In January 2020, we teamed up with Healthyish, a site from Bon Appétit about feel-good food and living, and Chefs Sara Kramer and Sarah Hymanson of Kismet to host a Los Angeles breakfast celebrating the stories of women who are dedicated to sustainability and preserving the climate.
Women from across Los Angeles and from a range of industries — from fashion to journalism to design to public policy to culinary arts — joined us.
Each year, 1.3 billion tons of food are lost or wasted, several times what’s needed to feed every hungry person on the planet. We partnered with Sara Kramer and Sarah Hymanson, who both previously worked with Chef Dan Barber at Blue Hill at Stone Barns and co-own and co-chef the family of Kismet restaurants in Los Angeles, to learn about cooking sustainably and minimizing food waste. Along with many local and national accolades, the two were named Food & Wine Best New Chefs in 2017 and Kismet was a finalist for a James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant in 2018. In addition to being sustainability-minded regarding their business practices, they aim to create inclusive spaces that serve their teams, as well as the local and greater community.
Sara and Sarah treated us to a delicious breakfast:
Mandarin Orange Scones
Cardamom Almond Tea Cakes
Tokyo Turnips with Butter, Preserved Lemon, and Fennel
Barbari Bread with Tahini and Cranberry Beans
Marinated Feta, Roasted Squash, Celery, Chamomile, with Activist Mānuka Honey
Green & Yellow Beans with Mandarin Oranges, Squash Seed Tahini, and Nigella
Persian-Style Frittata with Spinach, White Beans, and Barberries
Alaya Teas: tulsi (organic), darjeeling second flush black tea (biodynamic), assam black tea and ginger (biodynamic)
We teamed up with women-led, sustainability-focused brands to show how creating sustainably, ethically, and transparently is better for everyone.
KOLLO - consciously-farmed, whole, fresh, single-source seasonal tea leaves each hand-selected for their unique flavor profile and brewed for 24 hours in small batches to ensure maximum sensory benefits are conserved without the addition of preservatives, flavorings, or sweeteners
JUNES - reusable bags for sustainable living, helping the world become zero waste, in style
CLEVR BLENDS - functional latte blends made using plant-based ingredients that don’t cost the earth, partners with smaller suppliers for ingredients, sourcing sustainably, ethically, and transparently
ACTIVIST - a Mānuka honey company founded by husband and wife out of a shared passion for the earth, natural products, and the craft of bee-keeping and Mānuka Honey in native New Zealand
AKUA - creating foods made from ocean-farmed kelp, one of the most healing and healthy forms of food on the planet, to feed the planet sustainably while reversing climate change, and restoring health to our world's oceans
SEEK - working with talented chefs to deliver the tastiest, most nutritious cricket protein snacks on the planet - high in protein, paleo- and keto-friendly, gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free, GMO-free
VEJIBAG - designed by a greenhouse owner to keep produce fresh for market, organic cotton bags that keeps produce vibrant for up to two weeks without plastic
ALAYA TEA - biodynamic and organic loose-leaf teas in plastic-free packaging, directly from people- and planet-friendly farms in India
The women behind these brands joined us, treated us to their creations, and shared with us how they are creating with the climate in mind.
Journalist Aditi Mayer, who focuses on social and environmental justice, minority representation, and responsible storytelling, led a panel conversation with women who are working to preserve the climate and promote sustainability. She spoke with Dechel Mckillian, who founded GALERIE.LA to bring socially conscious fashion to the masses, and Leslie Campbell, who founded Sustain LA to put into action zero-waste solutions for businesses, events and individuals.
Dechel Mckillian is a celebrity stylist originally from LA whose clients include Drake, Nicki Minaj, Fergie, and Lionel Richie. After traveling the world with music artists like the Black Eyed Peas and Lil Wayne, Dechel saw firsthand the negative impact fashion has on our people and planet. Dechel brings over a decade of fashion industry experience to GALERIE.LA and has worked with the world’s biggest retailers including GOOP, Clare V, Steven Alan and TopShop. Realizing the gap between sustainable fashion and her experiences in lifestyle and entertainment, she launched GALERIE.LA to present a tightly curated selection of brands with a shared philosophy. Dechel founded GALERIE.LA to bring socially conscious fashion to the masses. Dechel is passionate about linking cutting-edge movements in urban culture, entertainment and music with the possibilities of sustainable design and fashion.
Leslie Campbell is the founder and CEO of Sustain LA. Her zero waste journey began in the stretch of open forest behind her parents’ home, where carefree hours spent as a child gave her a deep appreciation for the natural world. Flash forward through Leslie's nearly twenty years of experience in the food and beverage industry, where as a restaurant manager she witnessed first hand the disconnect between sustainable business practices and the disposable reality of the present. After orchestrating numerous sustainable improvements at a notable Silver Lake restaurant, Leslie founded Sustain LA in 2009 as a means to put into action zero waste solutions for businesses, events, and individuals in the greater L.A. area. Leslie has been involved in studying and practicing sustainability and zero waste for over ten years. In 2010, she became a Certified Sustainable Recycling and Resource Management Professional with the California Resource Recovery Association, and from 2010-2014, she was a U.S. Green Building Council LEED Green Associate. She is a member of the Los Angeles Food Policy Council Food Waste Prevention and Rescue Working Group and she is currently pursuing a Food Studies Certificate at UCLA, focusing on food insecurity, surplus food rescue and transparency in food labeling, with the goal to reduce food insecurity and food waste and increase ongoing sustainable solutions for businesses and local communities in Los Angeles. Leslie and her husband have called Los Angeles their home for twenty years. Together with their daughter (a mini but fierce zero waste warrior and their true inspiration for a sustainable future!), and their cat, they enjoy a zero waste lifestyle, public transportation, and of course plenty of time in the great outdoors, where her zero waste dream was born.
Moderated by:
Aditi Mayer is a photographer, journalist, and sustainable fashion blogger behind ADIMAY.com, which explores the intersections of style, sustainability, and social justice. Frustrated with the lack of representation and intersectionality within the sustainability movement, ADIMAY became a space that looked at sustainability with an eye that was equally curious, curatorial, and critical.
We talked about resources like
Reports from LA Food Policy Council, a working group that promotes strategies for food waste prevention, food recovery and donation, and composting.
TERRACYCLE, a recycling platform to collect non-recyclable pre-consumer and post-consumer waste, and then partners with corporate donors or municipalities to turn ti into raw materials to be used in new products.
The Delightful Table, vegan and vegetarian cooking classes, recipes, and much more in Los Angeles.
HELPSY, the largest clothing collector in the Northeast US, with over 1,800 collection containers and growing. HELPSY collected over 25 million pounds of clothes last year and is on an environmental mission to radically change the way people think about clothing recycling by making reusing and recycling clothes and shoes more convenient and easier than ever.
Good on You, trusted brand ratings, articles and expertise on ethical and sustainable fashion.
The breakfast coincided with the launch of Healthyish’s Eating for the Planet guide:
Healthyish Editor Amanda Shapiro and Assistant Editor Aliza Abarbanel joined us for breakfast and gave us a glimpse into the guide's conversation around composting, natural wines, vegan dishes, and low-waste restaurants. “Of course, we can’t actually save the planet via our personal choices alone, even if we all gave up red meat forever. But all the little decisions can at least begin to move the needle in the right direction (and relieve some of our collective agita!), and that’s where this guide comes in.”
This breakfast was part of a four-part Future of Women x Healthyish Breakfast Series. Stay tuned for more breakfasts in LA and NYC this spring and fall!
(Leslie Campbell of SUSTAIN.LA, Dechel Mckillian of GALERIE.LA, Hallie Applebaum of FUTURE OF WOMEN, Aditi Mayer of ADIMAY)
FUTURE OF WOMEN is a unifying platform that creates original multimedia content and programming by, for, and about women around the world to openly look at the pursuit of being a modern woman. In 2018, we began collaborating with award-winning female chefs worldwide, from Los Angeles to Mexico City to Tel Aviv to Tokyo, to host a monthly women's breakfast series featuring game-changing women such as Olympic athletes, Emmy-winning producers, top Billboard musicians, and New York Times journalists on topics including architecture, sports, art, music, journalism, and human rights.
A Special Thank You To Our Partners
and to our chefs Sara and Sarah, to the wonderful Kismet team, and to photographer Alex Gomez for capturing the magic of the morning.
Join the conversation at @futureofwomen
