The Evans Churchill Community Association hosted their second TEDx Talk at the Phoenix Convention Center last night. The title and theme of this year’s event was “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen,” which featured seven speakers including restaurant owners and foodies in the community.
TEDx events are independently hosted conferences that are licensed with but not directly organized by the TED organization.
Brad Moore
Brad Moore of Short Leash Hot Dogs spoke first. His talk was geared towards the food truck industry, as Short Leash was one of the first in the Phoenix metropolitan area. He talked about the initial planning and struggles from the start of the business in 2007.
Brad’s wife Cat Moore pitched the idea of Short Leash. The food truck business became a success, but only after a difficult beginning.
“To be brutally honest, there was a three-year stretch that was from 2007 to 2009 … (that) were just three sucky years,” Brad Moore said.
Brad Moore said that the food truck industry is difficult in Phoenix. The temperature inside the 80-square Short Leash food truck has risen to 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
But the Short Leash food truck has become a popular attraction at Food Truck Fridays, and the Moores’ successes turned into a brick-and-mortar restaurant, Sit… Stay.
Kelly Watkins
Kelly Watkins discussed the secret behind the juicing trend and how she feels that it’s more than just a fad. Juicing has become a $1.8 billion business as of last year, Watkins said.
Watkins said that in her years of being a registered nurse she had seen the power of vegetables and had wanted to learn more about nutrition.
Drawing from her experience in the health industry, Watkins said that juicing is not about “detoxing,” but instead about giving the body an extra boost to help it to do what it already does on its own.
“They filter out chemicals and this inundation of processed food,” Watkins said. “We are eating crazy amounts of processed food that doesn’t even resemble its original state.”
Watkins offered the example that no one would eat a salad of five to seven pounds of vegetables in one sitting, showing the benefit of a 16-fluid ounce juice that contains that many vegetables.
Payton Curry
Payton Curry of Brat Haus spoke on the topic of medicinal marijuana, or cannabis.
Curry talked about the differences in cannabis and its different properties. Curry said that only THC, one of several chemicals in cannabis, has a psychoactive effect. He went into detail about CBN and CBD which contain the medical properties of cannabis.
He talked about the experience of a family that had a daughter who suffered from about 400 seizures a week. After one treatment with a formula containing cannabis, she was down to three seizures a month.
Aaron Pool
Aaron Pool, owner of Gadzooks, went into detail about the concept of a “fast casual” setting.
“It’s the sweet spot between fine dining in a high volume of fast food,” Pool said.
He talked about the assembly line and used the popular Denver-based restaurant chain Chipotle Mexican Grill as an example.
“An assembly line brings a customer into the kitchen,” Pool said.
By showcasing the food, Poole said that customers can see exactly what they are getting since it is being prepared in front of them. Poole also talked about the importance of design to a restaurant.
Dr. George Brooks
Dr. George Brooks brought the idea of aquaponics and sustainable farming to the event. He started off the talk by saying that “great things can happen from unexpected places.”
Talking about the city of Phoenix, Dr. Brooks explained the aquaponics concept and how educating children is best for the future. He discussed commercial technology and aquaponics on a larger scale.
Working with the G. Brooks Elementary School in the Roosevelt School District, which was named after Brooks’ father, was a prime example of an aquaponics system on a large scale. The school received a grant to build a 13,000-square foot greenhouse on campus. This greenhouse will serve as a learning tool as they measure success through farming.
“The key to your future is in your backyard,” Brooks said.
Johnny Garippa
Johnny Garippa of Hope House and Hope House Farms further explained urban farming from a small setting to larger point of view. Garippa also touched on the topic of how important it is to teach children about innovating ideas that are changing the way food is grown.
Garippa brought a former intern from Bioscience High School, Victor Izaya Silva, to the stage to explain what an experience like interning at an urban farm has on a student.
“I never knew that I would find my passion for engineering in a farm,” Silva said.
Chuck Noll
The final presenter of the night was Chuck Noll, “master of fine beer.”
His journey started by promoting beer at his campus back at the University of Delaware in 2009, becoming a certified cicerone and one of the first 100 people in the world to have that title. Noll said he is not stopping there.
“I was recently accepted into a scholarship program to study for master cicerone of which there are only eight in the world,” he said.
The Ted Talk was followed by a dinner session titled, “FED after TED.” Food was provided by the businesses represented by the speakers.
Contact the reporter at rramir30@asu.edu
