In Africa, you have no clean water, but you have good food options. In Harlem, everyone can shower and get fresh water, but you often have bad food options.

We struggle with eating healthily, obesity, and access to good nutrition for everyone. But we have a great opportunity to get on the right side of this battle by beginning to think differently about the way that we eat and the way that we approach food.

As a chef and activist, I'm particularly concerned with food politics issues such as the farm bill.

If you're cooking for someone important - whether it's your boss or a date - never try a new recipe and a new ingredient at the same time.

In Ethiopia, where I was born, all the cooks are women. When I grew up in Sweden, my mom and my grandmother did predominantly all the cooking. Then I changed to restaurant kitchens, where all of a sudden there were just more men than women, and I always thought that was weird.

People might not protest for overtly political or social causes, but when they can't feed themselves and their family, they will take to the streets.

I love Thanksgiving because it's a holiday that is centered around food and family, two things that are of utmost importance to me.