, he would send off a Silver Alert, which signals there is a demented person driving on the freeway. Even my sister had her expert advice to keep loose pepper in my pocket in case I was ever accosted. I forgot to ask her if she meant ground or whole. I felt their love the whole way.
Family and friends made the whole trip enjoyable and safe by connecting me with their friends, who welcomed me with open arms, a delicious meal, a glass of red wine and a soft bed. Many of them I did not know and I am eternally grateful to them because I would not have lasted on this trip without them. I have wonderful memories of their hospitality, some of which I have written about in previous blogs. Deb Wilson’s Darby, a sweet American Bulldog, ate two pairs of my underpants. Jim Gaulke spent hours driving around Denver on Easter Sunday to find a fuse I needed for my light kit for the next day’s filming. Jo Anne and Joe Fanganello took time from their very busy lives for a long drive to show me their beloved mountain town. Elizabeth Candelario welcomed me in New Orleans and soothed my nerves after a mysterious car problem had plagued me along the way. Ken and Cathy Burns, in the midst of busy family and professional lives, gave me a Texas sized welcome of wonderful food and wine. Dave St. Andre and his wife, Barbara, took very good care of me and showed me the sights of their hometown.
The technological challenges of being a videographer were numerous to this novice–from the purchase of the mysterious video equipment to its operation to its uploading to the computer and editing. I have had a ton of anxiety and there was a whole lot of quaking and trembling that happened each time I had to learn something new. But, I have had wonderful volunteer technical assistance and moral support all along the way. I named a few of them on the closing credit of each video and remain eternally grateful to them for being there for me.
I taped 51 video interviews that ended up being 36 stories covering ten themes like The New Economy, Arts, Education, Neighborhoods, Food, Media, Environment and Healthcare.
In the New Economy an explosion of on the ground initiatives are affecting systemic change. Industrial sized worker owned cooperatives like Evergreen are transforming the economic lives of folks in Cleveland. The Blues sparked the rise of the creative economy in Mississippi, and the public banking movement is gaining ground every day.
Educational initiatives have closed the achievement gap, offered college students fun ways to bring food directly to their tables from local farms and make sustainability a real part of campus life and curricula.
Native Americans, African Americans and Gay Rights Folks share personal stories that will move you and surprise you. Artists give exciting and unique perspectives on economic, social and environmental themes.
A growing force of people is creatively preventing the displacement of their neighbors while still allowing gentrification to improve the quality of life in neighborhoods. Others are turning their yards into city farms and neighbors are connecting in old fashioned ways that just make life better.
In media, you’ll find YES! Magazine with its big ideas and powerful positive messages, and Toms River, this year’s Pulitzer Prize Winner in Non-Fiction.
And, of course, one of my favorite groups…nuns…..you will visit the Sisters of Providence on 1200 acres in Indiana and find out how they are connecting to Nature in sacred and real life ways while creating an educational playground for future policymakers and farmers.
I will be covering more stories in the future and setting up a platform so you can share transformational video stories from your hometowns.
Meanwhile, I encourage you to host an Operation Bon Appetit dinner, share your favorite food and drink, watch a video, and delight in uplifting and illuminating conversations with family and friends. And please let me know how it goes.
Bon Appetit!
[ultimate-recipe id=”7089″ template=”101″]