1
00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:03,120
Speaker 1: Hey, it's Nielsa Adri. You're listening to kfi EM six

2
00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:06,800
Speaker 1: forty the fore Purport on demand on the iHeartRadio app.

3
00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:12,160
Speaker 1: Right now, we want to introduce you to somebody and

4
00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:17,520
Speaker 1: their name is Chef Renee Johnson. She's the leading leading

5
00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:21,520
Speaker 1: the health cry with a Healthy Soul food movement. You

6
00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:25,439
Speaker 1: find out more about her at the website blackberrysoul dot net.

7
00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:29,280
Speaker 1: Blackberrysoul dot Net. Chef, Welcome to the Forker Part.

8
00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:30,760
Speaker 2: Hi, how are you?

9
00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:33,520
Speaker 1: I am well, look at that lovely face. It's nice

10
00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:38,440
Speaker 1: to see you, even though we're connected today via zoom

11
00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:40,800
Speaker 1: because I'm sick and the last thing I want to

12
00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:44,040
Speaker 1: do is get a chef sick because they don't stop working.

13
00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:46,440
Speaker 2: Ever, That's so true. And I do not want your

14
00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:49,159
Speaker 2: koodies eat. Nobody does.

15
00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:53,320
Speaker 1: Nobody ever does. But I'm happy to have you on.

16
00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:56,360
Speaker 1: I didn't want to cancel the show. You're kind enough

17
00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:59,960
Speaker 1: to take the time to come on, and I figure

18
00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:03,000
Speaker 1: you're going to be able to hang with Miss Kayla

19
00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:08,600
Speaker 1: there and still have some camaraderie. Tell us a little

20
00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:11,120
Speaker 1: bit about what you do and what led you to

21
00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:14,600
Speaker 1: the path of Blackberrysoul dot Net.

22
00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:18,320
Speaker 2: You know what happened is in my official company. Nay.

23
00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:20,120
Speaker 2: First of all, let me say this, thank you so

24
00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:23,399
Speaker 2: much for having me. It is such a pleasure to

25
00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:26,520
Speaker 2: be here. But what I will say is that what

26
00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:30,320
Speaker 2: started me down this path is that years ago, when

27
00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:32,520
Speaker 2: I was a teenage mom and I divorced my husband.

28
00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:35,200
Speaker 2: I'm going to go quick. Divorced my husband. You know,

29
00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:37,800
Speaker 2: we were teenage kids and so you know, I turned

30
00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:39,759
Speaker 2: twenty one and didn't like him anymore and he didn't

31
00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:43,640
Speaker 2: like me. So but we had three babies together, beautiful babies,

32
00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:47,440
Speaker 2: and we have ten grandchildren now. But anyway, so we

33
00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:49,800
Speaker 2: ended up getting a divorce, and I went into the

34
00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:53,880
Speaker 2: mortgage industry and I was a wholesale rep. I was online,

35
00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:56,600
Speaker 2: I co made phone calls with its voice I have

36
00:01:56,720 --> 00:01:59,200
Speaker 2: and I was a wholesale mortgage rep and then the

37
00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:04,240
Speaker 2: voice is yes until the industry crashed. What happened is

38
00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:08,480
Speaker 2: that when I had my host so mortgage industry, I

39
00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:11,480
Speaker 2: used to hand out food to everybody when they would

40
00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:15,480
Speaker 2: refinance and purchase a home. I would allow them to

41
00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:19,320
Speaker 2: order pound cakes or banana pudding or red velvet pound cake,

42
00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:21,560
Speaker 2: general chocolate cake as a gift as a thank you

43
00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:23,639
Speaker 2: for doing business with mechs.

44
00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:26,120
Speaker 1: Where were you when we bought our house? Gee whiz.

45
00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:29,400
Speaker 1: I keep buying houses just for the cake.

46
00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:32,680
Speaker 2: It's for the cake. But when the industry crashed, I

47
00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:36,520
Speaker 2: decided to do something else that I love, which is food,

48
00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:40,400
Speaker 2: and so I ended up opening BlackBerry So Fine Catering

49
00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:43,440
Speaker 2: and it started in Georgia, believe it or not. And

50
00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:45,359
Speaker 2: then that's home.

51
00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:47,640
Speaker 1: Then I bought good for you. There's nothing you know.

52
00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:52,760
Speaker 1: That's one of the best things about multicultural communities is

53
00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:59,560
Speaker 1: bringing bringing things, moving them around. Now we do it globally,

54
00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:03,400
Speaker 1: but moving them around the country, moving them around the

55
00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:07,440
Speaker 1: globe and learning about new flavors or new techniques or

56
00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:10,359
Speaker 1: new things like that. So were these your favorites as

57
00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:13,040
Speaker 1: a kid or these things that you just grew up

58
00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:16,920
Speaker 1: loving or you found later on that you liked making

59
00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:18,040
Speaker 1: and did them?

60
00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:20,000
Speaker 2: Well, well, I am going to tell you the truth.

61
00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:23,720
Speaker 2: I hated food when I was younger. Absolutely I hated it.

62
00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:27,000
Speaker 1: All right, this is over, we're all done. And I

63
00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:27,960
Speaker 1: didn't understand that.

64
00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:30,760
Speaker 2: And I had a grandmother. I was her first grandbaby,

65
00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:34,560
Speaker 2: and my grandmother made every single thing we ate. So

66
00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:37,640
Speaker 2: when we got stewed tomatoes, she stewed the tomatoes from

67
00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:40,440
Speaker 2: the peaches that we used in her cobblers. There were

68
00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:44,920
Speaker 2: her peaches. We pulled everything out of the ground, every chicken,

69
00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:49,480
Speaker 2: piece of ham, everything she made or farmed. But I

70
00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:51,680
Speaker 2: didn't like food, but I love spending time with her.

71
00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:54,320
Speaker 2: So what ended up happening is that I got her

72
00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:56,320
Speaker 2: gift though, because you know, when you're the first grand baby,

73
00:03:56,320 --> 00:03:58,880
Speaker 2: she picks, puts everything in your mouth. Taste this, baby,

74
00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:02,080
Speaker 2: taste this. So I did get her gift. And so

75
00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:03,760
Speaker 2: when I realized I had the gift is when I

76
00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:05,000
Speaker 2: had my own children.

77
00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:08,480
Speaker 3: And no, you got the gift of a phone call too. Yeah,

78
00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:10,640
Speaker 3: I didn't tear my thing of somebody's like I hear

79
00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:15,600
Speaker 3: you on the radio. But I did ended up getting

80
00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:18,520
Speaker 3: her gift, and I took it. And who would have

81
00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:21,279
Speaker 3: ever thought that this gift would allow me to do

82
00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:25,560
Speaker 3: the things that I've done. I just won the Powerful

83
00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:27,920
Speaker 3: Women of the Bay Entrepreneur of the Year for twenty

84
00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:31,599
Speaker 3: twenty five. I am passing the torch next month. But

85
00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:34,200
Speaker 3: who would ever thought that my grandmother is red beans

86
00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:38,240
Speaker 3: and rice and BlackBerry cobbler and biscuits and all the things.

87
00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:41,880
Speaker 3: That's that gift she's given me to allow me to

88
00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:44,440
Speaker 3: do the things that I've done.

89
00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:49,040
Speaker 1: It's about those simple things too. There is in many

90
00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:53,880
Speaker 1: cultures and many different communities, rice and beans is a

91
00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:56,960
Speaker 1: part of their staples. But man, they're different everywhere.

92
00:04:57,080 --> 00:04:57,520
Speaker 2: Absolutely.

93
00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:00,360
Speaker 1: I would have thought two ingredients can be so different

94
00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:05,960
Speaker 1: in preparation, and you know, style, even black beans and

95
00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:09,840
Speaker 1: rice in Cuba is different than black beans and rice

96
00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:14,400
Speaker 1: slightly in Nicaragua or all these things, you know, and

97
00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:17,200
Speaker 1: it's one of those things that is pure comfort. So

98
00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:19,159
Speaker 1: we come back, we're going to talk more with chef

99
00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:23,440
Speaker 1: with Chef Renee Johnson. She's leading the healthy soul food

100
00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:25,359
Speaker 1: movement and we're going to talk about more of that

101
00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:27,560
Speaker 1: when we come back. But you want to find out

102
00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:30,320
Speaker 1: what a smile she has that matches that lovely voice.

103
00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:34,920
Speaker 1: Blackberrysoul dot net is where you want to go. Blackberrysoul

104
00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:37,320
Speaker 1: dot Net is where you can find out more and

105
00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:39,320
Speaker 1: stick around. We'll talk more when we come back.

106
00:05:39,839 --> 00:05:42,840
Speaker 4: You're listening to the Fork Report with Nil Savedra on

107
00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:45,400
Speaker 4: demand from KFI AM six forty.

108
00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:47,680
Speaker 2: Right now.

109
00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:52,279
Speaker 1: I have the pleasure of chatting about healthy soul food

110
00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:56,560
Speaker 1: from Chef Renee Johnson. She's been chatting with us a

111
00:05:56,600 --> 00:05:59,400
Speaker 1: little bit about her path. Always fun to hear about

112
00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:04,120
Speaker 1: someone's ath to you know, in their journey and when

113
00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:06,640
Speaker 1: it comes to food. And I don't use journey that

114
00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:09,320
Speaker 1: often because it always sounds sappy, but I'm always fascinated

115
00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:12,160
Speaker 1: at what brings people to where they are. And if

116
00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:15,760
Speaker 1: you want to find out more about her and what

117
00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:20,080
Speaker 1: she's doing, you can go to her website blackberrysoul dot

118
00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:23,920
Speaker 1: net blackberrysoul dot net. So your grandmother gave you the gift,

119
00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:26,919
Speaker 1: she passed it along to you. You weren't a big

120
00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:32,520
Speaker 1: food person. Obviously that has changed and in the industry

121
00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:35,560
Speaker 1: of finances you found a way to speak to people

122
00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:39,040
Speaker 1: and think them through food. And now it is your

123
00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:45,479
Speaker 1: main focus as you shifted gears. What are your primary

124
00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:48,760
Speaker 1: what are you? What are the things that you that

125
00:06:48,839 --> 00:06:51,240
Speaker 1: bring you joy? To cook or bake?

126
00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:55,720
Speaker 2: You know what? I think that everything that I do

127
00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:58,280
Speaker 2: is about an experience. I kind of lived my life

128
00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:01,680
Speaker 2: in a way that whatever corner I am in, or

129
00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:05,760
Speaker 2: whatever corner I'm standing on, or whatever table I'm at,

130
00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:09,000
Speaker 2: I want whoever's with me to feel something and having

131
00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:12,720
Speaker 2: a wonderful experience. So as far as my food is concerned.

132
00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:16,160
Speaker 2: I want someone to take a bite of my food,

133
00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:19,400
Speaker 2: make a whole and word on the street is I'm

134
00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:22,120
Speaker 2: the chef that requires you to make a whole lot

135
00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:24,840
Speaker 2: of noise like, oh my god, that is so good

136
00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:28,440
Speaker 2: and audible eaters right, and to give me a kiss.

137
00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:33,520
Speaker 2: So I really feel like, no matter what I cook,

138
00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:36,680
Speaker 2: that I want people to enjoy my food and have

139
00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:40,480
Speaker 2: an experience that they will never ever forget. And that's

140
00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:42,760
Speaker 2: kind of how I roll. Even if I'm not cooking.

141
00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:45,560
Speaker 2: I want when you see me, you're like, that's my girl.

142
00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:47,880
Speaker 2: She's gonna give me an experience. It's gonna be fun.

143
00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:50,920
Speaker 2: But as far as food is concerned, absolutely, I want

144
00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:54,080
Speaker 2: you to enjoy that bite of sweet potato waffle that

145
00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:57,720
Speaker 2: I gave you, or that those creamy grits. Instead of

146
00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:00,880
Speaker 2: doing a fried shrimp or doing a shrimp, we put

147
00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:03,360
Speaker 2: the top of it with a fried piece of salmon

148
00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:06,360
Speaker 2: and then you know, drizzle a little lemon on it

149
00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:08,960
Speaker 2: and cheese and take it to a whole nother level.

150
00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:11,440
Speaker 2: And when you take a bite of our homemade biscuits

151
00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:14,520
Speaker 2: and dip it in that BlackBerry compod, it's a game

152
00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:18,400
Speaker 2: changer and it's an experience that most people, you know.

153
00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:21,560
Speaker 2: And the other thing is that I enjoy food so

154
00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:23,800
Speaker 2: and there, like you talked about all the different cultures,

155
00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:26,960
Speaker 2: You're right, red beans and rice is a universal thing.

156
00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:29,920
Speaker 2: I was on a cruise and the boy said to me,

157
00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:31,640
Speaker 2: we were stuck. We couldn't get off. And he said,

158
00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:34,520
Speaker 2: I got to get off this boat because my mother's

159
00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:37,440
Speaker 2: making red beans and rice tonight. And it was Monday.

160
00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:39,319
Speaker 2: I said, Monday nights is red beans and rice to

161
00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:42,280
Speaker 2: night for everybody in the South, I know. And so

162
00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:44,120
Speaker 2: he was like, yeah, I gotta get off the phone.

163
00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:46,840
Speaker 2: I gotta get off this boat. My mama's cooking. So

164
00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:51,920
Speaker 2: red rice and beans are totally a universal staple, you know.

165
00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:54,320
Speaker 2: And I like you. I like the rice and beans

166
00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:57,400
Speaker 2: from Cuba and they put pumpkin in it, all kinds

167
00:08:57,400 --> 00:09:00,160
Speaker 2: of different things. But I don't want to make this

168
00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:03,480
Speaker 2: seems like my experience and what I do. My experience

169
00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:05,840
Speaker 2: is universal in the way that I feel like when

170
00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:07,640
Speaker 2: you take it, they take a bite of it, it's

171
00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:09,679
Speaker 2: an experience you won't forget. But there's so much good

172
00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:11,599
Speaker 2: food out there. I don't want to put nothing in

173
00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:13,320
Speaker 2: my mouth that I don't get a good experience from.

174
00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:15,440
Speaker 1: Either you know, you know, and I love that, and

175
00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:17,560
Speaker 1: I think that if you can stick around, I'd love

176
00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:19,080
Speaker 1: to talk to you some more because I want to

177
00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:23,920
Speaker 1: get into the moniker of soul food. I think secretly

178
00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:27,960
Speaker 1: you kind of described it in this last segment unbeknownst

179
00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:31,520
Speaker 1: to the listener. But we'll talk about that coming back

180
00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:34,720
Speaker 1: on those experiences that reach deeper than just your taste

181
00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:41,280
Speaker 1: buds and talk more about your cause driven focus of

182
00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:45,120
Speaker 1: making things you know good and you know that will

183
00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:47,320
Speaker 1: stop you in your tracks. Food doesn't have to be

184
00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:50,480
Speaker 1: unhealthy at all, So we'll talk about that when we

185
00:09:50,559 --> 00:09:51,120
Speaker 1: come back.

186
00:09:51,679 --> 00:09:54,680
Speaker 4: You're listening to The Fork Report with Nil Savedra on

187
00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:57,079
Speaker 4: demand from KFI AM six.

188
00:09:56,960 --> 00:09:59,600
Speaker 2: Forty Right now.

189
00:09:59,679 --> 00:10:03,800
Speaker 1: By of the show, we're celebrating food with the founder

190
00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:10,000
Speaker 1: of Blackberrysoul dot Net, chef Renee Johnson, talking about healthy

191
00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:16,200
Speaker 1: soul food. So what's your mission and how can the

192
00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:18,080
Speaker 1: listener participate in that mission?

193
00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:22,959
Speaker 2: So I think my mission is, you know, times are changing,

194
00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:26,960
Speaker 2: and once upon a time, we weren't so cautious about

195
00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:29,800
Speaker 2: or aware of what we used to eat. We were

196
00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:32,640
Speaker 2: just only looking for really good food, you know, and

197
00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:36,160
Speaker 2: nowadays are you know, nowadays things are. We're more aware

198
00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:39,439
Speaker 2: of who we are. We're eating healthy, we're walking, even

199
00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:41,360
Speaker 2: though I've been allergic to it lately. I got to

200
00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:44,240
Speaker 2: start working on walking moor. I think I have those

201
00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:48,920
Speaker 2: allergies as well, right, But people are aware of what

202
00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:51,720
Speaker 2: they're doing. People are trying to stay healthy, they're trying

203
00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:54,719
Speaker 2: to stay young. And so what I decided to do is, well,

204
00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:56,680
Speaker 2: let me tell you what really happened. My children boss

205
00:10:56,760 --> 00:10:58,640
Speaker 2: me around a little bit and said, Mom, you got

206
00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:00,920
Speaker 2: to get with the movement here. Do not put that

207
00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:03,600
Speaker 2: smoke turkey in the greens. You don't have to. But

208
00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:05,640
Speaker 2: what ended up happening is we had an event with

209
00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:08,800
Speaker 2: Guy Ferira years ago, and he had ordered one hundred

210
00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:11,680
Speaker 2: and fifty vegan meals and he had ordered three hundred

211
00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:14,560
Speaker 2: regular meals. And we had these tables going down this

212
00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:17,400
Speaker 2: auditorium in San Francisco. Well, word on the street was

213
00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:20,360
Speaker 2: a vegan food was excellent, and so we ran out

214
00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:22,520
Speaker 2: of vegan food. So I came home and I said,

215
00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:25,439
Speaker 2: that could never happen again. I'm really conscious about how

216
00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:28,440
Speaker 2: we show up. And so when I realized I had

217
00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:32,679
Speaker 2: a gift to make soul food, take my grandmother's recipes,

218
00:11:32,920 --> 00:11:36,600
Speaker 2: keep her flavor, keep her style, keep her goodness, and

219
00:11:36,679 --> 00:11:39,520
Speaker 2: make it vegan and healthy. I said, I'm about to

220
00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:41,360
Speaker 2: do this because what I really wanted to do is

221
00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:45,640
Speaker 2: have everyone who eats my food have the same experience.

222
00:11:45,679 --> 00:11:47,720
Speaker 2: I didn't want the vegans to be left out or

223
00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:50,599
Speaker 2: the people who to eat traditional soul food to be

224
00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:53,080
Speaker 2: left out either. And I didn't want to compromise our

225
00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:55,760
Speaker 2: flavors and our style. So I took my grandmother's recipe

226
00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:59,480
Speaker 2: and I tweaked them a little bit, and I took

227
00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:01,440
Speaker 2: it to a home another level, and I'm gonna say

228
00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:05,600
Speaker 2: a whole another funky level, and created BlackBerry Soul. And

229
00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:10,120
Speaker 2: it's been a wonderful experience for us and for everybody else.

230
00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:13,920
Speaker 2: I cannot believe that BlackBerry Soul has allowed people to

231
00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:19,640
Speaker 2: eat greens without the pork thing or even the smoke

232
00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:22,400
Speaker 2: turkey meat or any of those things. I was at

233
00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:27,760
Speaker 2: at an event in Oakland at MOAD and we were

234
00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:31,680
Speaker 2: doing their Thanksgiving and I did all vegan. You know,

235
00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:34,720
Speaker 2: everybody was coming in moaning and growaning, Oh my god,

236
00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:37,720
Speaker 2: oh my god. And I remember my mother said to

237
00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:39,840
Speaker 2: one of the young men there, you have to taste this,

238
00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:41,400
Speaker 2: you have to taste it. He was like, I don't

239
00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:44,000
Speaker 2: want to. I don't want to, and it was cornbread dressing.

240
00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:46,080
Speaker 2: He came back to my mother and said, you are

241
00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:49,720
Speaker 2: lying to me that cannot be vegan, and she said, yes,

242
00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:53,200
Speaker 2: it is, Yes, it is. So I had learned to

243
00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:59,040
Speaker 2: create something that's really beautiful and delicious and healthy, and

244
00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:01,080
Speaker 2: I want to be healthy. I'm not talking I'm talking

245
00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:04,200
Speaker 2: about everybody else. I'm almost sixty two years old. I

246
00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:07,240
Speaker 2: have ten grandchildren that call me all day long, and

247
00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:09,800
Speaker 2: I want to be there for them. I want to

248
00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:13,080
Speaker 2: celebrate with them. I want to make sure that I

249
00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:16,400
Speaker 2: get to experience them any time in any way I can.

250
00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:18,240
Speaker 2: I don't want them to be having it to walk

251
00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:20,440
Speaker 2: with me and walk slow. So I needed to be

252
00:13:20,559 --> 00:13:23,200
Speaker 2: healthy as well. You know, I can't catch a ball

253
00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:26,120
Speaker 2: and I can't do different things. I can run with

254
00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:28,760
Speaker 2: my grandchildren they have to pick me up afterwards, but

255
00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:29,800
Speaker 2: I can't run with them.

256
00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:34,680
Speaker 1: You have to have some relaxed down time afterwards. I

257
00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:38,000
Speaker 1: hear that completely across the board. I think that's lovely

258
00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:40,920
Speaker 1: and that, you know. Walt Disney said he didn't care

259
00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:43,679
Speaker 1: if people complained about the price of Disneyland walking in

260
00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:47,080
Speaker 1: he cared if they complained walking out, So it made

261
00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:50,000
Speaker 1: me think of what you said. People can complain about

262
00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:53,040
Speaker 1: it being plant based on the way in, but on

263
00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:56,080
Speaker 1: the way out they should be singing its praises. That's

264
00:13:56,080 --> 00:14:00,600
Speaker 1: what you want because everyone has their preconceived notionant based.

265
00:14:00,679 --> 00:14:03,679
Speaker 1: We in the United States. You say vegan, and it

266
00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:05,680
Speaker 1: sounds like a cult or a group or whatever. But

267
00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:08,600
Speaker 1: the reality is plant based food has always been seen

268
00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:12,120
Speaker 1: as a side dish in the United States, but it's not.

269
00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:17,520
Speaker 1: There's great protein driven foods that are plant based that

270
00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:20,680
Speaker 1: are great for us and that are hearty and have

271
00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:25,200
Speaker 1: that experience, and we need to mix it up. I'm

272
00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:29,280
Speaker 1: a you know, I'm an omnivore through and through, but

273
00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:31,880
Speaker 1: the fact is we eat too much meat, and the

274
00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:35,360
Speaker 1: fabrication of our meat in the United States States has

275
00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:40,400
Speaker 1: gotten horrible. We've gotten from small farms where people you know,

276
00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:44,920
Speaker 1: gabor rats as to these big factory farms that don't

277
00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:47,360
Speaker 1: know what's going on half the time in their own farms.

278
00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:50,080
Speaker 2: So I love that. Let me chime in on that

279
00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:52,760
Speaker 2: too as well as that. You know, we've we've grown

280
00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:55,640
Speaker 2: up having the meat, So it makes understand it's understandable

281
00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:57,920
Speaker 2: that you would be a meat eater and love meat.

282
00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:00,960
Speaker 2: We've grown up to think that meat needs to be

283
00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:03,480
Speaker 2: the star of our plate. Now my thing is that

284
00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:06,040
Speaker 2: we're making our vegetables the star of our plate. Now

285
00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:10,680
Speaker 2: we're absolutely so. You know, when I do something, I

286
00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:13,680
Speaker 2: want my children and my grandchildren to be and I've

287
00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:16,440
Speaker 2: been able to create that. They're excited about Brussels sprouts

288
00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:20,080
Speaker 2: and and broccoli. And you know, my grandchildren are saying,

289
00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:23,600
Speaker 2: oh my god, Grandma, you bought us carrots, and even

290
00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:26,280
Speaker 2: now that we've been eating this way, and let me

291
00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:28,360
Speaker 2: say this, and not all of them are vegan. But

292
00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:30,960
Speaker 2: most importantly, I like to even encourage people just to

293
00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:35,680
Speaker 2: eat real food, real food. You know, instead of opening

294
00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:39,080
Speaker 2: up a can of spaghetti sauce for your children, just

295
00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:41,600
Speaker 2: cut up some fresh tomatos and some onions, some bell

296
00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:44,240
Speaker 2: pepper or not even some bell pepper, some basil, and

297
00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:47,880
Speaker 2: throw it on some noodles. Just eat real food. It's

298
00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:51,120
Speaker 2: not even so much about vegan and vegetarian, because vegan

299
00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:52,280
Speaker 2: doesn't mean that it's a diet.

300
00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:55,880
Speaker 1: Oh no, some of the worst ultra processed food out

301
00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:59,920
Speaker 1: there is vegan. Yeah, because you know, oreos are vegan.

302
00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:02,840
Speaker 1: So it's not about the V. It's about the end

303
00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:05,960
Speaker 1: for nutrients and what's in there. And you know how

304
00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:07,280
Speaker 1: that's going to work with.

305
00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:10,560
Speaker 2: You tries and catch up a vegan And I'm.

306
00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:11,560
Speaker 1: Actually doesn't sound half.

307
00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:13,800
Speaker 2: Batter, right. I know, I love it. You know I

308
00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:15,960
Speaker 2: can ride with some French fries. But that's why I

309
00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:19,120
Speaker 2: want to encourage people, not so much about being vegan

310
00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:23,120
Speaker 2: and vegetarian. It's when I speak about childhood diabetes and

311
00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:25,720
Speaker 2: I talk to mothers and I teach them how to cook.

312
00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:29,320
Speaker 2: I just make fresh green beans and blant them and

313
00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:31,480
Speaker 2: throw olive oil on them and some salt and pepper

314
00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:33,680
Speaker 2: and hand them to a kid. And they're like, oh

315
00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:38,360
Speaker 2: my god. I'm teaching parents to embrace food and find

316
00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:42,520
Speaker 2: their kids on like vegetables and food. Gick their favorite color.

317
00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:45,880
Speaker 2: Make food out of those colors and they get excited

318
00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:47,680
Speaker 2: about that. You walk in this door and say, hey,

319
00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:49,840
Speaker 2: I know orange is your favorite color. I want you

320
00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:51,400
Speaker 2: to pick three things at an orange and we're going

321
00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:52,120
Speaker 2: to make them.

322
00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:55,440
Speaker 1: I love that. That's a great idea. Can you hang

323
00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:58,800
Speaker 1: on for one more segment? Absolutely, I'm enjoying our conversation.

324
00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:01,240
Speaker 1: We come back, We'll talk more with Chef Renane Johnson.

325
00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:05,320
Speaker 1: To find out more about her boutique catering and events,

326
00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:09,840
Speaker 1: you can go to blackberrysol dot net blackberrysol dot net.

327
00:17:10,359 --> 00:17:13,359
Speaker 1: Is you know, the way someone has love for food

328
00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:15,960
Speaker 1: is always going to show up in their food. And

329
00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:18,960
Speaker 1: you will see by going to that website which I

330
00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:21,760
Speaker 1: love has her smiling while eating a cookie, so she

331
00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:24,080
Speaker 1: knows how to eat and enjoy it. And those are

332
00:17:24,080 --> 00:17:25,840
Speaker 1: the people you want cooking for you. We'll talk more

333
00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:26,600
Speaker 1: when we come back.

334
00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:30,600
Speaker 4: You're listening to the Fork Report with Nil Savedra on

335
00:17:30,720 --> 00:17:34,600
Speaker 4: demand from KFI AM six forty.

336
00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:39,240
Speaker 1: We continue to talk about and celebrate food. We're talking

337
00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:41,960
Speaker 1: with chef Renee Johnson. She's got a boutique catering and

338
00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:50,480
Speaker 1: events company blackberrysol dot net, blackberrysol dot net, and she's

339
00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:55,480
Speaker 1: really leading the health soul food industry. And healthful food

340
00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:58,600
Speaker 1: is imperative to all of us. And it doesn't meant

341
00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:04,680
Speaker 1: and it's not mutually exclusive to vegan food, but certainly

342
00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:08,879
Speaker 1: plant based food is something that we have not focused

343
00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:13,280
Speaker 1: on enough in this country like they do in other places.

344
00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:15,840
Speaker 1: A Mediterranean diet that they call it, and I hate

345
00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:18,280
Speaker 1: calling it a diet because it's really just great food.

346
00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:23,840
Speaker 1: But the Mediterranean food has long put a smaller emphasis

347
00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:29,560
Speaker 1: and focus on animal proteins, sticking with fish and things

348
00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:34,399
Speaker 1: like that, some seafoods, but primarily on grains and wonderful

349
00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:40,720
Speaker 1: things to eat. And there's no reason that other groups

350
00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:43,680
Speaker 1: and ethnic groups can do the same. So we're talking

351
00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:47,960
Speaker 1: with chef Renee Johnson as a Latino, you as a

352
00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:51,879
Speaker 1: black woman. A lot of times in areas, you know,

353
00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:54,720
Speaker 1: I joke about my dad not wanting to raise poor Mexicans,

354
00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:57,960
Speaker 1: so he moved us and raised us as poor white kids.

355
00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:04,879
Speaker 1: Thing is in our communities there is a problem with

356
00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:07,439
Speaker 1: the type of type of garbage that pops up in

357
00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:11,000
Speaker 1: fast food and things like that. And so you're right,

358
00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:14,439
Speaker 1: we're not trained to eat that way where you know,

359
00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:19,680
Speaker 1: through I don't know, through through sorrow, through frustrations, through

360
00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:23,280
Speaker 1: all kinds of things. We've put that into fat in

361
00:19:23,359 --> 00:19:28,080
Speaker 1: our food, thinking it was love and it's not. It's

362
00:19:28,119 --> 00:19:30,800
Speaker 1: you know, there's still way, And that's what I think

363
00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:33,640
Speaker 1: about with soul food. You were talking about you don't

364
00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:35,480
Speaker 1: want people to be quiet when they eat your food,

365
00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:39,119
Speaker 1: and that's something that hits your toes, not your tongue.

366
00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:46,400
Speaker 1: So talk about how you modified where you found the love,

367
00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:51,720
Speaker 1: where you found not substitutes, but better nutrients and kicking

368
00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:55,119
Speaker 1: the bad nutrients out. When you do a recipe, now,

369
00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:57,159
Speaker 1: a traditional recipe.

370
00:19:56,720 --> 00:19:58,880
Speaker 2: Well, I'm gonna say this, Neil. You know, let's think

371
00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:03,600
Speaker 2: about this. How anything that we do that's good for us,

372
00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:06,080
Speaker 2: it's more expensive all the way around. If I want

373
00:20:06,119 --> 00:20:09,639
Speaker 2: to take my children to the ball game, if we

374
00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:11,760
Speaker 2: want to go to see the San Francisco Giants, it's

375
00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:13,760
Speaker 2: going to take us, it's going to cost me at

376
00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:17,480
Speaker 2: least five hundred dollars. Everything that we have to do

377
00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:21,040
Speaker 2: that's going to be healthier fun, it's more expensive nowadays.

378
00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:25,440
Speaker 2: And I think a lot of people do not They

379
00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:30,080
Speaker 2: do not have the resources to eat healthy as well,

380
00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:33,639
Speaker 2: or they think that they cannot. And when I say that,

381
00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:37,560
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, white bread is cheaper than wheat bread.

382
00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:42,600
Speaker 2: You know, canned food is you know, you can buy

383
00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:46,439
Speaker 2: a can of beans for a dollar twenty nine. But

384
00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:49,080
Speaker 2: when you think about drive beings, people for some stranger

385
00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:52,639
Speaker 2: read and thinks that it's more expensive. And if you

386
00:20:52,760 --> 00:20:55,160
Speaker 2: look at it, and if you buy things in small batches,

387
00:20:55,240 --> 00:20:59,560
Speaker 2: it can be cost effective both ways. If we think

388
00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:02,800
Speaker 2: like that. But what ends up happening is that people

389
00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:06,440
Speaker 2: tend to think that they have to eat this way

390
00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:09,359
Speaker 2: because this is what they can afford, or this is

391
00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:14,959
Speaker 2: what they know doing that is not something that people

392
00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:17,200
Speaker 2: think that they can't think out of the box. When

393
00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:20,640
Speaker 2: I speak to them parents at when I talk about

394
00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:24,000
Speaker 2: childhood diabetes. We go on a shopping trip and we

395
00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:26,640
Speaker 2: pick up a pound of green beans, and we make

396
00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:28,399
Speaker 2: a pound of green beans and let them see that

397
00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:31,720
Speaker 2: we've gotten the same amount of those two cans of

398
00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:35,480
Speaker 2: beans that we did from fresh green beans. So I

399
00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:38,040
Speaker 2: think this is thinking outside of the box so much.

400
00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:40,119
Speaker 2: And that's what I had to do with BlackBerry. So

401
00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:44,199
Speaker 2: I had to think outside the box because buying vegan

402
00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:49,399
Speaker 2: food and buying fresh food and buying and making my

403
00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:51,800
Speaker 2: own beings. Of course I could open up a can

404
00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:53,840
Speaker 2: of beans, but I don't know what went into those beings.

405
00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:58,600
Speaker 2: I don't know. I know that, yeah, and some kind

406
00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:03,000
Speaker 2: of preservative. So I know that I needed to elevate

407
00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:04,639
Speaker 2: my experience. And you know the other thing I wanted

408
00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:07,000
Speaker 2: to do is I wanted to like our tack line

409
00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:10,320
Speaker 2: is where elegance meat soul. So I wanted to make

410
00:22:10,359 --> 00:22:13,439
Speaker 2: sure that you know, back in the day, grandmothers were

411
00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:15,560
Speaker 2: in the kitchen with an apron on and a rag

412
00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:18,320
Speaker 2: on their head and we drank out a Mason jars.

413
00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:21,120
Speaker 2: When we do BlackBerry Soul, there's none of that going

414
00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:23,520
Speaker 2: on with our and nothing's wrong with it because that's

415
00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:26,520
Speaker 2: our journey. But when I did my cookbook, I remember

416
00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:28,160
Speaker 2: the lady said to me, well, you know, I wanted

417
00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:31,800
Speaker 2: to use some slate colors and some wood. And I said, girl,

418
00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:35,119
Speaker 2: that's not me. I'm royal. So we're going to use gold,

419
00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:38,040
Speaker 2: we're going to use black, We're gonna use color. It's

420
00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:40,040
Speaker 2: going to be vibrant. And then she looked at me

421
00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:43,600
Speaker 2: and she said, everything, I'm never using black again. I

422
00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:45,480
Speaker 2: can't get my freatures I don't have black on it.

423
00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:48,000
Speaker 2: She went and bought all these different things to make

424
00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:51,120
Speaker 2: sure that we knew that, to embrace who we are.

425
00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:53,760
Speaker 2: So when I did BlackBerry Soul, I wanted it to

426
00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:56,600
Speaker 2: be eggle, elegant. I wanted it to be fresh. I

427
00:22:56,640 --> 00:22:59,240
Speaker 2: wanted to be delicious. I wanted people to have an experience.

428
00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:02,800
Speaker 2: When we show up for catering, we have no wire racks.

429
00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:07,720
Speaker 2: We have all polished chafing dishes. Fresh flowers. Everything is

430
00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:11,840
Speaker 2: elevated to a whole another experience in my vision of

431
00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:13,680
Speaker 2: what I wanted my clients to experience.

432
00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:16,439
Speaker 1: And I'm looking at your menu. You have meat on

433
00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:19,080
Speaker 1: your menu as well, all rightly because people can order,

434
00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:21,920
Speaker 1: but go look at the menus to see what they have.

435
00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:23,960
Speaker 1: We're out of time, but I want you to do this.

436
00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:28,240
Speaker 1: My challenge to you go to Blackberrysoul dot net. Blackberrysoul

437
00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:31,719
Speaker 1: dot net see Chef Renee in all her glory, and

438
00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:33,960
Speaker 1: you can get a quote there for a party or

439
00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:36,320
Speaker 1: something you're doing an event. You can look at the

440
00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:39,480
Speaker 1: menus from breakfast to comfort food to whatever you may

441
00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:42,639
Speaker 1: be doing, and we'll have you back on in the

442
00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:45,040
Speaker 1: future to talk more. Thank you so much for taking

443
00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:45,520
Speaker 1: the time.

444
00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:48,240
Speaker 2: Absolutely, Neil, thank you so much for having me. And

445
00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:50,280
Speaker 2: I can't wait to feed you because it's food here

446
00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:50,840
Speaker 2: in this house.

447
00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:54,119
Speaker 1: Don't tell me that just makes it worse. Thank you

448
00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:56,399
Speaker 1: so much. I know everybody's enjoyed you as well. My

449
00:23:56,440 --> 00:23:58,960
Speaker 1: dear Chef Renee Johnson will be back with more.

450
00:23:59,080 --> 00:23:59,960
Speaker 2: Go no Where,