Watch

Food Filmmaker Captures the "Magic" of Food

Creator:
Published:
November 28, 2023
August 3, 2020
Take a look at this filmmaker who captures the stories of food entrepreneurs around the world.

Kevin Longa didn't always have a healthy relationship with food. But capturing the stories of food entrepreneurs around the world has transformed the way he views it — and shown him just how much we can gain from learning more about it.

"Food is war. It's politics. It's the environment. It's culture. It's peace. It's family. It's feast and famine. It's all these different things."

Video Transcript

Meet Kevin: food filmmaker

Kevin Longa: So I've always really loved food ever since I was a young kid, and I've always loved filmmaking. I had really a bad relationship with food. My normal meal at McDonald's would be large fries, large Coke, a McFlurry, two cheeseburgers, and a McChicken. It was gross. At one point I was in the hospital room, and I was looking at my nurse and she looked at my body mass index chart. She gave me a glare and said, "You know, Kevin, if you keep this up, you're going to get type two diabetes." I just froze, and I had this epiphany moment.

TASTE is a documentary series that features the stories of food entrepreneurs around the world. I filmed everything from dictator-fighting restaurateurs in Myanmar to Michelin-starred chefs in Europe, Jewish bakers who fight antisemitism with their Hebrew-inspired cake designs, cricket farmers in Thailand, snail farmers in Vienna. I've basically filmed 70 stories across 30 countries around the world. I learned about my food the best way I knew how, which was through my video camera.

(Kevin films chef preparing dish)

Chef: Sugar, and then it has some black sesame seeds in it, and then we just finish it off with a little bit of an umami glaze.

Kevin: That looks gorgeous. Look at that.

Food is war. It's politics. It's the environment. It's culture. It's peace. It's family. It's feast and famine. It's all these different things.

Woman speaking in scene from documentary: Although I love my job as a police officer, I said I have to change that. If our food is lost, if we lose our recipes, I think you lose everything.

Kevin: If people have good food and if people respect the people who make our food, we just become so much better as a community and as a world. Hopefully with these stories of TASTE, I'm able to share the story of not only food but also the story of us. I could have been a diabetic. I could have gone to the hospital. I could have died. Most people, they just don't have that chance to discover the magic of food. That's why I'm doing what I'm doing. I want to share that magic.

Creators:
Grotto
Published:
November 28, 2023
August 3, 2020
On a related note...
My Plans are Ruined, But I'm Realizing It's a Gift

My Plans are Ruined, But I'm Realizing It's a Gift

Marye Colleen Larme

Taking Your Partner Home for the Holidays? A Survival Guide

Taking Your Partner Home for the Holidays? A Survival Guide

Elizabeth Hansen

Welcome to the Neighborhood: Lincoln Park

Welcome to the Neighborhood: Lincoln Park

Jennon Bell Hoffmann

How to Have a Good Conversation When You Disagree

How to Have a Good Conversation When You Disagree

Sophie Caldecott

6 Tips for Breaking Your Phone Addiction

6 Tips for Breaking Your Phone Addiction

Marye Colleen Larme

Why My Workout Motivation Shifted to Mental Health

Why My Workout Motivation Shifted to Mental Health

Maria Walley

Podcasts Currently Resonating with Grotto Readers

Podcasts Currently Resonating with Grotto Readers

Grotto Shares

Memento Mori: How Remembering Our Death Helps Us Live

Memento Mori: How Remembering Our Death Helps Us Live

Jacqueline Rose

6 Steps to Addressing Your Workplace Burnout

6 Steps to Addressing Your Workplace Burnout

Tony Oleck

5 Things I Did to Make the Most of My Single Years

5 Things I Did to Make the Most of My Single Years

Emily Mae Mentock

How Prayer Taught Me to Love My Body

How Prayer Taught Me to Love My Body

Jessica Mannen Kimmet

What an Instagram Fitness Crew Taught Me About Community

What an Instagram Fitness Crew Taught Me About Community

Mariah Cressy

Breaking Up Got You Down? Here’s Why: You Are Grieving

Breaking Up Got You Down? Here’s Why: You Are Grieving

Stephanie DePrez

Toni Morrison’s Beautiful Vision

Toni Morrison’s Beautiful Vision

Renée Roden

7 Tips for Packing for a Big Move

7 Tips for Packing for a Big Move

Marye Colleen Larme

How to Change the Way You Confront Challenges

How to Change the Way You Confront Challenges

Paul Mitchell

From Living on the Streets to Cleaning Them Up

From Living on the Streets to Cleaning Them Up

Grotto

The Unexpected Benefits of Daily Routines

The Unexpected Benefits of Daily Routines

Kate Fowler

Lenten Recipes to Show Solidarity

Lenten Recipes to Show Solidarity

Grotto Shares

Balancing a Job and Studying in Your Freshman Year

Balancing a Job and Studying in Your Freshman Year

Marye Colleen Larme

newsletter

We’d sure love to be pals.

Like what you see? Make it easy on yourself and we’ll meet you right in your inbox next time.