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If you had told me in 2019 that by the end of 2020, indoor restaurant dining would be a distant memory and that the almost decade-old Black Lives Matter movement would be the catalyst that pushed brands towards race-based corporate social responsibility, I wouldn’t have believed you.
Prior to this year, my team and I often wondered how we’d achieve the kind of success we wanted without a magic formula, because despite BLACK FOODIE’s status as a leading voice in the North American food scene, we were often passed over for paid opportunities. So when I noticed that brands were finally being vocal about supporting Black people, I became hopeful that things would change for us too.
We saw the greatest interest in our platform this summer, when hundreds of lists started floating around the internet naming Black restaurants, chefs, and influencers to support. And while it was great to witness the attention being paid to the people we regularly celebrate on our platform, many of the listings were outdated or just plain incorrect. Moreover, they were a poor substitute for the kind of change that was actually needed in the food industry.
We saw the greatest interest in our platform this summer, when hundreds of lists started floating around the internet naming Black restaurants, chefs, and influencers to support. And while it was great to witness the attention being paid to the people we regularly celebrate on our platform, many of the listings were outdated or just plain incorrect. Moreover, they were a poor substitute for the kind of change that was actually needed in the food industry.
It’s all well and good for someone to know where to get Nigerian food, but if they don’t know much about it, how likely are they to actually order it?
When I started BLACK FOODIE in 2015, it was a direct result of a racist incident I’d experienced at a Toronto restaurant. The encounter forced me to rethink the way I viewed Black restaurants and examine why I automatically put their White counterparts on a pedestal. I realized that the problem was one of representation – Black restaurants and chefs need a chance to shine and Black voices need the opportunity to be heard.
In September, my team and I decided to close the gap between the lists and the businesses on them by giving Torontonians the tools to broaden their understanding of Black food culture through a digital campaign called BLACK FOODIE Week (BFW).
BFW was a cultural movement powered by the City of Toronto, Interac, and Skip The Dishes that included cook-alongs, panel discussions, videos, and an interactive map directing users to Black-owned restaurants in their neighbourhoods. We centered social justice and food security in our conversations, opening the minds and palates of hundreds of thousands of Torontonians through coverage by CBC, City News, and the Toronto Star.
Executing a virtual event during a pandemic was no mean feat and I’m proud of the splash we made with BLACK FOODIE Week. Canadians of all ethnicities are hungry for greater representation and culinary diversity and nowhere was that more obvious than in the comment sections of our programming.
If brands want to win big in 2021, they need to get savvy with who they hire and what campaigns they develop because we’re all expecting them to be more dynamic than ever before. The future of food is here and if it’s anything like our 2020, it’s damn delicious and decidedly more diverse.
If your organization is ready to be a part of the change, let’s chat.
