Marin Toscano

Background

About Marin Toscano

Food is my passion. And this passion is deeply intertwined with my love for working with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures. What we eat is perhaps the most simple yet profound activity that links all human beings. Food can bridge the gap that is assumed between two people who grew up in countries thousands of miles apart and don't even speak the same language. I have often found in my travels that friendships can quickly be conjured just by sharing a meal with the locals. I have eaten everything from iguana in Costa Rica to rabbit head in Chengdu to stir-fried bee larva in Vietnam; keeping an open mind is key. I strive to empower people to realize the potential sharing food has for making connections and building community. I spent the last year and a half in China doing research on how everyday people felt recent changes in agriculture and diet are impacting their health and culture. I found that there is a lack of understanding between the US and China when it comes to issues of sustainable agriculture, food systems, and especially food culture. I fell in love with the local cuisine and the locals who invited me into their homes to teach me how to make it. Towards the end of my time in Kunming, China I designed an interactive workshop called 'Food Talks' which I led entirely in Mandarin. The objective was to create a platform where concerned moms, taxi drivers, students, and farmers and anyone else concerned about food safety, health, and nutrition could come together and share their concerns. Now that I am back in Denver I wish to continue my studies of food culture and how it relates to health and agricultural trends. I will start a series of culturally relevant nutrition classes for Burmese refugees and recent immigrants from China. The end goal will to empower them to be the teachers and teach Americans how to make their healthy, authentic cuisines. By facilitating more cross-cultural food exchanges I hope to further mutual understanding.