It was an absolute pleasure to talk with Lori McCarthy — a third generation Newfoundlander — about the importance of preserving cultural food heritage for future generations. Lori has dedicated her life to preserving the cultural food of her homeland, Newfoundland and Labrador, through her company Cod Sounds and the Livyers Cultural Alliance. Her core values embrace locally sourced regional cuisine and this is reflected in her food experiences and through her cooking school.
Newfoundland and Labrador have a rich and fascinating history — grounded in the cod fisheries that once sustained them. Lori gives us a firsthand look at the land she calls home and shares how deeply the collapse of the local cod fisheries affected the fisherman and surrounding communities. Today Newfoundland and Labrador are home to a thriving food and restaurant industry, and Lori is at the forefront of keeping the area’s traditional, local and wild food in the spotlight. Lori’s work is incredibly inspiring and serves as a model that we can all learn from. Lori encourages us to join together with people from our local community to celebrate our local ecology and our own unique cultural food heritage — and to work together to pass this treasured knowledge down to future generations!
EPISODE BREAKDOWN:
- Show Introduction:
- Hunt + gather updates: A successful bear hunt
- A bear hunt Q&A
- Introducing Lori McCarthy
- Describing Newfoundland and Labrador
- How Lori got started in her work
- The rich food-based history of Newfoundland and Labrador
- Winters and the growing season
- History of the cod fisheries
- The cuisine of the local landscape + Lori’s journey into wild foods
- Preserving cultural food heritage
- A foraging year in Lori’s local ecosystem
- Eat It Wild
- Predictions for foraging in the future
- Lori’s prognosis for the future human species
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America’s Indigenous Stimulant is Back! Did you know that Yerba Mate’ has a North American sibling? Yaupon (pronounced yo - pawn)––North America’s only native caffeine plant––was revered by the native peoples of the continent’s southern regions. Nearly forgotten, the “Black Drink” as it was called, has re-emerged amidst the movement toward sustainably-harvested local-food.
Connect with Lori:
- Cod Sounds
- Livyers Cultural Alliance
- Cod Sounds Cookery School
- Eat It Wild
- Lori on Facebook | Instagram @codsounds | Twitter @nlcodsounds
Meet Lori
Lori McCarthy is dedicated to preserving the cultural food of Newfoundland and Labrador through her company Cod Sounds and the Livyers Cultural Alliance. Her core values embrace locally sourced regional cuisine and this is reflected in her food experiences and through her cooking school at The Compton House Inn.
She sits on the Food Policy Council of St. John's and is the recipient of the Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism Innovator award for 2017 and the Tourism Discovery award from the City of St. John's.
As a child, Lori spent countless hours watching her mom make bread and preserve the season’s harvest for the winter. It’s her childhood memories of beach boil-ups and long fall days on fertile berry grounds that shaped her heart—and the heart of her business.
Her passion for the traditional foods of this province has only grown over the years. And now it’s something she looks forward to sharing with you.