The Brief: Sister Cities, Culinary Exchange & Citizen Diplomacy w/ Ana Aldridge

In this episode of The Brief, we sit down with Ana Aldridge, Chair of the United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, to discuss Corpus Christi’s sister city connection with Agen, France.

From culinary education and international exchange to business partnerships, cultural hospitality, and citizen diplomacy, Ana shares highlights from her recent trip to the south of France with Del Mar College culinary students. She explains how the Sister Cities program creates meaningful opportunities for students, strengthens global relationships, and helps represent Corpus Christi beyond our region.

We dive into what the trip looked like for the Del Mar students, how they trained in French culinary classrooms and restaurants, and why experiencing another country’s food, culture, and business community matters. Ana also shares stories from Agen’s farms, restaurants, Chamber of Commerce, and local leaders, showing how international relationships can create lasting educational and economic connections.

Beyond the culinary experience, this episode highlights the importance of citizen diplomacy, cultural exchange, and building bridges between communities across the world.

Topics include:

• Corpus Christi’s sister city relationship with Agen, France
• How Del Mar College culinary students participated in the exchange
• Why citizen diplomacy matters
• The role of food, culture, and hospitality in international partnerships
• What students experienced in French classrooms and restaurants
• How Agen’s Chamber of Commerce connects business, industry, and workforce training
• The value of creating future exchange opportunities
• How global relationships help strengthen local communities

The Brief is where policy meets business from City Hall to the state Capitol to Washington, D.C. with a focus on jobs, infrastructure, and opportunity in Corpus Christi.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This is the brief where policy meets business. From City Hall to the state capitol to Washington, D.C., we break down the issues impacting jobs, growth, infrastructure, and opportunity right here in Corpus Christi. Welcome back to the brief, where we break down the issues impacting our business community in the coastal bend. I'm your host, Ginny Cross. I'm the VP of uh advocacy for the United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce. And joining me today is Anna Aldridge, the chair of our board of directors, among many other wonderful titles. But Anna, um you just got back from Agen France. Tell us what what was that like? I I looked at your the schedule for the trip in preparation for this, and I was like, wow, you guys were very busy.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

Yeah, I just got back from a tour of the south of France. Uh, you know, poor me. It was a great trip. Uh, and this was a trip through the sister cities committee in conjunction with Del Mar College. And we took uh two Del Mar culinary students over there to uh visit with our sister city, which is Agen, France. That's a town that's halfway between Toulouse and uh Bordeaux, about 90 minutes from either either city, and that's been our sister city for uh a long time. I yeah, I was trying to find it and I couldn't find it, but it's been a minute. Uh yeah, at least I 10 or 15 years at least that that's been our sister city, and this is the first time that we've sent culinary students, which makes a lot of sense. The south of France is the center of gastronomy for, if you want to say the entire planet, you could certainly make that argument. Uh, good food and wine is a big business there.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

Very good. So um super excited about the Del Mar students getting to travel. I mean, what an amazing experience for somebody who was very serious about becoming a chef and food preparation and quality. I mean, I'm sure they were delighted.

SPEAKER_01 2:17

And they had a really busy schedule. And of course, it was um the first time to France for both of them, and it was the first time uh out of the country for a Maisie. Uh, this was uh Maisie Tagliferro and uh Tina Walsh were the two students, and accompanying them was Lisa Polakis, who is the uh chair of the Culinary Arts program there at Del Mar. And uh so they took classes at the Agen's equivalent of Del Mar College uh during the day, and then at night they got to work in various restaurants alongside those chefs and and those staffs uh learning, you know, how to transfer those skills into a restaurant setting. And one of the restaurants that they worked in was a Michelin-starred restaurant. Very cool. That yes, that was very cool experience for them.

SPEAKER_00 3:18

Right. Um, so this obviously was a very important trip. Um can you talk a little bit about the role of citizen diplomacy and why it's important?

SPEAKER_01 3:30

Well, that's that's the whole heart of any uh sister city or exchange program is to give students from a or people from another country a taste of what it's like to uh live and work in the United States and in Texas in particular, and vice versa, uh to give our students uh a chance to experience another comp uh country and culture as well. Um and you know that that was one of the things that on our briefing, we we kind of had a little discussion about, you know, what do we discuss? What do we don't discuss? What's the best way to be an ambassador? And uh we didn't really have any issues with that. Um everybody was uh so friendly and hospitable and eager to show us what was great about that. They're very proud of their city, just like we would be when someone comes to Corpus. It was very, very similar. They wanted to show us the his the history, they wanted to show us the best restaurants, they wanted to show us what was beautiful about their area, and it was a it was just a neat uh experience. We were able to have dinner several times in uh members of the sister city committee's homes, and which was, you know, that's an experience that most jurors don't don't get to have. So that was that was very special.

SPEAKER_00 5:01

Yes. Um, I was gonna ask you about experiencing French hospitality, but I think you just answered that.

SPEAKER_01 5:07

Yeah. World class, huh? It absolutely was, but very friendly and relaxed, and uh it it was it was a great experience and a beautiful region. Just uh it's a farming region, uh agricultural, viticultural. Uh, you know, they they wine, hazelnuts, uh strawberries, all kinds of produce. Um uh, you know, I I could go on and on, just the beautiful farmland, the river runs through all that area, just gorgeous. Most memorable thing you ate. I c I cannot pin it down to one thing, of course. Um you go to Europe, but in particular, you go to France and you know the the pastries, the bread and the pastries, and those shops are on every corner. Uh I'm I'm a fiend for an almond croissant. Uh so uh that was that was pretty special. Um it's something that uh I don't typically get a lot of here, you know. Duck and lamb was was pretty nice over there. Um and the wine, all the all the regional wines, and they were very eager to let us taste, you know, this vineyard or that vineyard, or this is uh, you know, this is somebody local that you know my cousin owns, or so that was kind of special too. They seem to have a personal tie-in with the the this is a members of the sister series, but he would have personal tie-ins to, oh, or this strawberry farm is uh a friend of my mother's or something like that. And and that was kind of neat too to see. Very personal.

SPEAKER_00 6:58

Yeah, it was very cool. Okay, I um have to ask you about the prune museum.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

That is uh that is one of one of their big crops. Okay. Prunes are big business uh in this region. And we're not talking about shriveled up old ladies, right? There may have been a few there, but uh uh no, uh this is this is a big crop there. Uh uh farms and orchards and everything dedicated to this. And yeah, we went to the prune museum, which was quite a place that uh showed all the history of that that particular product, and uh it it was actually fascinating. Uh what interested me there was they had these a whole room with cases of the various china patterns featuring prunes. Go figure, including some from the Louis XIV era. Neat. So that's some that's some old China. Yeah. Uh and some uh, you know, if you follow that, the Livanger had a series of prune china. So interesting. It it was quite a thing, and we sampled different ones, something that uh uh was of interest. What we sampled was different varieties of prunes that were soaked in different kinds of wine and liquor. Oh I, you know, that would go great with your Irish coffee, I guess. So it was it was an interesting experience, and they don't think about prunes the same way that we do. Right. That they make prune syrup and wines and liqueurs and any all kinds of things. You just wouldn't even think about. Those are interesting experience. Yes. We also went to a hazelnut. Oh uh I love hazelnut. Uh yeah, uh hazelnut. I may have something in in my little souvenir bag uh for you later on. Uh and so that was interesting seeing those orchards, that farm, and how they process and all the different products that they make from hazelnuts.

SPEAKER_00 9:12

Very good. Um, so you also met with the mayor of Agen as well as their chamber of commerce.

SPEAKER_01 9:21

I I did. Uh the the mayor's office. Uh uh, we had a lunch with representative from the mayor's office from their Department of Culture, uh, which, you know, that was interesting. And and and uh that group, and because that's who is in charge of their sister cities program, and uh and and they were very nice. And uh later after I had come back uh to the states, they had a presentation at the at the mayor's office and presented uh the the students to and and had a proclamation and and that type of ceremony for them. And then another day we went and met with the CEO of their chamber of commerce. Their chamber of commerce and industry is uh like a combination of our chamber and our EDC. Okay. And we met out there, they have a large uh industrial plaza, industrial uh uh complex that they have. Uh it's a cooperative uh venture with several different what we would call counties and cities in the area, and they all combined to make this industrial park, and it's also a training center, similar to what uh Del Mar and the Craft Training Center do, but that's all on the same site in the same building. Okay. So it was very interesting, and and that CEO was uh a pretty interesting fella, and that industrial park is right on the center of where the high-speed train that's gonna go, that's planned uh to run between Bordeaux and Toulouse will go straight through Agen and where they sited this industrial complex. Interesting. It was very, it was very interesting, and so that's the uh the chamber business tie-in along with the culinary trip.

SPEAKER_00 11:23

So um, you know, this has been fascinating. Um, and this is not gonna be our last trip. I I hope not. Hopefully, we'll we can get some of their culinary students here from Agen. And then I know that we are planning uh to send some folks to Japan um this later in the street.

SPEAKER_01 11:44

It's in it's in July, I believe, Zach. Um they are going to Japan. I think it was a great experience. The the two students uh seemed thrilled. Uh their days were full. They went to class during the day, and then they worked in the restaurants till, you know, 10 or 11 o'clock at night, uh, and and they loved it. Uh and they also uh did a presentation to several schools in between all that and and the uh and the sightseeing tours and the visits to the farms, uh they presented American rest recipe, which was pecan pie to those students uh and did a cooking demonstration there. So, you know, trying to bring to show them a little bit of American cooking culture. Because a lot of their courses, my understanding, a lot of their courses that they're taking right now are like French pastry, right? Uh classes and things like that. Very cool.

SPEAKER_00 12:47

Bringing a little Texas to France. I like it. Absolutely. All right. Well, thank you so much, Anna. This has been a delight. Um, come back anytime you want my tank on something. Um, and with that, uh, thank you for turning into the brief. Until next time, stay informed and stay engaged.