Alabama Chanin begins an ongoing collaboration with Patagonia as part of their Truth to Materials initiative. Natalie writes an essay entitled “What Remains,” published in Patagonia’s Truth to Materials lookbook.
The Archives — 2014
The Friends of the Café dinner series begins at The Factory in June 2014. Featuring award-winning chefs from around the country, these dinners, benefiting the Southern Foodways Alliance and a range of other organizations, bring guests and community together to explore food, storytelling, and sustainability around a common table of curated, multi-course meals with wine and cocktail pairings. An extensive lineup of award-winning chefs, farmers, and culinary and libation connoisseurs partner with Alabama Chanin to host the dinners and create meals made from local, regional, and sustainable farms. Many dinners feature other elements—book signings, music, and storytelling—with musical performances by John Paul White, Cedric Burnside, and others, as well as partnerships with organizations like the Oxford American and Southern Makers. The dinners are often documented by photographers Abraham Rowe and Rinne Allen and are a celebration of the Slow Food movement that has deeply inspired Alabama Chanin’s slow design mission.
John T. Edge is the founding director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, as well as an author and chronicler of the American South. Through the lens of food, John T. presents this region’s tumultuous social and agricultural past. Learning from this history, John T. charges Southerners with paving the way for a progressive, diverse, and honest future. John T. has long been a friend and collaborator through our Friends of the Café dinners, which benefit the Southern Foodways Alliance’s research and programs.
Gael Towey is a storyteller, director, and creative whose passion lies in the process. She is the founder of Gael Towey & Co., an organization that celebrates and explores the power, beauty, and enigmatic nature of creativity. Gael is the producer and director of Portraits in Creativity, a series of short-form documentaries that share and preserve artists’ stories—tales of bravery, inspiration, loss, strength, fear, and finding the spark. We are continually inspired by her curiosity of spirit, ingenuity, and thoughtful creative voice.