You can make friends with salad! Q and A with … Alice Zaslavsky

Alice Zaslavsky is a cookbook author and broadcaster bringing good food to people of all ages. Her vegetable bible In Praise of Veg topped the Australian cookbook charts, proving that you can, in fact, make friends with salad.

Among her many contributions to the food industry, Alice is the creator of Phenomenom, a digital platform that includes videos, social media, website and others that are aligned to school curriculum to encourage kids to eat more vegetables.

Alice Zaslavsky

Food communicator, author, broadcaster

Tell us a bit about you – Who are you and what is your role in the food industry?

I’m a food communicator. I wear many hats – or specs – from Culinary Correspondent on ABC News Breakfast and ABC Radio nationally, to writing cookbooks and articles for publications like Good Food, The Guardian, Broadsheet and the like.

I help to connect the dots between consumer and producer, restaurant and diner, cook and kitchen. Mostly, I just look for excuses to talk about food, cook and eat it, whilst occasionally getting paid.

What do you love about the food industry?

There are few industries as crucial to a species’ survival as food – one of our fundamental existential needs. Seeing as we all have to eat, the choices we make with our dollar and our fork can be the difference between nourishment and connection vs. depletion and destruction. I love that the industry is so communal – everyone knows each other, or knows of someone who knows someone. We’re interdependent, so competition isn’t as rife as in other industries. I also love that I can directly support people living their best lives – be it the producer or artisan, to the person buying said goods on my recommendation and having a great time eating it or cooking with it.

What do you prefer – growing, cooking or eating?

Cooking, probably. Eating is great, and growing I’m rubbish at, but cooking is my favourite because it means I’ve something to look forward to, in both the eating and the sharing.

What are the biggest issues facing the food industry?

Disconnection. The appropriation of wellness messaging and ideas for corporate gain. Food as Fuel. Sustainability - of the industry and of the resources we rely on for the industry to thrive.

What are the biggest opportunities facing the food industry?

There’s never been a better time to connect directly with consumers and with each other. The next generation is more engaged than ever before, and is particularly interested in issues of sustainability, provenance, regenerative practices and environmental impact. Now is the time to shift the dial back to empower the individual and agitate for systemic change from the collective and from above, as those in power start to be slowly replaced by a new breed of leadership who is equally as keen to see change. I know I’m probably getting a little ahead of myself, but a girl can dream.

What do you see is the role of young people in shaping the future of the food industry?

Young people ARE the future of the food industry. It excites me to see the way that the next generation are utilising technology and lateral thinking to find new solutions to old problems. School yourself. Make noise. Unite under common causes. Vote with your dollar.

What is the last meal you would eat before the apocalypse?

Gosh… Matzah ball soup, probably.