Cake Therapy
Cake Therapy is a heartwarming and uplifting podcast that celebrates the transformative power of baking therapy. Hosted by Dr. Altreisha Foster, the passionate baker, entrepreneur and advocate behind Cake Therapy, this podcast is a delightful blend of inspiring stories, expert insights and practical baking tips. Each episode takes listeners on a journey of self-discovery, emotional healing and connection through the therapeutic art of baking.
Cake Therapy
How Culinary Arts Bridge Divides and Heal Minds with Capri Cafaro of Humble Pie Home & Kitchen
Ever wonder how the simple act of baking could transform your mental health? This eye-opening conversation with Capri Cafaro reveals the surprising therapeutic power of food in our increasingly disconnected world.
Cafaro's remarkable journey from Ohio State Senate Democratic leader to culinary entrepreneur offers powerful insights about finding balance in unexpected places. She shares candidly how her kitchen became a sanctuary during the high-stress world of politics—a place where chopping vegetables and kneading dough provided the mental respite she desperately needed. This accidental discovery led her to create Humble Pie Kitchen, a platform where food transcends mere sustenance to become a vehicle for storytelling, healing, and community building.
What makes this episode particularly compelling is Cafaro's innovative approach to bridging societal divides through culinary traditions. Through her cookbook "United We Eat," featuring recipes contributed equally by Democrats and Republicans, she demonstrates how food can create dialogue when other conversations falter. Her television show "America the Bountiful" continues this mission, using regional dishes to reveal the rich cultural tapestry of American communities often overlooked or misunderstood.
As both a culinary creator and licensed social worker, Cafaro offers a unique perspective on the emerging field of culinary therapy. She draws fascinating parallels between cooking activities and therapeutic practices, suggesting that what we're seeing now resembles the early days of art and music therapy. For listeners struggling with anxiety, burnout, or simply seeking more meaningful connections, her insights provide practical pathways toward healing through everyday kitchen activities.
The conversation culminates with a powerful message for young women facing systemic barriers: "The only people saying you can't make the rules and write your story are these other people over here. Look inside and know that power is within you." Whether you're contemplating a career change, seeking self-care strategies, or simply looking to understand the deeper significance of our relationship with food, this episode will transform how you think about what happens in your kitchen.
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Welcome to the Cake Therapy Podcast a slice of joy and healing, with your host, dr Altricia Foster. This is a heartwarming and uplifting space that celebrates the transformative power of baking therapy. The conversations will be a delightful blend of inspirational stories, expert insights and practical baking tips. Each episode will take listeners on a journey of self-discovery, emotional healing and connection through the therapeutic art of baking. There's something here for everyone, so lock in and let's get into it.
Speaker 2:Hi everyone. Welcome back to the Cake Therapy Podcast with me, your host, dr Patricia Foster. Today we have the pleasure of sitting down with Ms Capri Cafaro. She is a culinary innovator and she's the founder of Humble Pie Kitchen. She is a part of my collective. It's a group of girls who get together to talk about well-being in the culinary space. I'm happy to have her on. So Capri is the former Democratic leader of the Ohio State Senate Yep. She is the host and creator of America's Abound Book. She's an original food and travel series in the.
Speaker 2:Midwest. She's the author of United we Eat, a cookbook that features 50 recipes that tell America's unique story. She's the host of Eat your Heartland Out, which is a podcast, and it's also a radio show about the intersection of food and culture in the American Midwest, just to name a few. As it is, her culinary journey is as diverse as it is inspiring. Over the years, she has cultivated her skills not only in the kitchen, but also in understanding the cultural and social dimensions of food. Humble Pie Kitchen, the brainchild of Mrs Cafaro, goes beyond mere recipes. It's a platform where food becomes a medium for storytelling, community building and cultural celebrations. Through her creations, capri interwinds flavors and narratives, showcasing how food can bridge gaps and foster understanding among diverse communities. Whether you are a food enthusiast, a budding chef or simply curious about the intersection of food and culture, you are definitely in for a treat. I am excited to have Capri Cafaro join us, hi.
Speaker 3:Capri. Welcome to the show. Hi, dr Foster, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2:I appreciate it, yeah of course we're excited to have you here. Tell me how you're doing, girl. I mean mental health check-in. It's rough out there.
Speaker 3:It has been, you know, I think for everybody, you know, around the world last couple of weeks has been chaotic, but you know, all in all, you know, I feel blessed, I feel great. You know, um, things are going well. You know, I think, like many and probably yourself included, it's like there's never really enough hours in the day. So trying to find that time to, you know, reconnect, recharge, um, it's really important and something that you know I have had to really work on over time because it's not, it's not my default position, like I am somebody that has been fueled on, like you know, red bull and metallica most of my life. So, you know, trying to kind of chill, um, yeah is, um, I mean, I think it's all relative but, um, at least recognizing that it is important that there's you don't get a gold star for running yourself ragged yeah, yeah absolutely.
Speaker 2:I tell people that it is not my badge of honor I wear so many, so many hats but it definitely isn't something I'm proud of, absolutely not, because it makes me too tired yep, and, and I think that you know society very much, I think, and it's shifting, but I think society has really over time, particularly for women, um, created this.
Speaker 3:You know you have to do it all and do it all perfectly backwards and heels type deal, and so you know we've placed and you know, I think society has also really tried to reward this concept of being every single hour of the day being scheduled, all that sort of thing. I think that there is a paradigm shift happening. Yeah, you know, because people are speaking up and it's, I think, one of the few things that is positive sometimes about social media is connecting with others that have a shared experience and speaking publicly about, you know, things like being stressed or challenges of motherhood, or anxiety and depression. When you talk about those things in a collective manner, it reduces the stigma, but it also helps the community.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, you know what is key that you mentioned too. We're so used to doing these things with heels on, and for me, my validation was from going to the stars with heels on right. I talk about that in my book, but I can go to the stars in my flip-flops too, you know. Going to the stars with heels on right. I talk about that in my book, but I can go to the stars in my flip-flops too, you know, because I don't need heels to validate me and I use that to grind myself into the ground and I'm like when I'm sitting still, but I actually can't. You know, I'm still learning how to actually think still and appreciate the moment. Yeah, and thank God, we found food. So I've done so much work in the food sphere, you know, I'm going to say the food sphere for now, and I would like to ask you for a pivotal moment or memory from your childhood that actually sparked this passion for you in the world of food.
Speaker 3:Sure, well, I mean, I think, like like many people, you know, I'm no different and I think, my ethnicity being being Italian, in particular, you know we have a very special relationship with food, you know, and, and food is a way that we express emotion and love and comfort and all these things Right, and hospitality. And so, you know, I grew up, as did my sister, cooking with my grandma. My mom was like, ok, I think she was very intimidated by her mom's cooking skills and but, you know, we learned so much from my grandma in that, you know, from just math, you know, in things that we learned in the kitchen, from math to just um safety, I mean, you name it, you know. So you know cooking is this, like you know, laboratory of, of, of life and um, and so, you know, some of my earliest memories definitely are my grandma's kitchen and I've always had that connection and I've brought those feelings around food with me, you know, into my adulthood and really it was the understanding and recognizing, kind of by accident, that my time in the kitchen was what grounded me in a very high stress world of being an elected official. Yeah, so it was.
Speaker 3:I really, you know, cause, again, like your time is not.
Speaker 3:Your own public service is what it is and that's fine. But then you realize, you know, for a hot minute in the kitchen, like everything kind of falls, you know, to the side, and you're there, you're focused on what you're doing and you're chopping and you're, you know the house is, you know smells great, and you're being able to welcome people, and then I, you know, and then I would use food as a way to bring people together as well. And, and you know, in a profession which you know, or much more so now than when I was, was in it, in the thick of it, but you know, it's not always one known for, you know, building bridges and unity, right, yeah, yeah, well, um, you know, food was a way to connect with others and a way to connect with myself, and so I really kind of got to that second place, with food as a comfort, as a grounder, as a unifier and as a place to reset my own mental health. You know, as an adult in my 30s really.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So you mentioned, you know, being in public office. Like I mentioned in the intro, everyone Capri was actually the former Democratic leader of the Ohio State Senate. This is an impressive political background here. Ok, can you share what drove you from the kitchen to pursue your career in public life? You know?
Speaker 3:you know I love working with people and I always I mean it's really, it was, you know a goal from being a small kid. It sounds kind of funny, but I come from a community in Northeast Ohio that, you know, really kind of felt like it was left behind by so many. You know we lost a lot of jobs in the late 70s, early 80s, you know, right around the time that I was born. So I always got this very strong sense that, you know, we were left behind but government was a way that we could turn it around and help people. Yeah, I was really interested in history and I was really interested in, you know, current affairs. And then my grandfather was a World War II vet and he had a big impact on me and so, you know, public service was always what I wanted to do, okay, and and so, you know, and it certainly was not a particularly easy path but it was.
Speaker 3:I don't, you know, I am so proud of the ability to have worked for and represented the community that I was born in that five years now of my family have lived in, and you know, and be able to have a positive impact on, on, on those places is just incredible. We have term limits in Ohio. So you know, after 10 years, no more, you know, running for office for me, and at least okay. And so things shifted. And, and you know I, 10 years, no more, you know, running for office for me, and at least OK. And so things shifted and you know I did what a lot of kind of I joke retired politicians do teaching, think tank and television, and that's kind of what happened.
Speaker 3:So I ended up doing cable. I was on, you know, doing commentary on cable news. I was teaching government at a university. You know I was doing research and other things at a university. You know I was, you know, doing research and other things. But and I, you know I love teaching, I love working with people, but the whole like cable news thing beat me down. I'm sure that shocks people beating you down.
Speaker 3:And and you know, just because it's just like there was just so much of the same day in and day out negativity, that's not, that's not a commentary on the people that you know I work with or any of that. Just, you know, as a consumer, I think people recognize it's not fun. Yeah, absolutely. So I wanted to find a way where I could. You know, I started to really think about this how can I bring a lot of these different things together and a lot of my passions together, and started to slowly but surely, in the background, shift over to food and how could I use food as a storyteller and a unifier? And, you know, kind of started to cook up, pun intended, some new projects and apply my skill set in media and my skill set working with you know people in a totally different way. It took a lot, it took four years to kind of really kind of get where I am now, but, you know, again, well worth it. Stick-to-itiveness.
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. Fun fact I lived in Ohio for four or five years. My husband was a resident at Case and I was at the University Hospital working. No way, yep.
Speaker 3:I did a lot of vaccine work.
Speaker 2:You're not far from me then. No, I did a lot of my vaccine work in Ohio, the community etc. And my son will not forgive me if I didn't mention that he's Ohioan. He tells everyone. I love that. Yeah, so, as you transitioned from politics and now doing a lot more work in the foods arena, tell me, do you see an intersection between politics and food, or how do you see that intersection?
Speaker 3:Oh, I mean there are a number of different intersections. I would just say from a very sort of basic level. You know policy impacts food directly. You know in the United States and abroad. I mean you know trade policy, the farm bill, subsidies. You know food deserts, school lunch issues, I mean. So there are policy implications that directly impact food. Implications directly impact food.
Speaker 3:I spent seven of my 10 years in the Senate on the Senate Ag Committee, had a great amount of respect for the hard work that goes into bringing our foods to food, to our table. Environmental policy, climate, all of those things are directly related to food. It's real like sort of direct, tangible ways in which quote politics and food intersect. Direct, tangible ways in which quote politics and food intersect. But I see it, as you know, as a unifier as well as a way to come together, and that's through my own personal lived experience. You know we have in Northeast Ohio, you know, a lot of a ton of these different fairs and festivals, you know, and not just the county fairs and that sort of thing, but the. You know all these different ethnic, the Italian Fest, the Greek Fest, the croatian fest, the pierogi dash. You know we have a huge community. We have wine country, we have lake erie with great, you know, freshwater fish, you know. And then we have, you know, dairy producers and produce producers and all these other festivals that you know bring people together every year the, the Apple Festival, the Pumpkin Festival, you name it right.
Speaker 3:And so, being a publicist at that time, I went to all these different fairs and festivals and it occurred to me that these type of events are ways in which the community comes together and better understands one another. It doesn't matter if you're Croatian or Italian or not, right, you're still showing up every year for those festivals because you want the food, right, and then you have a better window into you know a different culture and what your neighbors are all about. Same thing with some of these like Apple Festival, pumpkin Festival. Okay, well, you know you might not grow pumpkins, but now, all of a sudden, you have a better understanding on how they're grown and you want to come back every year for those. You know the pumpkin pie and the you know whatever other pumpkin stuff that they're doing, and so you know, I saw it as this unifier and that was the big sort of pivot point for me.
Speaker 3:I so I did a cookbook that came out about four years ago called United, we Eat yes and and that was about, you know, showing that food can be a unifier in a divided country. So each recipe we have all 50 states in the District of Columbia. Twenty six of the recipes I did did a ton of research on and the other recipes that were contributed were contributed equally from Democrats and Republicans from across the country telling their stories about why these recipes were important to them or important to their state, and I thought it was a great way again for people to get to know their neighbors. And, ok, you might not like fill in the blank, politician, but you might like their recipe you might be really down with. You know gumbo or you know cherries or whatever it might be. Yes, and it's a starting point to have a dialogue. So I feel like that's cheesy but I really firmly believe in the power of food to bring people together and create a dialogue and for us to better understand and respect one another.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's actually not cheesy at all. I think it helps to find commonality that we are so there's so much that's unique and common between us. Then we are different, right. And the thing is like the world is so divisive right now and if we find a restaurant, a recipe that really helps bring us together like cheesy not never Right us together, like why the heck not Cheese eat nuts Never, right. So you're retiring from politics. Tell me about when Humble Pie started.
Speaker 3:So Humble Pie started back in 2019 and I always had this thought about wanting to highlight different recipes. So so I well, let me back up for a second and say that I had a little blog called the humble pie blog, where I did every week put out like a new pie recipe. Yeah, some of them were mine, some of them were, like, from other places, but it was a fun way, almost just like a, a catalog of of pie recipes. And, again, kind of pie stands for a lot for me, coming from the heartland of America. Everybody has their own type of pie. I mean, you can also have. You know every culture has a pie. You know empanadas, you know whatever. You have, all these types of pies that each culture has. But for me, you know, pie is this kind of ubiquitous dish, sweet or savory, that you know. Pie is this kind of ubiquitous dish, sweet or savory, that you know is always around, particularly and, you know, is a sign of hospitality and home and connection. So I had a lot of fun putting that together and that's where the Humble Pie name came from. But I, you know, wanted to do something that was evocative. You know, community hospitality and, you know, create a humble pie, home and kitchen as sort of a two prong thing. One as a little bit of a storefront for something fun for me, which is, you know, curating and selling made in America. You know cookware and bakeware. So really trying to lift up you know makers, big and small, that you know, make different things for the kitchen here in the United States I also I designed a line of tea towels that actually had a little bit of fun political puns on them and and also designed some aprons as well that were inspired by old vintage apron patterns. I don't sew, but a friend's mom actually helped me sew the samples and that sort of thing. So you know. So it was kind of this landing place for this concept of, you know, heartland hospitality through selling these, you know, curated kitchen goods made in America. But it also became the umbrella of everything else hospitality through selling these you know, curated kitchen goods made in America. But it also became the umbrella of everything else I started to do in this new arena for me. So you know the cookbook, um, I, and then I started to do some writing, for example, um for the food network website, for Huffington post, you know, and you know a couple other outlets where I was doing stuff on food and travel, and so it became kind of the landing place to collect sort of this new resume that I was building. You know, fast, fast forward. About a year later I kicked off my podcast with Heritage Radio Network called Eat your Heartland Out.
Speaker 3:Very much, you know, kind of of the same ethos, talking about food and culture in the American Midwest, a place that I think is widely misunderstood and generalized as flyover country, you know, and a place that doesn't, you know, is really homogeneous, doesn't have a lot of diversity, is only about, you know, meatloaf and corn dogs. And well, that might be true, there might be some truth to that. There's so much more here. So I set out on this like I don't know, crusade in some ways to show the, you know, diversity, the Midwest using food, and so we cover everything from, you know whether it is, you know, somali restaurants in Columbus that are serving camel to. You know how you know, shared community refrigerators are trying to, you know, deal with food insecurity and different parts of you know the and everything in between food tours and breweries and LGBTQ farmers, I mean.
Speaker 3:So we cover the gamut. And then I did my pilot for my show America the Bountiful yeah, we cover the gamut. And then I did my pilot for my show America the Bountiful, yeah, and which is kind of like Eat your Heart Land Out, but on a much, much larger scale, where we are telling America's cultural story and its history using food as our guide.
Speaker 2:Yeah, using food as your guide.
Speaker 3:And that is, and again back to like, it's that unifier and it's something that is a connector that people can understand, you know, and so it took a while.
Speaker 3:You know, covid happened and my dad got sick, and there are all kinds of things that happened, and so, you know, a couple of years passed and you know, then I dusted myself off, like many of us did, and and 2022, things started to come back together and, uh, you know, we got the, you know, the interest from American public television and uh to you know, uh, and Chicago public television is our presenting station to bring America the bountiful to the masses and then eat your Heartland Out ended up becoming a, you know, picked up on rural radio, sirius XM, and you know, and a lot of learning in the process, a lot of rejection, a lot of stuff.
Speaker 3:So this is something that I do want to say and is that, like you know, we often put out the wins and we miss all the other stuff. That happens, like you may have seen some of these graphics or the memes where it's like you see the glacier and you see all you know, oh, here are all the great winds, and then you don't see the stuff that's underneath of all the other things that has happened, you know, in the background.
Speaker 3:And you know. So I'm very grounded in that. I think it's important to talk about the tough times.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And how hard it is sometimes to stay on a path that you know. Look, I mean, I sat there at one point when I kept, like you know, kind of getting derailed on my concept of shifting over to doing, you know, food and you know, doing more narrative storytelling and getting away from news and, like, what did I do? Like, why did I do that? Like you know, like it would have just been easier for me to just stay the course, like, why, like, maybe I made a huge mistake, um, but I, but I followed my heart, as tough as it was at times, but I definitely questioned myself and I definitely was. You know, it was tough, it was really hard at times and, and I know that I'm not alone, you know, with anybody who has tried something new, you know, entered a different profession, you know, tried and failed different things, whatever it might be, you know, I think it's, it's a universal experience that I think we ignore. Again, society tells us that it's only only people want to see shiny, happy people. You know, exactly.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, because I mean, I'm truly guilty of that too. I only put out what I want the world to see, but I'm not showing like the nights I don't sleep the work that I put in I had a really hard weekend this week, but I had to stay up and prep for these conversations as well but we don't show that we show up because we're present and we're having these great conversations and I think the world really turns its back on us because when we start complaining, they were like, oh, stop complaining. But we we're not really complaining, we're just trying to show you what goes on behind the scene is truly more monumental and it is what propels us, you know, into these spaces that people see the outcomes of who we are. So kudos for for mentioning that in the conversation, because you know, my, my foundation speaks to young girls and the listeners most, most of my listeners are young girls. So I love that you were able to voice that in this moment, because I know that they're listening, that there's a lot that goes on behind the scene and not because you get knocked down, you know it is important to rise back up and face the music, go after what you want. So kudos to you.
Speaker 2:I want to talk about the TV show. I'm ready. I want to talk about everything that's fun about it for you, like. What made you decide to do that? Tell me about some of your favorite shows.
Speaker 3:Oh man, okay, so like to kind of rewind for a second to something that I said a little bit earlier about all the different fairs and festivals. You know something that I said a little bit earlier about all the different fairs and festivals you know that I went to when I was, you know, in office and being on the agriculture committee and all this stuff. So I came to this conclusion that you know, in my little backyard, right, we have all these things the Italian Fest, the Pumpkin Fest, wine Country, office Country what else is out? Nobody knows about any of this stuff. Do you know? Ohio has islands. Nobody knows Ohio has islands, right, ohio has islands, and so you know. So nobody like talks about that. And so I'm like thinking to myself if we have all this stuff in my little backyard, what else is out there in the rest of the country that people aren't aware of? But I think, more importantly to me it's like, okay, why are the? You know, why do we have Italians, croatians, germans and all this stuff in my area, right? Then, of course, those, those communities have their festivals that are attached to churches, and then they get bigger and they end up in downtown and whatever.
Speaker 3:Well, because the Italians and the Germans and the Irish and the Croatians and, fill in the blank, they all came here to work in the steel mills and coal mines or the car factories. But people moved up from Appalachia to work in the car factories later on. You know, also partially with the Great Migration as well. You know, freed, enslaved people that end up moving into, you know, into ohio later, and that informs our culture, right. So, and what's a better way to be able to tell that than through food? Because you know there's a reason why people come out and eat pierogies, or, you know, cavatel every year at these festivals, because these people didn't show up here by accident. And so it's an ability for us to tell a story of place that's connected through food. And so that's what we set out to do, and the pilot was in Wisconsin, and we told Wisconsin's story through beer and cheese. Now we all know, you know, green Bay Packers they're the cheese heads, all this kind of thing. Right, it's America's dairy land, is on their license plate. But why? Why, because the Swiss brought Holstein cows over to Wisconsin in the 1800s, and then I think it was like the 1860 census I don't quote me on that, but roughly around that time, like 40% of the people on the census in Wisconsin showed German as their main language. So, and the Germans brought over, you know, their knowledge of hops and brewing, and so you fast forward, and that's still the story of Wisconsin today.
Speaker 3:And and so you know, and that's what we do across the country, and it's been very important to me to include indigenous voices, places where that's relevant. You know, minnesota, arizona, even Massachusetts, I mean we. So we, you know we we often include indigenous voices. We were going to be filming out in the Pacific Northwest, in Washington State, for season two. We have another group of indigenous individuals out there that we're going to be working with, and so you know, the food tells our story.
Speaker 3:I mean, and there's a couple that really stand out for me Georgia. We did not do peaches in Georgia, we did pecans, because I was like, like peaches are too obvious. When doing the research for for for Georgia, I found this incredible organization called New Communities Co-op, with roots of the civil rights movement. Uh, this husband and wife couple founded the New Communities Co-op to help um with black land ownership and also helping train Black farmers in ways in which they can get higher yields and all this other stuff. So I kind of joke.
Speaker 3:In that episode you come for the pecan pie recipe and you stay for the civil rights lesson, but it's so freaking powerful. So I'm there with Shirley Sherrod and this incredible huge plantation house which is where they now do most of their. They have like a research farm and a bunch of other stuff. It's where they do most of their programming and there's this whole backstory. You know behind how they finally got this piece of property that you can see in the episode. But the powerful part is is that it was one of the largest slave owning plantations in Georgia and now African-Americans are running it and lifting up other aspiring Black farmers by having a research farm there with pecan groves. Yeah, a bunch of other stuff too, but it's, it's massive.
Speaker 3:So you know I mean so you learn about parts of the country and their history and why they are who they are through food. And then you get to also know again that process, the agriculture, the climate we talk a lot about. You know there are a lot of different crops that we've dealt with, from maple to cherries. You name it that because of climate, you know the harvests are shifting. You're dealing with different issues. You know, why do certain things grow in certain parts of the country? Well, because they have better soil conditions or you know microclimates. So there's a lot.
Speaker 3:I mean, I guess that's why we're on public television, right? Because we you know, I like to joke we steered, I steered into my nerd, and it is a much more. You know, this isn't just, yes, it's a food show, it's a travel show, it's also a history show, and it's and it's one and it's a culture show, and it's one where you can learn all kinds of different things, and and I feel very proud to be the person that can it's not about me, it's about me being the conduit to share these important stories of everyday Americans. We do have a couple of celebrity chefs here and there, but most of the people, everyday Americans, that are making a difference in their community, and that's what this is all about.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love that. You said it's steered into your nerd. I'm going to use that. I'm just keeping it real. I'll just keep it real. So you know all of this work in public policy and the public sector and food, but you're also a big advocate for mental health and the importance of mental health and I would like to talk about what's your personal relationship with food and mental health and speak on why you believe it's important.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. You know I kind of took on this a little bit earlier. You know, I found when I was in office that things, you know, when things got really stressful, the place that grounded me and helped me re-centered was was the kitchen, and you know so it wasn't something that I had always been conscious of. I think in those moments in my early thirties where things were really hard, you know, being in the kitchen made me feel normal, if that makes sense In a world where which was, you know, there's not a whole lot of normal. When it comes to politics, and you know public service and public policy, you get beat up a lot and you're working seven days a week, and you know it was tough, it was a very tough time, days a week, and you know it was tough, it was a very tough time and you know, and so you know, I think I I made that connection and it stayed with me as, as you know, something and then you know again, a way to connect with others. So when I had spare time, what would I do? I would have bring everybody together and we would cook or we would do, I would do these like little shepherd chef parties every year, like, if you're familiar with pamper chef and, um, we would do it during a thing that like a food drive thing that we do every year, called harvest for hunger. Um, so we, so I, we would raise some money related to the harvest for hunger, contributed to the food bank you can drive. So anybody that would come over would bring that stuff and then the stuff that we would sell for Peppered Chef, we would round up and, you know, give, give there. So it stuck with me.
Speaker 3:You know I'm also a licensed social worker. I have a. I have been in social work for the last, actually guess, seven months now. I have been actually practicing part-time, which I am. So I cannot tell you how happy I am to do this, like to be able to work. I miss helping people. I so miss helping people and found a really incredible fit to do telehealth, and so I'm also, you know. So I, I practice part-time as well, and that has just been incredible.
Speaker 3:And so, in looking at different ways to see, you know, how could I? I don't currently do it because I just don't really like, my setup isn't really geared towards it, but I've often thought about how can we integrate the kitchen into the mental health space. So I started to do research and then came across a number of people in this now extended community um, have you know that? Are that recognize that there is this connection between food in the kitchen and mental health, and I had two of them on my podcast. As a matter of fact, too, I'm getting you know. Since you have an Ohio connection, you know I may have to bring you on as well. Yes, bring me on, girl. Let's connect offline on that, because I would love to have you come and chat. It would be great to talk about you know, your business and the Cake Therapy Foundation with us, Because I am trying to use the little platform that I have as well to get people to to better understand that.
Speaker 3:You know this is something that most everyone recognizing not all, but most everyone has to, and it's a way for us to, you know, engage with others, build problem skills, build communication. You know whether it's intergenerational, parent, child couples, you know, group, it's a way for people to, and it lets your guard down too. So you're chopping, you're mixing, you're doing whatever, and then all of a sudden, the conversation starts to happen, and so, you know, I'm so happy to see I am not there quite yet, but I'm so happy to see other practitioners doing this, incorporating the kitchen into the mental health space, providing that kind of service, that service to their clients. And I think that we're at the starting point now, kind of where music therapy, art therapy, play therapy, was maybe 10, 15, 20 years ago, I think, where culinary therapy, culinary arts therapy, is now and we may see that growth in operating it and integrating it into mental health services, I hope, as we continue to better understand it and go forward.
Speaker 2:Health services, I hope, as we continue to better understand it and go forward. Yeah, because, like in our foundation, it specifically speaks to and work with systems impacted girls. Systems impacted girls because what we found was the programs that were being implemented in the juvenile detention centers were driven mostly by boys data, but there was nothing in that data. When we disaggregated data, we showed that the programs don't work equally for girls. So programs such as cake therapy and art therapy work better for girls once they're able to experience, touch and taste and smell.
Speaker 2:So we are definitely, I mean, supporting anyone who includes these types of programs and these platforms into their treatments and therapies. I, like you, you know, I've kind of turned our passions into purpose, purposeful work, and with our listeners mostly when they hear about culinary arts and people cooking, they say, oh, it's a need, you know we have to eat to survive, but they don't see it as a supporter or a sister working hand in hand with talk therapy. What advice would you give to an individual who's aspiring to become one a food entrepreneur or a baker or a caker or a chef in turning their passion into something that becomes ultimately their career?
Speaker 3:Oh, wow, I mean there are a lot of people out there. I would say, first off, do your research. You know, I mean it's a very difficult and competitive space, but I've met and I've read about so many people that do integrate purpose and one way she performed into their, into their work in the culinary space, whether it's with fair wages, whether it's with their supply chain, making sure that they're working with. You know suppliers, growers, makers that are local, that are from you know marginalized or BIPOC communities, from you know marginalized or BIPOC communities. You know people that are utilizing regenerative agricultural practices. You know, think about how you want to impact and I think, what you know. Sometimes we feel like, oh my gosh, like I'm just like one drop in the bucket of the world, right, what kind of impact can I make? You can make huge, huge impact if you are thoughtful and purposeful about what your mission is. So think about your mission and vision statement.
Speaker 3:You know a lot of people mess around. You know like, well, I'm baking bread or I'm doing this, you know, and then I'm going to sell to farmer's market and then I'm going to. You know all of that Absolutely Like. You want to be able to scale it. You want to be able to know the rules. You know your cottage baking rules, your permits, your sales tax, all that nitty gritty stuff. You need to know all of those things. You know how you sell online, what that looks like. You know, don't you know? I would say, grow incrementally. In that sense you don't want to just try to like get a storefront right away, test it out, farmer's markets and that kind of Etsy. They're fantastic ways to be able to test out what you're making. You know you can think about a vision and mission statement from day one. What do you really want to do? I mean, again, I find that a lot of people in the food space were like I was messing around and then people started to ask for this and then I was like you know, cooking in my kitchen and and then my friend said I should sell and that's I mean, and that's fine and I think that's like that's what so many people do.
Speaker 3:But I would say that once you start, if you find that you know you have a desire to have, you know, a community type impact, think about you know the ways in which you can, you know, articulate that, put it in a vision and mission statement. Make it part of your business plan. You know, articulate that, put it in a vision and mission statement make it part of your business plan. You know, think about. You know if and how that is going to. You know, impact your bottom line. If you're going to be paying a little bit more for certain things, are you going to, you know, contribute X amount towards a you know, partnered nonprofit. You know, for a month, here or there, you know whatever rotating type thing. There are so many different ways to do it and you know and you can. I mean if you decide that you're going to have a storefront or even not have a storefront, or do you know you can do pop-ups where you do classes, right, you can do class pop-ups. You know there's an incredible nonprofit organization in Northern Virginia, the DC area, I believe. They're called Together we Bake and they help. They basically help train women to get their different culinary certificates to provide them with skills either coming out of the criminal justice system, dv survivors, that sort of thing. I've also interviewed a number of different organizations in the Midwest and I know across the country where there's a lot of training that has gone on with refugee women that have resettled and helping them operationalize their skills to become economically self-sufficient by giving them training and certification. So you know, I would definitely say you know.
Speaker 3:Find your tribe. You know I mean that's what you do, but you know there are. There's so many people in communities that you know. Whether it's local or online, you know where you can get that you know. Or online, you know where you can get that. You know virtual mentorship and get you know feedback and thoughts and collaboration. You know that sort of thing where you know you might realize, oh well, here's a I didn't realize that there was somebody in my community that supplied vanilla. You know whatever and work with them because they share your values, you know. So I think that you know finding your tribe, learning from others. You know coming in with that vision and mission statement, checking back in with it and planning, building that in and seeing where it goes you know, is all really, I think, good building blocks for, you know, trying to bring together, as you said, that passion with purpose.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that passion with purpose. With this extensive resume of yours, what is your legacy? What legacy do you aspire to kind of create, you know, through your work with policy and food and storytelling?
Speaker 3:You know, I honestly don't think a whole hell of a lot about my legacy at all. I would just hope that I'm remembered as somebody who cared about others and tried to do the best that I can, and that's, you know, really you know, and that I'm, you know, a good friend and neighbor and partner, like you know. That to me, is more important than you know the CV that's on paper is. You know, what did you know? Did I make a positive impact and was I, you know, a good and supportive person to others? And that, to me, is, you know, all I can hope for.
Speaker 2:So this podcast was designed specifically to create platforms where girls I would say girls like me, who are now in their teenage years, who are feeling forgotten and left behind and having a real challenge and believing that they too can, because the system as a whole has impacted them in such a way and their socioeconomic status has really retarded them in such a monumental way. Speak to them before we go about who they can be and how they can.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. You know my background may be different but I have some, I think, key and core similarities. In some ways. You know I'm the first woman in my family to graduate from college. You know I have I had a lot of. You know I have a lot of trauma baggage for one reason or another. I, you know, was bullied a lot and I mean you know it's sort of you know I nothing was handed to me.
Speaker 3:And you know, I would go one step further to say there was a lot of roadblocks not the same roadblocks by no way, shape or form of my trying to conflate those things, but simply to say that you know, I know what it's like to shoulder a lot of burden and to be told that you can't do something and to have people stand in your way for one reason or another. Now, when you deal with, you know, systemic, socioeconomic and racial barriers, you know, obviously it's next level, but it is absolutely possible and you know, and it's, I think, that what we need to recognize. We all have an obligation. I think that you and I have an obligation to try to build and reshape those systems in a way in which they become the systems, become better equipped and more supportive for all women and girls, regardless of socioeconomic and racial and ethnic backgrounds. So we, as sort of the older generation, have that responsibility. But you know, I think that the thing is is that okay, somebody before us, somebody before the girls watching, came before them and decided that they were going to make rules? Okay, they were going to make the rules.
Speaker 3:Who's to say you can't make the rules? The only people that are saying that you can't make the rules and you can't write your story. Are these other people over here? And so, to to understand and tap into your power, which we all inherently have, is key. And even if we, you feel like well, but like nobody around me has power and I can't see it and I can't, you know, it seems so distant. Look inside and know that that power is within you, and the one thing we have is the free will to write our own story and to not ever lose sight of that capability, regardless of, again, what the, the sort of the higher ups have said. You know, this is where you are, this is as far as you're going to get. Says who, who, and you know, keep your eye on. How do you, how are you going to be the next generation to rewrite the rules for the better? And and not be complacent because it can't change. We can't make change, nor can we sustain change without every generation being engaged in that process. And so I think that it's about believing in yourself, and you know it certainly also helps if you can find someone you know again, you know again she's a.
Speaker 3:Representation matters, but representation does matter, and if you, you know, look, there are more and more people that you know look like, you know the diversity of this country that are becoming, you know, at the highest echelons of everything, from government to, you know, to the, to corporate world, to television chefs, to, to restaurant owners, to, I mean to doctors and lawyers, and you know, look those people up. Maybe they're not on TV all the time. Okay, maybe you might not, maybe you want to, maybe you're aspiring to be I don't know what. Well, I mean, you know, if you're an African-American woman, young girl aspiring to be a lawyer, we got, we got an African-American woman who's Supreme Court justice the United States. You know, take a look, you know you'll find that inspiration and make that a touch point too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. Take a look, look around, find a mentor, find someone who impacts or influences you and make a change.
Speaker 3:Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid to ask questions, don't be afraid to put yourself out there and don't be afraid to ask for that mentorship or help. Like go out there and be like, hey, can I help out? Like don't be afraid, because there are people out there like us that want to give that helping hand and want to want to mentor, and want to be there to answer questions, to support you in your journey. So don't think, well, if I send an email, I send a Facebook or Instagram message that no one's going to talk to you. No, we will, we will, we will get back to you.
Speaker 2:And we want to know. I know we absolutely do want to want to help and we're accessible. So thank you so much. Share with our listeners where we can find America, the Bountiful, where they can also pick up United we Eat and remind them of where they can get Eat your Heartland out.
Speaker 3:Fantastic. Thank you so much. So you can find pretty much everything at the one-stop shop of my website, priyaskafarocom. That's C-A-P-R-I middle initial S, like Sam CapriSCaparocom. That's C-A-P-R-I middle initial S like Sam Caparo, c-a-f-a-r-o CapriSCaparocom, so that will give you links to Eat your Heartland out. That'll get you links to United we Eat, as well as America the Bountiful, so you can kind of find everything through there.
Speaker 3:My Instagram, x and Facebook are all also Caprius Cafaro. America the bountiful has its own deal, which is America the bountiful showcom, and also America the bountiful on Instagram, if you want, made in America. You know products and we're signed up for our curated kitchen subscription box. You can find that at my main Caprius Cafaro website link to humble pie home kitchen subscription box. You can find that at my main Capri Escafaro website link to humblepiehomekitchencom. So plenty of ways to find me If you are so inclined. It would be an honor. But it's really been a real pleasure to speak with you and to speak with your audience today. You're doing great work and thank you. And listen. Anybody out there that wants to, you know, wants a mentor, wants to. I'm here to help. You got you you want to run for office? I I got you. You want to try to figure out how to get in tv.
Speaker 2:I got you like yeah hit me up, girl, for for an instant can you imagine I was thinking about running for office, but that's another conversation, girl. But thank you so much for being on here and having this conversation with us. I hope that our listeners learn so much from you. I most certainly have today and I want to encourage everyone to continue supporting the Cake Therapy Foundation. We are growing. We are in so many spaces. We are in middle schools right now. We just got funded, so we are really, really excited. The work is showing and we're putting in the time and we want to connect with you. Please go ahead, contact us, email us at hello at thecaketherapyfoundationorg, and I look forward to our next conversation. Thank you. I hope that this has been your slice of joy and healing. This has been the Kick Therapy Podcast. Thank you, guys so much. Thank you, capri.
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh, this is great. Thank you so, so much, and just hit me up, let me know when it comes out and we'll see you soon.
Speaker 2:Today's mindful moment. Cooking connects us to ourselves. Each meal is an invitation to care, to nourish and to be kind.
Speaker 1:Thank you for tuning in to the Cake Therapy Podcast. Your support means the world to us. Let us know what you thought about today's episode in the comment section. Remember to subscribe wherever you get your podcast and if you found the conversation helpful, please share it with a friend. Also, follow Sugar Spoon Desserts on all social media platforms. We invite you to support Cake Therapy and the work we do with our foundation by clicking on the Buy Me a Coffee link in the description or by visiting the Cake Therapy website and making a donation. All your support will go towards the Cake Therapy Foundation and the work we are doing to help women and girls. Thanks again for tuning in and we'll catch you on the next episode.