THERE’S BEEN SO MUCH TALK ABOUT
THE BOARDER AND EVERYONE HAS AN
OPINION.
>> JOINING ME NOW, THE HOST AND
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF BRAVO’S TOP CHEF, SHE IS THE HOST OF
TOP CHEF, SHE IS THE HOST OF
TASTE THE NATION, A NEW HULU
ORIGINAL SERIES AND A GOODWILL
AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS
AND PADMA, YOU WERE BORN IN
INDIA AND NOT SO MUCH AS A FOOD
SHOW BUT FOOD AS A WAY INTO
CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND A
QUESTION THAT AMERICANS NEED TO
ANSWER, WE LOVE FOOD FROM
EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD AND WE
DON’T SEEM TO LOVE THE PEOPLE AS
MUCH AS WE LOVE THE FOOD.
>> THAT IS VERY TRUE.
I HAVE BEEN IN FOOD FOR 20
YEARS.
AND I ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT THE
MOST INTERESTING AND INNOVATIVE
PLACES OF OUR COUNTRY IN FOOD
HAVE BEEN IN IMMIGRANT
COMMUNITIES AND WHAT IS THE MOST
EXCITING PART OF THE LANDSCAPE
BUT THAT’S THE TIP OF THE
ICEBERG.
PEOPLE ARE SPEAKING THEIR
LANGUAGE AND I THOUGHT IT COULD
BE GOOD TO IM BED MYSELF INTO
THESE COMMUNITIES AND SHOW ON A
VERY BASIC AND HUMAN LEVEL WHAT
LIFE IS LIKE FOR THEM.
AND THE FIRST EPISODE, WE SHOW
THAT, AND I ALSO WANTED TO LOOK
AT POLICIES HANDED DOWN INDEED
AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL DON’T OFTEN
JIVE WITH WHAT LIFE IS LIKE DAY
TO DAY FOR PEOPLE ON THE BORDER.
AND WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE EFFECTS
OF THOSE POLICY DECISIONS, ON EL
PASO, AS WELL AS JUAREZ.
>> AND THE POINT YOU MAKE ABOUT
EL PASO, UNFORTUNATELY, WE
LEARNED ABOUT THIS, WITH THAT
SHOOTING AT THE WALMART, IS THAT
EL PASO AND JUAREZ ARE TWO
CITIES THAT SORT OF SHARE A
HEART.
THERE’S NOBODY IN EL PASO AND
JUAREZ WHO DOESN’T HAVE SOME
CONNECTION TO THE OTHER PLACE.
AND YET, BETWEEN THE CRIME, AND
THE PREJUDICE, AND THE BORDER
WALL, AND THE VIEW THAT WE’VE
TAKEN ON, ON REFUGEES AND
IMMIGRANTS, WE HAVE SEPARATED
SOMETHING, WE HAVE SEPARATED A
PEOPLE IN EL PASO, AND JUAREZ.
>> YES, I MEAN PEOPLE OFTEN HAVE
FAMILIES LIVING ON BOTH SIDES.
YOU KNOW, THE WOMAN THAT I
INTERVIEWED THAT IS WORKING AT H
& H CAR WASH HAS BEEN COOKING AT
THAT STOVE FOR 36 YEARS.
EVERY DAY, SHE CROSSES THE
BORDER, WALKS OVER, AND WHAT
USED TO TAKE HER 20 MINUTES AT
BORDER PATROL NOW TAKES HER TWO
AND A HALF HOURS EACH WAY, AND
IN BETWEEN THOSE TWO JOURNEYS,
SHE SPENDS TEN HOURS ON HER FEET
IN FRONT OF THE HOT STOVE.
YOU KNOW, I JUST, I WANT TO SAY
THAT IN MANY CASE, THE BORDER,
THESE PEOPLE DIDN’T CROSS THE
BORDER, THE BORDER CROSSED THEM.
WE ALSO LOOK AT INDIGENOUS
MEXICAN FOOD, AND WHAT THAT
LOOKS LIKE ON BOTH SIDES OF
BORDER, BEFORE COLONIZATION,
THERE SEEMS TO BE A DOUBLE
STANDARD IN OUR COUNTRY FOR
CAUCASIAN IMMIGRANTS AND
NONCAUCASIAN IMMIGRANTS AND YOU
MAY HAVE OFTEN HEARD OUR
PRESIDENT SPEAKS TO THAT
ELOQUENTLY.
SO I JUST THOUGHT IT WAS TIME TO
GIVE CREDIT WHERE IT WAS DUE.
I WANTED TO SHOW WHAT THESE
PEOPLE’S LIVES ARE LIKE AND SAY
THAT THEY ARE A VERY VALUABLE
PART OF OUR ECONOMY, OUR POP
CULTURE, OUR FOOD, LITERATURE,
ART AND MUSIC, AND TO NEGATE
THAT AND NOT ENCOURAGE THAT IS
REALLY TO BE NONGENUINE AND VERY
MUCH FOOLISH.
>> AND ONE OF THE ISSUES THAT
WE’VE BEEN DEALING WITH IN THE
LAST SEVERAL WEEKS IN AMERICA IS
THAT OF SOCIAL INJUSTICE AND THE
IDEA THAT PEOPLE OF COLOR IN
THIS COUNTRY, AFRICAN-AMERICANS,
ARE NOT RESPECTED BY THE LAW,
THEY’RE NOT TREATED EQUALLY, AND
TO SOME PEOPLE, THAT
CONVERSATION I JUST HAD WITH
KIMBERLY CRENSHAW, PARTICULARLY
AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN, THEY’RE
INVISIBLE AND THE WAY WE LOOK AT
IMMIGRATION IN SOME WAYS BECAUSE
SOMETIMES WE ARE VERY BIG ON
IMMIGRATION IN THIS COUNTRY,
DEPENDING ON WHO THE IMMIGRANT
IS AND WHERE THEY CAME FROM, BUT
WE MAKE THIS INVISIBLE.
IT IS EASY TO DEMONIZE PEOPLE
AND PUT THEM IN CAGES, IF YOU
CAN DEHUMANIZE THEM AND NOT
UNDERSTAND THEM AND NOT RESPECT
WHO THEY ARE.
>> THAT’S TRUE.
I REMEMBER A COUPLE OF YEARS
AGO, WHEN THE SEPARATION OF THE
ISSUE WAS SO HOT, AND I REMEMBER
SENATORS LIKE TED CRUZ, VOTING
FOR DIFFERENT POLICY DECISIONS
THAT I REALLY FOUND HYPOCRITICAL
CONSIDERING HE REGULARLY GOES TO
EAT MEXICAN FOOD.
I DON’T THINK THAT ANY LAWMAKER
SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO HAVE A SAY
IN THESE MATTERS UNLESS THEY GO
AND THEY IMBED THEMSELVES LIKE I
DID INTO THE COMMUNITIES THAT
ARE AFFECTED BY THE LAWS THAT WE
MAKE.
YOU KNOW, THERE’S SUCH A
DISCONNECT BETWEEN OUR DAILY
LIVES AND WHAT WE THINK OF AS
CORRECT POLICY.
I WANTED TO SHOW THAT IT’S ALL
POLITICAL, UNDER ALL MATTERS,
AND THESE ARE AMERICAN, THEY ARE
THE LIFE BLOOD AND THE HEARTLAND
OF THIS COUNTRY, THEY ARE THE
ENGINE THAT ALLOWS US TO HAVE A
VARIED LABOR FORCE AND THEY
REALLY ARE THE FUTURE OF THE
COUNTRY TOMORROW AND THEREAFTER.
>> BOY, YOU HAVE COMBINED THE
TWO THINGS THAT I LOVE TALKING
ABOUT, ECONOMICS AND FOOD.
PADMA, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US,