Ep. 222 – Solving Systemic Problems Externally and Internally With A Dinner with Eric Adams, Borough President of Brooklyn, New York

With all that’s going on, will all the tension in the air, and with all the systemic issues that are being talked about, what if the main solution was to just have dinner with someone of a different perspective? After all, everyone is human and everyone eats and I felt the best way to understand someone is through a good dinner? Eric Adams, Borough President of Brooklyn, New York, believes that a simple dinner can solve a lot of our problems.

We’ve had this episode in the bag since March, as in right as everything was locking down, things have changed a lot and there’s no better time to launch it than now because it deals with a lot of issues that is currently affecting the United States. Eric’s had a tough life. Eric didn’t know he was going to be a politician but a terrible string of events changed his life. Eric wanted to be in the computer industry but after he was beaten by the police, he decided to be a police officer and now he’s the President of the Brooklyn Borough pushing a ton of initiatives to make Brooklyn better.

This interview is an inspiring example that no matter what your background is, or no matter what type of disadvantages you have going for you, you can strive to fix the problem. Eric brings a great perspective on finding big problems and using unique systems to solve them. One example Eric and I talk about in-depth, is the Breaking Bread, Building Bonds initiative. Another is how he reversed some serious health conditions by altering his diet.

Thanks to Andrew Noyes from the JUST Foods team for forwarding this opportunity.

If you want to hear more about Eric Adams, I highly suggest listening to two episodes from James Altucher. They go much more into Eric’s life and also gives a great glimpse of not only the life of Eric but how he’s trying to solve the problems that are happening.

More Podcasts on Eric Adams

James Altucher Ep 509 about Eric Adams' life in more detail

James Altucher Ep 596 The Current State of Things with Eric Adams

About Eric Adams

Borough President EricAdams is also extremely passionate about issues of food justice within the context of racial justice. Diet-related disparities particularly affect racial/ethnic minorities, and the Borough President's promotion of plant-based nutrition in communities of color is an essential tool to tackle these disparities.

Breaking Bread, Building Bonds is a new initiative from Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. There will be one hundred dinners across the city, with ten everyday people each from all various ethnicities, identities, and faiths. A particular emphasis will be placed on engaging young people in participating in these dinners, but most notably will involve New Yorkers who are not typical thought leaders or are otherwise significantly engaged in civic life. The goal is to use the tables to have different groups from all over the city sit down and learn from each other. These dinners, which will begin in the early part of 2020, will hopefully empower everyday voices to be new ambassadors of intersectional unity.

Show Notes

How do you introduce yourself?: I use elected office to deal with crises What’s your title?: Brooklyn Borough President. Brooklyn is the largest borough You didn’t start out being a politician?: I was actually interested in computers NBUF – Police Brutality Why did you go form police officer to a politician?: When I started to dive into it, I found to realize that I have to fix policies and fix the system. 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care When you were running for Senator, who were you, supporters?: Because I was an ex-cop, my relationships in the conservative part of the city did well. What I learned through this journey, we don’t talk to each other so we decided to do a very cool dinner Breaking Bread, Building Bonds Initiative We started an initiative where we would have 100 dinners and have 10 people per dinner and just have people talk to each other. I don’t think people appreciate the lubricating value of the meal How do you choose the people?: We have a link that sorts you out. We have the host get 3 people from 3 different backgrounds. No one can have the same background We look at all backgrounds but we can get specific. For example, Blacks can be Caribbean and Jewish can be Hisidic Can I have an example of a dinner you hosted?: We had 6 people from different South Asian communities. One of them was a Shik, another from Nepal, Punjab, Beijing, Mississippi etc. They explained their food, costumes, praying, and politics How do you break the ice?: We all sit down on the table. We all say a little qquote that states that we will respect each other and not judge you. Did you know 47% of the people in the Brooklyn area speak a second language The students talked to people in China but never communicated with a black person Reflection is powerful not only through external strife but even internal strive Coronavirus was a game-changer and forced us to do a lot of reelecting Wet Markets and Wuhan Food Swamps Food Deserts Hydroponics Meatless Mondays How did you find the time to research the diet that made you re-evaluate your diet?: The first thing I did was believe. When I had diabetes, I had a ton of medications and I would have popped a bunch of pills for the rest of my life In 3 months, I fixed everything At the heart of what I cut out, was Saturated Fat because it clogs your arteries. The biggest producer of saturated fat was meat What do you eat now?: I explore a lot of spices because they do wonders to the body I break my fast with a nice green smoothie, for dinner, lentil pasta with a simple sauce and tofu Burlap and Barrel – Ori Zohar How do people do Breaking bread, building bonds? Especially now where we’re in lockdown?: We are going virtual. Brooklyn-USA.org to sign up for the Breaking Bread, Building Bonds You can also email Eric at askeric@brooklynbp.nyc.gov What do people serve at Breaking Bread, Building Bonds?: It’s so interesting to see what bread people associate with. All cultures have different bonds Why do you love what you do?: If you give back to the universe, the universe gives back to you

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