Everybody Eats - A Movement

everybodyeatsamovement

”Everybody Eats: A Movement” is a podcast series hosted by Renee Boughman, former Executive Director & Chef of F.A.R.M. Café in Boone, NC, spotlighting the inspiring work of community cafes—non-profit restaurants serving quality food with dignity to all, regardless of ability to pay—while exploring their role in combating food insecurity and fostering inclusive communities.

  1. Aug 12

    Everybody Eats: A Movement - Season 3 Episode 6 with Grayson Arthurs formerly from F.A.R.M. Cafe

    Setting the Bar: Grayson Arthurs on Transition, Community, and Finding Safe Spaces Renee welcomes Grayson Arthurs, former Farm Cafe intern and current community engagement coordinator at He, She, Z and We, an LGBTQ+ nonprofit in Richmond, Virginia. What started as a college internship for political science credit became one of the most meaningful experiences of Grayson's life. Now working with trans youth and their families, Grayson draws directly on lessons learned at the cafe: wearing many hats in nonprofit work, navigating diverse communities, and finding creative connectors to bring people together. Throughout, Grayson emphasizes that Farm Cafe set the bar high, teaching what meaningful community work should look like. The cafe showed that safe spaces aren't just about providing meals but about creating room for people to find connection, dignity, and the freedom to just be.   Grayson Arthurs is a North Carolina native, turned Virginia transplant. They graduated from Appalachian State in 2021, the same year that they began a summer internship at F.A.R.M. Cafe. In 2023 they left the cafe and Boone for Richmond, Virginia where they now work at He She Ze & We, a nonprofit that supports transgender and nonbinary people and their families. Grayson says that their years at F.A.R.M. Cafe shaped them into the person they are today- a confident and passionate pursuer of authentic community with a deep appreciation for Dukes Mayonnaise (#Renee!).

  2. Aug 5

    Everybody Eats: A Movement - Season 3 Episode 5 with Adelle Bergman - Crescent City Cafe

    The journey of Crescent City Cafe - from Pop-Up to Brick-and-Mortar Renee chats with Adelle Bergman, executive director of Crescent City Cafe in New Orleans, on the 20th anniversary of the day she drove into the city with her Honda Accord to do Hurricane Katrina relief work. What started as a one-year commitment became two decades of community building through food. Founded in 2009 by Adelle's friends as a bi-monthly pop-up breakfast in a church basement, Crescent City Cafe created dignified dining experiences for people experiencing homelessness and food insecurity. After learning about the pay-what-you-can model at the 2014 Denver One World Everybody Eats summit, they began the journey toward brick-and-mortar. Now, after navigating zoning challenges, finding the right space on Magazine Street, and educating neighbors about their mission, they're preparing to open a full breakfast and brunch restaurant while continuing their Saturday pop-up cafes. The conversation explores the unique challenges of operating in New Orleans, from brunch alcohol culture to Mardi Gras economics to neighborhood fears about who will be sitting at the table. Adelle shares stories that reveal the cafe's deep impact on volunteers and guests alike.Throughout, she emphasizes that the cafe's strength lies in not defining people by their needs, but in creating space where everyone can eat with dignity and build community around the table. Renee (Left) with Adelle (Right)   Adelle Bergman is the Director of Crescent City Cafe, a New Orleans nonprofit offering dignified dining for anyone experiencing food insecurity. Originally from Oklahoma, she moved to New Orleans over 19 years ago to support Hurricane Katrina relief efforts and never left. During her early years in New Orleans, Adelle began volunteering with Crescent City Cafe, founded in 2009 by her friends as a volunteer-led, restaurant-style breakfast serving guests in need. In 2015, the Cafe was inspired by the pay-what-you-can model and Adelle stepped into a leadership role to help guide its growth into a full-fledged nonprofit. Under her leadership, the Cafe has continued its long-standing tradition of serving guests twice a month and is now preparing to expand into a daily pay-what-you-can community cafe. It is set to open in the fall of 2026, marking an exciting new chapter in its mission to serve with dignity. When not at the Cafe, Adelle stays active in the community as a member of the Rotary Club of Mid-City New Orleans and belly dances with the Shimmy Shakti Dance Troupe. She lives in Gentilly with her husband Michael and their two young daughters.

  3. Jul 22

    Everybody Eats: A Movement - Season 3 Episode 3 with Morgan Stewart - Big Big Table

    From Fine Dining to Food Equity: Morgan Stewart and the Big Big Table Renee welcomes Morgan Stewart to the podcast.   Morgan is the Volunteer and Communications Manager at Big Big Table in Buffalo, New York. After becoming disillusioned with the for-profit restaurant world, Morgan found a different way forward at Big Big Table, an intimate 16-seat space on Buffalo's Lower West Side. The café serves about 30 guests daily, from working-class legacy residents to downtown professionals, creating what Morgan calls a vital "third space" where hospitality takes precedence over charity.  At its core, this episode affirms that creating accessible spaces where people can gather, eat well, and be seen is not a band-aid but a necessary foundation for building healthier communities. MORGAN STEWART     Since getting involved at Big Big Table Community Cafe (Buffalo, NY) in early 2023, Morgan Stewart has held many roles: volunteer, AmeriCorps service member, board member, and now, staff member. During her previous career as a restaurant chef, her interest shifted from cooking food to studying its social impact. After leaving the for-profit hospitality industry to study community development through the University at Buffalo's Urban & Regional Planning program, she earned her master's degree and began working for food-related nonprofits. As Big Big Table's Volunteer & Communications Manager, today she spends less time in the kitchen and instead focuses on administration and front-of-house operations at Western New York's first pay-as-you-can cafe. Her professional aim is to democratize the experience of dining out so that everyone has the opportunity to feel taken care of, even if just for a few minutes.   https://www.bigbigtable.org/

  4. Jul 8

    Everybody Eats: A Movement - Season 3 Episode 1 with Jennifer Seaver - Art for All

    A Journey from Community Cafe to Community Art Renee sits down with Jennifer Seaver, Farm Cafe's very first manager who help bring order to Farm Cafe's early chaos by building the systems and daily reports that still run the cafe today. But more importantly, she absorbed its core belief that dignity and access matter more than money. When she moved to Raleigh, she founded Art for All, a nonprofit offering art classes and community murals on a pay-what-you-can basis. Just as Farm Cafe feeds bodies without barriers, Art for All feeds creativity and connection. The conversation explores Jennifer's community-centered approach to public murals, where neighbors help design the art that will live in their spaces. Renee and Jennifer discuss the parallels between food and art as essential human needs, the challenges of sustaining alternative economic models, and how both Farm Cafe and Art for All create spaces where everyone is valued exactly as they are.     Jennifer Seaver is a landscape designer, community arts leader, and lifelong artist whose work bridges creative practice, public service, and environmental design. She previously served as the first café manager at F.A.R.M. Café, where she also painted the portrait featured in the café’s mural. With a background in nonprofit management, government administration, and veterinary practice management, she brings an interdisciplinary perspective to her practice. Jennifer holds a BA in Leadership in the Public Sector from North Carolina State University and is currently a Master of Landscape Architecture candidate. She is the founder of Art for All - NC, a pay-what-you-can arts nonprofit inspired by the One World Everybody Eats movement, expanding access to the arts while fostering more sustainable communities. Her landscape design work focuses on climate-resilient landscapes and green infrastructure that support both social and ecological well-being, informed by equity and Indigenous land stewardship.  F.A.R.M. Cafe Mural

  5. Feb 25

    Everybody Eats: A Movement - Season 2 Episode 4 with Jeff and Julie Williams - TASTE Project

    In this episode, Renee talks with Jeff and Julie Williams, co-founders of Taste Project in Fort Worth, Texas — one of the largest and most distinctive community cafes in the country. With a full-service, sit-down restaurant model and an ACF-accredited culinary apprenticeship program, Taste Project is doing things a little differently in the pay-what-you-can world. Jeff shares how a persistent calling led him to open Taste Project in 2017, and how a dream — literally — set the wheels in motion for a second location in Arlington, made possible through an unlikely partnership with the city. Julie, who also serves as president of One World Everybody Eats, offers an honest look at what the network means for cafes nationwide and why the "self-sustaining model" myth is one of the first things new cafe founders need to let go of.   Jeff Williams Jeff Williams is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Taste Project. He has always had a passion for cooking, food, and feeding people. Being half Italian, Jeff’s heritage feeds his passion and discovery in the area of Italian cuisine. His vision for Taste Project is different than a growing, profit generating, Italian restaurant. His vision is not a homeless shelter or a soup kitchen, but a place where everyday folks eat; and those who could not afford to eat there could still enjoy a meal in the restaurant. In June 2012, Jeff launched Taste Project, and in December 2017, the organization launched Taste Community Restaurant. Jeff works full-time for Taste Project and attends Gateway Church.   Julie Williams Julie Williams is the Co-Founder of Taste Project and has helped lead its mission and growth since launching the organization in 2012. With a background in healthcare marketing, Julie brings creativity, strategic vision, and heart to the development of Taste Community Restaurant and future initiatives. Taste Project is a nonprofit organization that fights food insecurity through a pay-what-you-can restaurant model, providing dignified access to healthy meals while creating a welcoming space for people from all walks of life to share a table. Julie currently serves as President of the One World Everybody Eats Board of Directors and is passionate about building strong communities through hospitality, inclusion, and nourishment. She lives in Fort Worth with her husband and co-founder, Jeff, and their son, Brian. Outside of her work, she enjoys running, family time, and being actively involved in her church community.

Ratings & Reviews

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About

”Everybody Eats: A Movement” is a podcast series hosted by Renee Boughman, former Executive Director & Chef of F.A.R.M. Café in Boone, NC, spotlighting the inspiring work of community cafes—non-profit restaurants serving quality food with dignity to all, regardless of ability to pay—while exploring their role in combating food insecurity and fostering inclusive communities.