SHARING EXPERIENCES TO TELL OUR STORIES
Food Diplomat started as a dream to create a documentary series, but has evolved to become so much more than that.
When I started Food Diplomat in 2018, I was battling an eating disorder and beginning to lose patches of hair. Family told me I should stop pursuing this vision of mine because they were worried it was onsetting the stress that led to alopecia. Little did they know, this project is what helped me see myself more clearly after living many years in the dark. This project has helped me recover.
With this project, I had a mission to talk to people from all walks of life to learn what food means to them. No matter if it was Europe, South Asia, Northern Africa, or even at home in America, each story boiled down to the same thing: The power a meal has to make us feel.
In the 20+ years I lived with an eating disorder, I lived with a fear to feel. Food was my prescription to numb myself from sensations I did not understand. I lived a life of restrictions; I said no to experiences out of shame and the fear I would not be able to control the food that contributed to my shame.
Food Diplomat taught me how to slow down and taste the sweetness of each moment. It taught me to let go of trying to control the cycles of life and it has opened me back up to experience life… & with each new experience, I uncover just how important it is to embrace uncertainty.
So, yes, I am hungry… But I am hungry for so much more than what is on the plate.
I am hungry for life.
This publication is my journey to fill myself up with new experiences. To indulge in the sweetness of nothing and make the most of each moment as I learn what it means to not just be a “diplomat” with others, but with myself as well.
With that being said, this project is ever-evolving. It is no longer what I imagined it to be in 2018, nor is it what it was in 2021 when we filmed in Los Angeles. Food Diplomat is taking its time to ferment… And in time, will take shape.
As I continue to throw spaghetti at the wall until the idea sticks, follow along on Substack.