HOW WE EAT
On Nov. 17 we hosted How We Eat in Los Angeles at PLATFORM with treats by Coolhaus, drinks by Ludlows, beer by Heinekin, and food by Tender Greens.
How We Eat is the first conversation in the Radical Optimism series. It investigated how the Radical Optimists in Los Angeles influence the world of food.
SPEAKERS
MOON JUICE | FOUNDER & CEO
AMANDA CHANTAL BACON
Wellness entrepreneur, world-traveling chef and passionate food educator, Amanda Chantal Bacon began her journey toward health at a young age. Sick with chronic respiratory ills that proved unresponsive to antibiotics and other Western medicine, she credits her recovery to an Ayurvedic doctor who removed sugar, wheat and dairy from her diet and saved her life. After graduating high school in her native New York City, Bacon traveled across Europe, South America and New Zealand, working in restaurant kitchens and developing a love for the diverse cultures and flavors of each region.
Bacon studied at the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont, which raised her consciousness on the importance of sustainability, sourcing and collaborating with local producers. She continued her culinary journey, working in the kitchens of celebrated Los Angeles restaurants like Lucques and Canele, and serving as assistant food and wine editor for Los Angeles Times Magazine. The gestalt of her professional food experience, world travels and immersion in Eastern wellness finally led Bacon to become a wellness entrepreneur with her launch of Moon Juice in January 2012.
COOLHAUS | CO-FOUNDER & CEO
NATASHA CASE
Natasha Case founded Coolhaus in 2009 with Freya Estreller after working in architecture at Walt Disney Imagineering. The company has become one of the leading innovative small dessert businesses, growing significantly to include 4 trucks and 2 storefronts in LA, 2 trucks and one cart in NYC, and 4 trucks in Dallas, Texas. Moreover, consumers can find Coolhaus’ pre-packaged ice cream sandwiches, hand-dipped bars, and hand-packed pints in 4,000+ gourmet grocery stores nationally, including Whole Foods and Sprouts.
Today Natasha works as the CEO of Coolhaus, creating new product opportunities from development to design, building new relationships and innovating ideas that keep Coolhaus on top of it's game as zealous expansion continues.
TENDER GREENS | CO-FOUNDER & CEO
ERIK OBERHOLTZER
Erik Oberholtzer co-founded Tender Greens in 2006 in Culver City, California, a chef driven, organic, quick-casual restaurant concept with 22 locations and counting. Himself a chef, Erik manages a growing team of talent along with some exciting new brands. He is the founder of the Tender Greens Sustainable Life Project, a program aimed to assist at-risk youth develop new skills and career intentions through structured culinary training and farm exposure. Co-founder of P. Balistreri Salumi Company, the first of more chef legacy companies he has helped incubate and bring to market through Tender Greens. Erik did his undergraduate degree in Psychology at Temple University in Pennsylvania and Culinary Arts at Johnson & Wales in Providence, Rhode Island.
EVERYTABLE | CO-FOUNDER & CEO
SAM POLK
Sam is Co-founder and the CEO of Everytable. He’s also the founder and Executive Director of the non-profit Groceryships. Prior to becoming a social entrepreneur, Sam was a hedge fund trader on Wall Street. Sam’s memoir, For The Love of Money, was published in July 2016 by Scribner. Sam grew up in LA and witnessed the city’s inequality while helping his mom run homeless medical clinics in Skid Row. Years later, after noticing families in low-income areas struggling with access to healthy food, he started Groceryships, a non-profit working at the intersection of poverty and obesity. He is a graduate of Columbia University.
