“Feasts of Resistance” is a series of cooking classes developed by two Edgewater-based organizations. The classes feature discussions on classic dishes from around the world that were created or affected by social and political unrest. 

“Food is sometimes impacted by conflict and oppression,” said LaManda Joy, founder of the Peterson Garden Project, one of the event’s co-sponsors. She added that the classes offer “a way to understand that in a way that everybody understands: food.”

The courses take place Thursday nights beginning May 25 in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. The dishes discussed originate from Africa, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Haiti. Tickets start at $75 and are open to the public. 

The event’s other sponsor is GirlForward, an organization created by Blair Brettschneider in 2011 to provide mentorship, community and leadership opportunities for displaced young women in Chicago and Austin, Texas. For her work, Brettschneder was featured as a CNN Hero in 2013.

Both Joy and Brettschneider joined Worldview to discuss the project. Press the ‘play’ button above to hear the conversation.

More on GirlForward

Blair Brettschneider: GirlForward is a community of support that is dedicated to creating and enhancing opportunities for girls who have been displaced by conflict and persecution and are now living in the United States. … We serve about 200 girls a year at this point — girls who are in high school aged around 14 to 20 — here in Chicago and in Austin, Texas. We do mentoring throughout the year and a summer education program called Camp GirlForward. Here in Chicago we have our headquarters and Safe Spaces project, and we’re in three CPS schools where we do tutoring.

More on the Peterson Garden Project

LaManda Joy: We’re an educational program and our goal is to recruit, educate and inspire everyone to grow and cook their own food. We have a concept we call a “Pop-Up Victory Garden” and we use land short-term, for as long as we can, to teach as many people as possible how to grow their own food, because it’s a lifelong skill that they can then go out and share with others.