My guest on this episode of As Told by Nomads is actor, producer, and host of From Scratch, David Moscow. Having made his film debut at age thirteen as the young Tom Hanks in Big, David has appeared in dozens of films, TV shows, and theater productions over a thirty-five-year career. He’s also explored food culture all over the world, and he joins me today to discuss how food is a connected force culturally, socially, and environmentally.

We begin the episode by discussing how David, a city kid from New York, decided to tour the world and explore food cultures. During his childhood, David used to get glimpses of where his food came from, on fishing trips with his grandfather or apple picking upstate, but he had lost that connection as an adult. So he decided he wanted to figure out if a city person could get back to an understanding of food by learning to do things like harvesting wheat or making tequila, an idea that ultimately developed into From Scratch. Next, David talks through some of the lessons he’s learned while making the show and experiencing different food cultures, from developing respect for vegans to discovering that having regular family meals may help you live longer. He also speaks to the loss of respect for food producers and the impact of food production on the environment, emphasizing that if changes aren’t made, the results may be catastrophic. David then discusses the process of finding his voice as a host, admitting his first couple of episodes were tough, until he realized his job was to act as an audience surrogate by asking questions and drawing out the experts’ experience and insight. And finally, David answers my regular question: how does he use his difference to make a difference? David responds that he wants to use the show to reframe who people see as heroes, focusing not on billionaires like Elon Musk but on raising up the hard-working people who harvest and produce our food.

Episode Highlights:

• Learning about different cultures through food
• The communal power of food
• Food production and climate change
• How David found his voice as a host
• Changing the perception of heroes

Links:

Connect with David Moscow:

From Scratch Book: https://www.discoverfromscratch.com/TheBook

From Scratch TV Show: https://www.discoverfromscratch.com/the-show

Connect with Tayo Rockson and the As Told By Nomads Podcast:

Tayo’s Website: https://tayorockson.com/

Tayo on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tayorockson/

Tayo on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TayoRockson

Tayo on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tayorockson

Tayo on TikTok: https://www.youtube.com/tayorockson

UYD Management: https://www.uydmanagement.com/

UYD Collective: https://tayorockson.com/uyd-collective

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.