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What comes to mind when you think of food and fellowship? In my opinion, bringing these two together over dinner presents one of the more joyous occasions in life. Being with people you love to meeting new friends to exploring life through conversations is simply, life-giving. However, it has become quite common that the busier we get the more we tend to put dinner around the dinner table on the back burner.

Diamond Troutman, our newest editorial collaborator at Conscious Magazine, has traveled and lived quite extensively experiencing culture in California, New York, Paris, and now currently, Arizona. Diamond came to us with the idea to publish a column that supports the role of cuisine as a “force of unity and enjoyment”. Being that our bread and butter (hehe) at Conscious is about social good, we asked Diamond to show us the connection between food and social good and the impact it can have on society.

Read ahead to meet Diamond and find out why she is igniting a series of discussions surrounding local agriculture and local community on consciousmagazine.co.

Q | TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF – WHERE ARE YOU FROM, WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND, WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY INVOLVED IN?
My name is Diamond Troutman. I am originally from Redondo Beach, California but have enjoyed the past four years in the Greater New York City area and beyond, primarily in Paris, France. Currently, I reside in Phoenix, Arizona, where I’m exploring a career in writing and photography.

Q | WHEN WE SPOKE ON THE PHONE, I LOVED HOW YOU EXPRESSED YOUR PASSION FOR CUISINE REGARDED AS AN AGENT FOR CAMARADERIE. CAN YOU SHARE WITH OUR READERS ABOUT WHY YOU ARE SO PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS?
Lessons learned from travel and cultural immersion in France and Morocco encourage me to interpret cuisine as an agent of camaraderie and joy. Following my return to the United States, I witnessed a contemporary society that is unconsciously participating in a food revolution propelled by globalization, which is rapidly influencing the value and appreciation of tradition. In lieu of intimate family and friend-oriented gatherings that welcome the prospect of eating in (at home) and eating out (within the bounds of nature), I’ve too often experienced a societal context that takes up “eating out” over “eating at home”, turning a blind eye to the beneficial components to both health and leisure that such an activity is capable of providing. I find resounding passion in appreciating the role cuisine plays in traditional society as a force of unity and enjoyment. I am quite fond of reviewing the ways in which we create and consume food.

Q | HOW DO YOU BELIEVE WE CAN CONNECT FOOD TO SOCIAL GOOD?
Kristin Moses, Editorial Collaborator to Conscious Magazine (and Founder of Design Good), beautifully elaborates on the topic of integrating social good into the business model. To respond to your question and highlight Moses, I strongly believe that we can connect food to social good by introducing personal histories, or stories, involving food – underlining its value and the message it contributes. By witnessing culture, developing world stories, and engaging conversations, food can be realized as an exponent of community.
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Q | YOU ARE ABOUT TO RELEASE A COLUMN ON CONSCIOUSMAGAZINE.CO ABOUT FOOD AND FELLOWSHIP, WHICH IS SOMETHING WE’VE NEVER DONE BUT WE’RE SO EXCITED ABOUT. WHAT SHOULD OUR READERS EXPECT AND WHY IS THIS SO IMPORTANT TO YOU?
My forthcoming column, “Kinship by Cuisine: A Conscious Coming Together,” is a series of discussions surrounding local agriculture and local community. I am moved by the manifold applications of the term kinship within a conversation about food. While it insists an act of culture that gathers family, the term may also intimate harmony that is created among people of diverse histories. “Kinship by Cuisine” will detail the elements that set the scene for a social gathering by following a farm-to-table sequence, including harvest, cookery, community, arts, environment, and gathering. Altogether, I hope to demonstrate and inspire a relationship between people and their local networks. Together, we can practice conscious culture.

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