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Women in Food, Drink and Hospitality
Phoenix Nights: LDEI Conference 2024
By Kate Howell & Cathy Sloman
We were delighted to represent our Chapter and Board at this year’s conference in Phoenix, Arizona.
Even the locals had been finding the weather unfeasi
bly hot just a couple of weeks before, so we were relieved that it had “cooled down” a little by mid-October.
As is often the case with a conference, we didn’t get to see too much of the real Phoenix (it’s a great big sprawling city), aside from viewing some spectacular cacti, an essential trip to the Boot Barn and dinner with some of our Chicago and Portland Dame friends on arrival.
Here’s what we did do!
Indigenous Cooking
In her Indigenous Ingredients cooking class, Phoenix Dame Candy Lesher demonstrated some of her favourite local dishes. She showed us how to make tamales with salsa verde, ensalada de nopales, poblano rellenos de pollo verde and dulce de leche cheesecakes. Candy was hugely informative, talking us through the local produce and answering a million questions from her rapt audience. Some of the ingredients might be a little tricky to source in the UK… But rest assured, lunch was divine – the Wigwam chef did a great job of cooking up Candy’s recipes and he clearly loved trying out something different in his kitchen.
The Grand Opening
As the desert sun set, we all gathered on the lawn of the beautiful and historic Wigwam Hotel – a great chance for us to catch up with old friends and to make new connections. Some of us headed off to the Harvest Moon Festival – the Phoenix Chapter partners with C-CAP (Careers through Culinary Arts Program), with top chefs supporting students to hone their culinary skills. Healthy competition, excellent food.
The Conference
Outgoing President Kathy Gold welcomed us and introduced keynote speaker, Crystal Wahpehpah, of the Kickapoo nation of Oklahoma. Chef and owner of Wahpepah’s Kitchen, Crystal talked passionately about her work reclaiming Native food sovereignty, spreading the word about ingredients from her people and their lands, striving for ethical and sustainable ways for us to eat.
The Chapter Leadership Forum was hosted by Dames Natalie Keng (Atlanta), Robin Griffith (Charleston, President) and Tanya Holland (San Francisco). Key themes included the importance of working out what members want from their Chapters, how to engage the membership, tools for effectively running a Board and a Chapter. Natalie shared her thoughts on “time, talent and treasure”, encouraging all boards to tap into the different resources our members have to offer. Robin looked at how boards can work together to achieve their shared mission. Tanya talked about general board management.
Next up the Legacy Awards Luncheon – we heard from the five winners about the impact of winning these prestigious awards. Another group of fascinating and inspiring speakers, hugely appreciative of what the Legacy Awards had offered them and excited about their next steps. They’re certainly ones to watch: Heather Carpenter, Tara McDonough, Sami Maldonado, Melissa Maness and Anamaría Morales.
There was a Country and Western evening, there had to be, this was Arizona!!
The Council of Delegates dealt with the official business, confirming that there would be no fee increase this year, amending the bylaws to account for future conferences moving from October to the spring and running through the Board members’ reports.
We did our bit to promote Edible 2025 (see below) – so hopefully we’ll see some new faces in May next year, as well as our loyal regulars.
Kathy Gold handed over to the new President, Stephanie Jaeger (British Columbia), whose inaugural speech was another magical moment in the conference, summed up by these words: “We must celebrate our roots, our beginnings, appreciate where we come from, but we must also keep evolving, growing, developing and adapting. This can only happen through support, engagement, and collaboration. Standing here before you, I feel an overwhelming sense of excitement and possibility for how we can push forward through engagement, support and communication. Together, we will continue to grow, both professionally and as an organisation. This is my pledge to you tonight”.
Stephanie also welcomed new board member, our very own Kate Howell, now proudly serving as third Vice President, with the international PR brief. The joy amongst the assembled company at Kate’s appointment was palpable and heartwarming.
Oh, and Kathy also announced that the next conference, March 2026, will be in Las Vegas, that seemed like a popular choice. It will be a change of direction for the conference format for the first time, moving to the spring to allow more delegates to attend.
It all wrapped up with the Grande Dame reception. Dame Carla Hall, Washington DC Chapter, gave another inspirational speech. Carla, chef, TV personality and highly engaging public speaker, told us about her journey from catering to culinary school to member of the DC Chapter to the heady heights of TV fame. She talked about the value of LDEI, what it has given her and what it offers all of us: the power of a community, the way it uplifts us all, the sharing of knowledge, a group of women who really see each other and make space for others. She clearly spoke for many of us when she said she felt re-energised and invigorated by being with this group of women who celebrate each other. And she got a standing ovation when she described herself as not being “over the hill” but “the summit”!
If you’re on Facebook, you can see all of Carla’s speech here – thanks to LDEI Treasurer Barb Pires for having the presence of mind to record the whole thing.
The Value of LDEI
We learnt a huge amount and met some truly inspirational women, leading the way in our industries. We talked to women from the larger Chapters and from smaller ones, heard about their successes and challenges and bounced around ideas for making all our Chapters the best they can be for all members and the wider community. We loved the openness to ideas, the appetite for giving back, a general “just do it” approach, the sense of shared values. Not only that, but we were both overwhelmed by the enormous warmth and love for the London Chapter in the room.
On Board: Kate Howell joins LDEI International Board
We are thrilled that Board member Dame Kate Howell has been officially appointed to the LDEI Board. This is a huge honour for
Kate and for us as a Chapter. We are so proud that the first European member of the Board comes from our Chapter.
Kate said: “I am so looking forward to working with with the international board and bringing a bit of London love to proceedings. LDEI is an inspiring organisation, full of hugely talented, creative and supportive women who share a value set of giving back. I feel honoured to be able to play a small part in the running of our mothership this year and am looking forward to the task ahead of me, whilst of course, keeping going with all our plans for London. A huge thanks for the support”.
Dame Kate Howell, LDE London Board member and newly appointed Third Vice President of the LDEI Board, covering the international brief, is a strategic communications expert specialising in food, markets and community inclusion. She is passionate about how food can bring people together and her commitment to LDE London and LDEI are driven by her belief in equity in the food industry and a personal commitment to supporting other women in the industry.
Kate has worked in communications for over 20 years, with 12 years as Director of Communications and Engagement at Borough Market. As part of the corporate leadership team at Borough Market, her work was driven by a strong belief in the central part that markets can play in revitalising communities and driving the sustainability agenda, included building the market’s brand, developing its printed, digital and in-person communications, increasing engagement, and ensuring that the thoughts of the institution and its traders were regularly heard through the national media. She helped shape the responses to some extremely challenging circumstances, including the 2017 terrorist attack, Brexit and the Covid pandemic, as well as playing a key role in overhauling the strategic development of London’s oldest market.
Kate also sits on the boards of the The Mayor of London’s Markets Board, which promotes the social and economic contribution markets make to London. She is a Liveryman of The Stationers Company and a Freeman of London and enjoys judging the Great Taste Awards for the Guild of Fine Food.
Dame Elisabeth Luard for President!
We are thrilled that Dame Elisabeth Luard has been appointed as the President of the prestigious Oxford Food Symposium.
Having already served as Chair of the Trustees for six years, Elisabeth brings a wealth of experience to the role. A renowned author, journalist and broadcaster, Elisabeth writes (mostly) about food and recipes in their historical, geographical and social context. Her work as a cookery writer includes about fifteen cookbooks and four memoirs with recipes: Family Life; Still Life; My Life as a Wife and Squirrel Pie (all in print with Bloomsbury). And just for good measure, a couple of doorstopper novels – Emerald (WHSmith’s “Thumping Good Read Award”) and Marguerite, both published by Bantam in the 1980’s. Read more on her website here.
As a journalist, Elisabeth’s back-story includes several years (each) as the cookery columnist at Country Living, House & Garden, Waitrose Food Illustrated, The Field, The Scotsman and the Daily Telegraph (with occasional forays into lifestyle pieces for the Daily Mail). These days, she contributes a monthly cookery-column with illustrations to The Oldie.
The Oxford Symposium exists to celebrate, explore and share food research by scholars, enthusiastic amateurs, writers, and chefs from around the world. It is an an evolving community of writers, academics, chefs, scientists, producers, and passionate amateurs whose members bring a diverse host of experiences and perspectives to the study of food and cookery. Their goal is to change the conversation around food, expand the table and improve the plate, through lively debate and the annual publication of their Symposium Proceedings.
Keynote speakers are invited each year to address a chosen topic and to guide thinking in new directions. These have included Harold McGee, Sidney Mintz, Marion Nestle, James Rebanks, Paul Rozin, Simon Schama, and Laura Shapiro. However, our symposiasts remain the heart and soul of the gatherings and of its mission. Around 50 papers are chosen each year by committee and, after being presented, these are edited, published in the annual Proceedings, freely available online. With a 40-year back catalogue, they represent an important resource that is internationally valued by academics and students of food and cookery.
Dame Prue Leith
Congratulations to our double Dame Prue who has just received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Guild of Food Writers.
Read her short bio here
Other LDE London Dames honoured with the GFW Lifetime Achievement award are Dame Anne Willan, Dame Darina Allen and Dame Elisabeth Luard.
We are very proud of them all.
Dame Lucy Vincent
Here’s to Dame Lucy Vincent, who has been named as one of this year’s Inspirational Women, in a campaign supported by the Daily Mail and M&S. Founder and CEO of Food Behind Bars, Lucy attended a Women of the World (WOW) event at Buckingham Palace in March, where she met the Queen and was able to highlight the important work she and her team are doing to campaign for change in prison food.
Alongside fellow Dame Natalia Middleton, Lucy works at Food Behind Bars to tirelessly campaign for nutritious, exciting and varied food to become the norm in British prisons.
As well as celebrating Dame Lucy’s most recent accolade, the charity is currently fundraising to build a Prison Food Education Programme and roll it out nationally. Over the next 3 years, it will result in better quality food for over a quarter of the prison population. You can help them reach their goal to make it possible by donating here here
We couldn’t be prouder of Lucy and Natalia.
Plan Zheroes – The Zero Food Waste Heroes are a fantastic charity working hard to reduce food waste across our capital. They are like a dating agency between businesses who have surplus, good quality food and charities in need.
Since they were created, they have saved over 500+ tonnes of surplus food, which has helped create over 1 million+ meals. Recently, a number of our Chapter helped to volunteer at one of their recipient charities, the Oasis Hub
in Waterloo.
If you’d like to get involved, drop Dame Kate Howell a line or if you have any other ideas of volunteering opportunities for the Chapter, do let us know.
Dame Sheila Dillon
Another well-deserved accolade for Dame Patron Sheila Dillon.
Dame Sheila Dillon has been the recipient of many a deserved award in her time, due to her fearless food journalism over the years. Her most recent accolade is perhaps one of her most important, as she was recognised at the prestigious Food and Drink Awards Fortnum & Mason (fortnumandmason.com), winning the audio category.
The prize recognised Sheila’s work on Radio 4’s The Food Programme, with an episode that looks at what the current conflict in Gaza has done to food supplies in one of the most densely populated places on earth. Sheila commented that although the programme was one of the hardest she has had to make, it is also studded with remarkable women.
Sheila began her career writing for the New York food magazine Food Monitor. She is known to listeners of Radio Four as presenter of The Food Programme, on which she has appeared for more than 20 years. She has been the programme’s regular presenter since 2001 and we are so proud to have her as a Dame Patron of our Chapter.
You can listen back to the winning episode here https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001stpb
LDE London Sponsoring Alex Beighton
Here at LDE London, our mission is to advance and support aspiring professional women in food and beverage and we are founded on the principle of creating a supportive culture within our community through sharing knowledge; supporting our members and providing leadership, educational opportunities, and philanthropic events for the community at large.
This year we were thrilled to be sponsoring Alex Beighton to study for her Advanced Diploma in Artisan Baking at The School of Artisan Food. The course is accredited by FDQ and equivalent to Foundation Degree Level and is a full-time, intensive six-month course that boasts unrivalled tuition from industry’s most recognised producers and experts. It also includes an outstanding opportunity to explore setting up an artisan business.
The course programme at The School of Artisan Food is designed to give people the opportunity to get back in touch with real, handmade food. They not only teach practical and enjoyable ways to produce food, but also ask important questions about why food is produced in the way it is, what the alternatives are and what the future may look like.
This wonderful experience wouldn’t be possible without our sponsorship and funds raised by LDE London from our Edible London and Cork events. It is also a huge step in one woman’s career in the food industry, as Alex works towards her dream of opening her own bakery.
Queen of Herbs
Huge congratulations to Dame Barbara Segall, who has been awarded the Outstanding Contribution Award 2023 at the Garden Media Guild Page Awards!Celebrating the best of horticultural communications, the award is in the gift of the Garden Media Guild committee and is awarded to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession over the years.
We can certainly attest to the fact that there is nothing Barbara doesn’t know about herbs – our very own herb queen!