8 Financial Secrets About OUR Food - Kara Newman, April 22

Chicago Foodways Roundtable

The Secret Financial Life of Food

Presented by Kara Newman

Monday, April 22, 2013 at 6:30 PAM
Kendall College, School of Culinary Arts
900 N. North Branch Street, Chicago
(West of Halsted Street, North of Chicago Avenue)
Free Parking in the student lot across the street
Cost: $3.
Free to Kendall students and faculty with ID.


Kara Newman began her career as a financial writer. Her inspiration for The Secret Financial Life of Food began with two little words in the financial newsweekly Barron’s. Jim Rogers, a noted commodities expert, gave the following advice: “Buy breakfast.” He was talking about pork belly futures (which no longer trade) and frozen orange juice futures. That one little comment snapped into focus the point that agricultural commodities aren’t abstract financial concepts – at heart, they’re about food. Pork bellies become the bacon on your plate; frozen orange juice becomes the OJ in your glass. In the end, it’s all about food.

The ups and downs of the commodities market – in Chicago and elsewhere - influence what we eat and what we pay for food. Many farmers study commodities prices to decide what and how much to plant. Chain restaurants use them to manage costs – if the price of beef is expected to spike, does it make sense to raise menu prices, or find an ingredient substitution? Commodities prices set a baseline for prices at supermarkets and greenmarkets alike -- and most people don't even realize it.

Kara Newman is a spirits and cocktail writer based in New York. She is the Spirits Editor for Wine Enthusiast and her work appears in The New York Times, Saveur, The San Francisco Chronicle, Arrive, and Sommelier Journal, among other publications. Previously, she was vice president of Strategic Research at Thomson Reuters.

This program is hosted by the Chicago Foodways Roundtable. To reserve, please e-mail ChicagoFoodwaysRoundtable@gmail.com, then leave your name, telephone number and how many people in your party or e-mail: chicago.foodways.roundtable@gmail.com

Hi,

This is a rare weeknight evening program. This speaker has an interesting professional bio:

Kara Newman is a spirits and cocktail writer based in New York. She is the Spirits Editor for Wine Enthusiast and her work appears in The New York Times, Saveur, The San Francisco Chronicle, Arrive, and Sommelier Journal, among other publications. Previously, she was vice president of Strategic Research at Thomson Reuters.

While the topic is more related to commodities, I expected a spirited question and answer period.

Regards,

How was the talk? Although I couldn't attend, I'm interested to read the book.

Hi,

There will be a podcast, though likely missing will be the fireworks during the Q&A. This is not an issue of censorship, rather the conversation was fast and furious with not enough audio collected to make sense.

The speaker is a drink writer, so I dropped her off at Scofflaw for a much needed drink.

Regards,

WBEZ’s Chicago Amplified partners with Culinary Historians by recording our programs and making them available for broadcast on demand at their website or downloadable to an iPod. Our most recent program:

The Secret Financial Life of Food
Presented by Kara Newman
http://www.wbez.org/series/chicago-ampl ... ood-107231