Chef Lidia travels world to spotlight food

Food connects people from different places, cultures, and ethnic groups. Famous chef and PBS TV host Lidia Bastianich has used food not only to survive but also to thrive and create a community and opportunities for herself. She traveled to Inglewood for an episode on her show “Lidia Celebrates America: Changemakers”, where she will volunteer to distribute fresh produce with the Social Justice Learning Institute, a group that strives to improve access to healthy foods across Inglewood by delivering free produce to pop-up markets, schools, and medical clinics.
“I love the space I’m in and the benefits it brings. Giving back, especially with food, warms my heart.” Bastianich said as she described what she does on her show. “ Being able to show my recipes, learn from others, and maximize every ingredient available to eliminate waste is a mission I love completing with each trip and episode I create. The community I’ve created reminds me of my family and the bond we show with food being the center of it.”
Born in Pula, a small city on the southern tip of the Istrian Peninsula in present-day Croatia, Bastianich grew up in a poor community where food was scarce. When it came to cooking and eating, she and her neighbors demonstrated a remarkable spirit of ingenuity and sharing.
“Lidia Celebrates America” is a lively exploration of the rich diversity of cultures across the United States and the vibrant ethnic and religious customs and traditions observed by various groups—in which food is a common denominator that connects all human beings. The most recent specials pay tribute to America’s heartland and the charming rural communities where immigrants are thriving.
Bastianich is an award-winning public television host, best selling cookbook author, successful restaurateur, celebrated chef, and owner of a flourishing food and entertainment business. She has created Daytime Emmy® Award-winning cooking programs over the last 25 years, including “Lidia’s Kitchen,” “Lidia’s Family Table,” “Lidia’s Italy” and “Lidia’s Italy In America” as well as the three-time James Beard Award-winning series” Lidia Celebrates America.” Bastianich has also published numerous cookbooks.
Resourcefulness remains a fundamental part of who Lidia is today, a chef bolstered by the belief that food is increasingly wasted and scarce.
“Our approach to food needs to be increasingly rooted in using local and available products, cooked with less waste,” she said. “With 1.3 billion tons of food going to waste yearly, that’s enough to feed two billion people.” Lidia is intent on getting out the critical message that when we waste food, we also waste all the energy and water it takes to grow, harvest, transport, and package it. “We need to take steps toward ensuring a more secure food future for everyone, and we need to do it now.”
The episode will premiere on Nov. 26 on PBS as an hour-long special at 5 pm PST. Lidia travels to Minneapolis, Minn. (two times), Stockton, Ca. and Middletown, Va. For more information, visit the website pbs.org/lidiacelebratesamerica.