Episode 61 also includes a YouTube phenomenon who celebrates body diversity by cooking with her “stump,” and an expert on the future of food.
For some 25 million Americans, eating is an unpleasant chore due to medical conditions that restrict their ability to chew or swallow. Limited to bland, sugary foods such as nutritional shakes, they are deprived of the physical pleasure of crunching down on a satisfying snack, or the emotional connections that come with sharing food. Lacking the motivation to eat, many suffer from malnutrition.
Portland-based Dr. Reva Barewal has developed Savorease, a groundbreaking line of densely nutritive, savory snacks designed to serve this population. Among Dr. Barewal’s innovations is a collection of crackers that literally melt in the mouth, enabling anyone from the age of 0 to 99 to consume them safely without the risk of choking.
You can hear Dr. Barewal, who is also a surgeon, a clinical assistant professor at OHSU, and a classically trained French chef, on Ep. 61 of The Four Top, Portland’s national food-and-beverage roundtable-discussion podcast, presented by OPB for NPR One.
In addition, Alexis Hillyard and Drew Prindle join the conversation in Ep. 61. Hillyard is the popular host of Stump Kitchen, the YouTube series that has been described by Vice as “the disability cooking show food media needs.” Born without a left hand, Hillyard brings joy, humor, and creativity into the kitchen, cooking vegan and gluten-free recipes while inspiring viewers in her worldwide community of followers to celebrate their limb differences.
Prindle, the Senior Features Editor at Digital Trends, is an expert on the future of food. He updates us on the innovative high-tech kitchen devices that are making cooking accessible to everyone.
The Four Top is recorded at OPB and is available on iTunes, Spotify, NPR One, or your favorite podcast app. The winner of both the James Beard and the IACP awards for best national culinary podcast, this digital audio show brings together influencers and thinkers to discuss today’s hot-button topics in food and beverage culture. You can read more about The Four Top and tune in online at our dedicated website, or at the OPB website.