{"id":3640,"date":"2024-04-25T22:39:26","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T02:39:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/?p=3640"},"modified":"2024-05-02T13:00:02","modified_gmt":"2024-05-02T17:00:02","slug":"how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/","title":{"rendered":"How a Wannabe Photographer Became One of New York\u2019s Most Powerful Food Activists"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"3640\" class=\"elementor elementor-3640\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b1426a5 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"b1426a5\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6abb02b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6abb02b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.21.0 - 15-04-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Being able to say you\u2019re a native New Yorker is a stamp of pride for many people. Liz Neumark is a third-generation city girl and has spent her whole life giving back to the hometown she loves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Liz grew up on the Upper West Side in a neighborhood she says was so Jewish it was like a \u201cshtetl.\u201d \u201cOne set of grandparents lived in the same building as me, and the other was just a few blocks away,\u201d says Liz. \u201cMy mom\u2019s grandmother was also alive for many years. We were a very close-knit family.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After graduating from Barnard in the late \u201870s with a degree in Political Science and Urban Studies, Liz embraced her artistic side and pursued a photography career. \u201cIt really was not a good time in the urban environment, and there were no jobs, so I pivoted and started finding a community among artists in the city,\u201d says Liz.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Liz and her friends needed money, but they also needed flexible work schedules, so they turned to hospitality. After discovering that opportunities for women were few and far between, Liz decided to start her own waitressing company to provide jobs for women in the arts. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/greatperformances.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Great Performances<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> quickly evolved into a successful catering business and is still an essential part of the city\u2019s service industry 43 years later.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2007, Liz bought a 60-acre farm in Columbia County to support the catering service. Katchie Farm is a significant produce source for Great Performances and is also home of The Sylvia Center, Liz\u2019s nonprofit dedicated to educating young people and families about nutrition, healthy eating and cooking through farm visits and garden-to-table workshops.<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I spoke with Liz on the phone while she was driving to Katchie Farm. The 68-year-old, life-long entrepreneur seldom stops working, yet she spoke with all the energy and youthful exuberance of the 22-year-old who started the Great Performances empire in 1980.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-76d7ee3 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"76d7ee3\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4cb4b10 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"4cb4b10\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.21.0 - 15-04-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=\".svg\"]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Great-Performances_Katchkie-Farm_Family-Event-08122023_Fernando-Ledo_Liz-Neumark-3-1024x576.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-3869\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Great-Performances_Katchkie-Farm_Family-Event-08122023_Fernando-Ledo_Liz-Neumark-3-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Great-Performances_Katchkie-Farm_Family-Event-08122023_Fernando-Ledo_Liz-Neumark-3-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Great-Performances_Katchkie-Farm_Family-Event-08122023_Fernando-Ledo_Liz-Neumark-3-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Great-Performances_Katchkie-Farm_Family-Event-08122023_Fernando-Ledo_Liz-Neumark-3-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Great-Performances_Katchkie-Farm_Family-Event-08122023_Fernando-Ledo_Liz-Neumark-3.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\">Photos captured by Chef Solanki Roy at the GP Family Farm Event at Katchkie Farm on 8\/12\/2023\nPhotos captured by Fernando Ledo at the GP Family Farm Event at Katchkie Farm on 8\/12\/2023<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-09cb9ed elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"09cb9ed\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">FG: Why did you choose to study Poli-Sci and Urban Studies?\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>Liz Neumark: I\u2019m an activist; that\u2019s in my DNA. It\u2019s just hardwired from day one. And I\u2019m a middle child, so I\u2019m born to be rebellious. I didn\u2019t know that food would be my platform for looking at social justice, but I was always interested in how cities work and how to improve and how to make a change.\u00a0<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">FG: What was one of the first examples in your life of your \u201centrepreneurial spirit?\u201d<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>LN: In college, I had this little business called The Organizers. Our tagline was, \u201cWe put your shambles into shape!\u201d We would go to people\u2019s apartments and tidy things up. I think maybe\u00a0<i>New York<\/i>\u00a0magazine had a classified ad or one of those help-wanted sections we would advertise in. It was a different time\u2014we just went to total strangers\u2019 houses. I don\u2019t think anybody would do that anymore.\u00a0<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">FG: Can you tell me more about the initial inspiration for Great Performances?<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>LN: After graduating from Barnard, I really wanted to get into more civic-type work. But there were no jobs, so I pivoted and discovered a love for photography. I was part of this arts community with all different actors, singers, dancers, writers and said to them,\u00a0<i>I\u2019m going to start this waitress service for women in the arts<\/i>,\u00a0<i>and we\u2019ll get good jobs for ourselves with flexible hours and then we can go find fame and fortune<\/i>. So clearly, I failed there (awkward laugh).\u00a0<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">FG: I don\u2019t think I\u2019d consider owning a successful business for over 40 years a failure (laughter).<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>LN: (laughs) Well, just the photography part. When we first started in 1980, at the end of that first year, I realized we needed to have a gender-balanced team. Some of our hosts and hostesses couldn\u2019t fathom a female bartender\u2014if you can believe that\u2014so we integrated and have long believed that gender-balanced teams with female\u00a0domination behind the scenes are the best environments.\u00a0<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">FG: When did you expand the business to start involving catering and food?\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>LN: Some of our very first clients who were booking staff started asking us to bring food, so in \u201882, we built our first kitchen in SoHo. We were there for ten years and then moved further West to what is now known as Hudson Square. We were there for over 25 years until Disney bought the land from our landlord, and then we migrated up to the South Bronx, where we have been since the later half of 2019. It\u2019s a really great chapter in terms of community engagement and seeing a totally different part of the city.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">FG: Are most of the people on staff still pursuing careers in the arts?\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>LN: Pre-Pandemic, we were still probably 85% arts. What\u2019s happened over the last 20 years is that catering-slash-hospitality has gained legitimacy as a career, so we do find more people who are looking for careers in hospitality who are drawn to us as opposed to just the arts. So many of our artists left town during the Pandemic, so we had been rebuilding but I\u2019d say we\u2019re still probably 70% in the arts. The arts are so much broader now too. There\u2019s a part of technology that\u2019s artistic, so the landscape is really fascinating.\u00a0<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">FG: Do you think being a third-generation New Yorker and having your family so close to you while growing up influenced your passions for helping the city and building community?\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>LN: Yeah, I\u2019m from a Jewish-American family, and we\u2019re five generations in this country and for many Jewish-Americans that\u2019s uncommon. My parents and my grandparents always celebrated being American and believed in giving back and getting involved at the civic level. It\u2019s just part of you from day one; it\u2019s what you do.\u00a0<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">FG: When do you feel like you first achieved success? When you thought, \u201cWow, I\u2019ve really made something big here?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>LN: In 1986, there was a huge Statue of Liberty event\u2014I think for the anniversary\u2014and we landed a huge job, probably a million-dollar job, which was just off the charts for us. It was for Coca-Cola and I was like, \u201cOh, this is serious.\u201d That was an external affirmation, knowing that we\u2019ve built a good machine here.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">FG: How did the farm idea come about? What inspired you to build an entire farm from the ground up?\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>LN:\u00a0 (Laughs) Yeah, \u2018cause I\u2019d say every West Side kid\u2019s dream is to be a farmer. There were a couple of things, though. One is: here I am in the food business, and I love ingredients. As we got bigger, you realize that food could be a commodity or it could be something that you really celebrate in a different way. I never wanted us to get into the commodity-minded space, so there was a seed planted in my head about maybe one day it would be nice to have a farm. I started to read about farmers so it sort of just caught my attention. My father\u2014he\u2019s just so funny\u2014he lives a few blocks away from me and he\u2019s 96; he used to say to me, \u201cLet\u2019s get a farm! Let\u2019s get a farm!\u201d and I was always just like \u201cOkay, okay.\u201d\u00a0<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>But then we had a tragedy in my life. My youngest child, Sylvia, died of a brain aneurysm when she was almost seven. That was in \u201804, and how do I go back to this crazy world where people have meltdowns because the shade of beige is too beige or the meat is overcooked? I thought I would never be able to do it. Then, I woke up one morning, and it was all figured out. During that time, farmers\u2019 markets and the Green Market were the only places I really felt whole and felt good. So I decided we were going to buy the farm and the farm will be home to the Sylvia Center. We\u2019re going to create this nonprofit and it\u2019ll create a legacy for this little girl who really wanted to be helpful and give my life meaning. It\u2019s interesting how tragedy makes you stronger.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f6aa98a elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"f6aa98a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"684\" src=\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2016-FTT-Dinner-High-Res_Deirdre-Malfatto51-1024x684.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-3867\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2016-FTT-Dinner-High-Res_Deirdre-Malfatto51-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2016-FTT-Dinner-High-Res_Deirdre-Malfatto51-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2016-FTT-Dinner-High-Res_Deirdre-Malfatto51-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2016-FTT-Dinner-High-Res_Deirdre-Malfatto51-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2016-FTT-Dinner-High-Res_Deirdre-Malfatto51-2048x1367.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\">Katchkie Farm, Sylvia Center, landscape, uploaded low-res\n2016 Farm to Table Dinner at Katchkie Farm (High-Resolution Pics)<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d89915c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"d89915c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">FG: Do you remember what the first thing you harvested was?\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>LN: The first year we had (laughs)&#8230; we had grape tomatoes and a bumper crop of cucumbers. (Laughs) Cucumbers are not a big catering thing, so that first year, we created our first farm product and we called it Thunder Pickles. We called them that because when I was a kid there was a family down the road from us and a guy that had a little plot and garden and he told me that thunder makes the cucumbers grow. (Laughter)\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">FG: Do you work directly in the classes at the Sylvia Center often?\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>LN: Once or twice a year I\u2019ll teach a class, and it&#8217;s so great because the kids are so sassy and so interested. The kitchen is just a magical place.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">FG: Do you have a favorite memory from teaching the kids?\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>LN: We had Salvation Army bring a bunch of kids up to the farm from homeless shelters. There was a little girl, and in her hand she had a little onion. She was taking it with her and her friend said to her, \u201cYou don\u2019t have a kitchen at home; why are you taking it?\u201d And the little girl said, \u201cMy mom always says we\u2019ll always figure out a way.\u201d Iit just shows you the resilience of the kids.\u00a0<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">FG: I know you\u2019re working all the time, but when you do have free time, what do you like to do?\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>LN: I\u2019m a canner. I like to preserve food. I think it either is my therapy, or it means I need therapy. (Laughs) I have over 1,000 jars between June and December. I make jams, chutneys, jellies, all kinds of crazy stuff depending on what\u2019s growing. I buy fruits by the boxful from a friend upstate and then I just torture myself, but I love it. I give 99.9% of it away. There\u2019s nothing like food memories that just cascade open, it\u2019s great.\u00a0<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">FG: Is there any one person that taught you how to cook or are you a self-taught chef?\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>LN: My big sister. She makes a wicked coleslaw. She taught me the basics of things like roasting chicken and making soup. I\u2019m so influenced now by what\u2019s growing seasonally. A couple times a year I would go to Adam Kaye, who was a chef for Blue Hill at Stone Barns, and I would sit in on his cooking classes. You pick up techniques and ideas. Also watching the chefs at Great Performances, you see it\u2019s more about method and some flavors. It\u2019s like learning a language. It doesn\u2019t come naturally to me; you have to take time to drill it down.\u00a0<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">FG: I honestly think I learned how to cook because of how much Food Network my mom and I watched when I was growing up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>LN: I remember watching those shows; that\u2019s a great way to learn! Some of our Sylvia Center kids, I remember them coming in and saying things like \u201cI\u2019m Rachel Ray, Bobby Flay.\u201d Those are the role models.\u00a0<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">FG: Do you have a favorite restaurant or guilty pleasure meal in the city?\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>LN: Not a favorite restaurant, but my guilty pleasure is a Mexican Coke.\u00a0<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">FG: My sister loves those! Every time we go to a restaurant and they have them she freaks out a little bit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>LN: They\u2019re so good. Definitely not a way of life, a guilty pleasure for sure. (Laughs)<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">FG: A slippery, sugary slope. (Laughs)<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>LN: I\u2019m a pescatarian, and I\u2019m selective about what fish I eat. I don\u2019t care about burgers; I don\u2019t care about steak. But every couple of weeks, I get a craving for a really, really good hot dog.\u00a0<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">FG: If you had to sum up all the work you\u2019ve done with Great Performance, the Sylvia Center, all of it, what would you say?\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p style=\"margin-bottom: 9px;\">LN: Easy. Life happens around food. How we can gain these moments and what happens around the table is just as important as what\u2019s on the table. I love food, but it\u2019s about what\u2019s happening around food and I see that in the Sylvia Center. After the kids cook together, they eat together and they celebrate what they made. It\u2019s really the conversations they have. Not everybody sits in a communal setting, in a relaxed way, and really talks and that\u2019s what food can do. Great Performances is like my first child; I could talk about it forever.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f478d32 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"f478d32\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"684\" src=\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2016-FTT-Dinner-High-Res_Deirdre-Malfatto77-1024x684.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-3868\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2016-FTT-Dinner-High-Res_Deirdre-Malfatto77-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2016-FTT-Dinner-High-Res_Deirdre-Malfatto77-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2016-FTT-Dinner-High-Res_Deirdre-Malfatto77-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2016-FTT-Dinner-High-Res_Deirdre-Malfatto77-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2016-FTT-Dinner-High-Res_Deirdre-Malfatto77-2048x1367.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\">Katchkie Farm, Sylvia Center, landscape, uploaded low-res\n2016 Farm to Table Dinner at Katchkie Farm (High-Resolution Pics)<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ff1aa35 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"ff1aa35\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Being able to say you\u2019re a native New Yorker is a stamp of pride for many people. Liz Neumark is a third-generation city girl and has spent her whole life giving back to the hometown she loves.\u00a0 \u00a0 Liz grew up on the Upper West Side in a neighborhood she says was so Jewish it&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":3866,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How a Wannabe Photographer Became One of New York\u2019s Most Powerful Food Activists - Collage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How a Wannabe Photographer Became One of New York\u2019s Most Powerful Food Activists - Collage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Being able to say you\u2019re a native New Yorker is a stamp of pride for many people. Liz Neumark is a third-generation city girl and has spent her whole life giving back to the hometown she loves.\u00a0 \u00a0 Liz grew up on the Upper West Side in a neighborhood she says was so Jewish it...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Collage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-04-26T02:39:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-02T17:00:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2016-FTT-Dinner-High-Res_Deirdre-Malfatto12-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1709\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Francesca Giangiulio\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Francesca Giangiulio\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"11 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Francesca Giangiulio\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/#\/schema\/person\/677de97199af8e4996d62478d7d66e20\"},\"headline\":\"How a Wannabe Photographer Became One of New York\u2019s Most Powerful Food Activists\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-04-26T02:39:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-02T17:00:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/\"},\"wordCount\":2216,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2016-FTT-Dinner-High-Res_Deirdre-Malfatto12-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Culture\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/\",\"name\":\"How a Wannabe Photographer Became One of New York\u2019s Most Powerful Food Activists - Collage\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2016-FTT-Dinner-High-Res_Deirdre-Malfatto12-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-04-26T02:39:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-02T17:00:02+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2016-FTT-Dinner-High-Res_Deirdre-Malfatto12-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2016-FTT-Dinner-High-Res_Deirdre-Malfatto12-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1709,\"caption\":\"Katchkie Farm, Sylvia Center, landscape, uploaded low-res 2016 Farm to Table Dinner at Katchkie Farm (High-Resolution Pics)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How a Wannabe Photographer Became One of New York\u2019s Most Powerful Food Activists\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/\",\"name\":\"Collage\",\"description\":\"A play between crudity and finesse\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Collage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/cropped-cropped-cropped-Collage-e1714401747357.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/cropped-cropped-cropped-Collage-e1714401747357.png\",\"width\":173,\"height\":94,\"caption\":\"Collage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/#\/schema\/person\/677de97199af8e4996d62478d7d66e20\",\"name\":\"Francesca Giangiulio\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a08fa077ad341d46481bdcc5591e5b0b68e76a9fe617944ea03ae3c0f3f7e6ec?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a08fa077ad341d46481bdcc5591e5b0b68e76a9fe617944ea03ae3c0f3f7e6ec?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Francesca Giangiulio\"},\"description\":\"Francesca is a graduate student in the NYU Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute studying Magazine and Digital Storytelling. She earned her B.A. from Boston College in 2023 where she studied English, theatre, and journalism. She has been published in The Heights, Etch Magazine, and The Boston Globe.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/author\/fkg2014\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How a Wannabe Photographer Became One of New York\u2019s Most Powerful Food Activists - Collage","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How a Wannabe Photographer Became One of New York\u2019s Most Powerful Food Activists - Collage","og_description":"Being able to say you\u2019re a native New Yorker is a stamp of pride for many people. Liz Neumark is a third-generation city girl and has spent her whole life giving back to the hometown she loves.\u00a0 \u00a0 Liz grew up on the Upper West Side in a neighborhood she says was so Jewish it...","og_url":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/","og_site_name":"Collage","article_published_time":"2024-04-26T02:39:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-05-02T17:00:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1709,"url":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2016-FTT-Dinner-High-Res_Deirdre-Malfatto12-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Francesca Giangiulio","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Francesca Giangiulio","Est. reading time":"11 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/"},"author":{"name":"Francesca Giangiulio","@id":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/#\/schema\/person\/677de97199af8e4996d62478d7d66e20"},"headline":"How a Wannabe Photographer Became One of New York\u2019s Most Powerful Food Activists","datePublished":"2024-04-26T02:39:26+00:00","dateModified":"2024-05-02T17:00:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/"},"wordCount":2216,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2016-FTT-Dinner-High-Res_Deirdre-Malfatto12-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["Culture"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/","url":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/","name":"How a Wannabe Photographer Became One of New York\u2019s Most Powerful Food Activists - Collage","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2016-FTT-Dinner-High-Res_Deirdre-Malfatto12-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2024-04-26T02:39:26+00:00","dateModified":"2024-05-02T17:00:02+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2016-FTT-Dinner-High-Res_Deirdre-Malfatto12-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2016-FTT-Dinner-High-Res_Deirdre-Malfatto12-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1709,"caption":"Katchkie Farm, Sylvia Center, landscape, uploaded low-res 2016 Farm to Table Dinner at Katchkie Farm (High-Resolution Pics)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/2024\/04\/25\/how-a-wannabe-photographer-became-one-of-new-yorks-most-powerful-food-activists\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How a Wannabe Photographer Became One of New York\u2019s Most Powerful Food Activists"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/#website","url":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/","name":"Collage","description":"A play between crudity and finesse","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/#organization","name":"Collage","url":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/cropped-cropped-cropped-Collage-e1714401747357.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/cropped-cropped-cropped-Collage-e1714401747357.png","width":173,"height":94,"caption":"Collage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/#\/schema\/person\/677de97199af8e4996d62478d7d66e20","name":"Francesca Giangiulio","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a08fa077ad341d46481bdcc5591e5b0b68e76a9fe617944ea03ae3c0f3f7e6ec?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a08fa077ad341d46481bdcc5591e5b0b68e76a9fe617944ea03ae3c0f3f7e6ec?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Francesca Giangiulio"},"description":"Francesca is a graduate student in the NYU Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute studying Magazine and Digital Storytelling. She earned her B.A. from Boston College in 2023 where she studied English, theatre, and journalism. She has been published in The Heights, Etch Magazine, and The Boston Globe.","url":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/author\/fkg2014\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3640"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3904,"href":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3640\/revisions\/3904"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/editorsvision.com\/collage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}