Announcements
Food issue out now!
Illustration: Erin McPhee
On the first Saturday of every month, team Shameless gets together to check in, plan issues and hatch schemes for the future of feminist media. As you all know by now, Shameless is 100% volunteer-run, which means that we have no office or fancy boardroom; our meetings happen crowded around my living room coffee table. And while the seasons, topics of discussion, and even staff may change and rotate, one thing is always constant: that living room coffee table is covered with food.
There are a lot of us that make this magazine happen, and between dietary restrictions (vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free! No peanuts! No mushrooms!), a food budget that requires a certain amount of “creativity” to work, and rotating duties, our spread can vary from bowls of different gummy candies to fresh fruit, from samosas to spring rolls and from hummus to hummus (there’s always hummus). The act of providing food for one another is a way for us to care for one another; the act of eating together is an act of community building, bonding and friendship.
And therein lies the power of food: the capacity to nourish and sustain, not only our own bodies and selves, but also our communities and families, both chosen and inherited. Food manages to span from one of the most intimate and deeply personal acts, to a global economic system. It connects us to land, to our cultures and to each other.
With that in mind, we bring you the Shameless food issue. In it, we give a break down of GMOs (p. 18), debunk diets (p. 24), and explore the role food plays in cultural exchange (p. 28). We introduce you to a group of beekeepers (p. 8.), a fresh-faced egg-farmer (p. 9) and a youth group exploring the politics of food (p. 32). And we learn about the roots of Indigenous cuisine (p. 14), edible weeds (p. 15) and food labels. We do this as our own offering of nourishment, in the hopes this provides sustenance, around your table, and in your lives.
Yours Shamelessly, Sheila
