Field Notes: June 2025

The 3.5% rule of non-violent resistance, two Peruvian chefs win James Beard Awards, a Chilean restaurant in London, and more.

Protesters rally near City Hall during an anti-Trump "No Kings Day" demonstration on June 14, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images.

“Speak up, speak out, get in the way. Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.”

-John Lewis

It’s becoming increasingly clear that the United States is undergoing a radical, monumental shift. As it said it would do, the current administration is tearing apart the very fabric of our society. Bombs are being dropped. ICE raids are tearing mothers from their children. Protestors are being arrested and deported without due process. I often fear for my friends that are here on green cards or visas. I fear as a father of two Latino children and the husband to a Latina wife. This fear and the division they create is being used to distract us from a vast grift of cash and global resources. They will break some things, but ultimately they will fail.

We the people have the power, even if we wait until the last moment to realize it. You see it in the protests that were occurring a week ago in every part of the country, from major cities to street corners in small communities, as a sad military parade rolled through Washington D.C. You see it in the peaceful acts of resistance that are occurring everyday. By those in our community, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are blocking ICE from taking their neighbors, and speaking out for immigrants that are the backbone of our restaurants and agriculture. By those voting in local elections for candidates that support civil rights and common sense. By Bruce Springsteen.

From the Montgomery Bus Boycott to Standing Rock, our history is filled with stories of courage in the face of adversity. For those with the power to make a difference and have yet to, now is the time to speak. In the culinary community specifically, chefs and influencers with large followings, especially those that depend on immigrant labor or cook food that originated from Latin America, we all need to speak up and make a difference where we can.

Social media posts, used to algorithmically enrage us and frustrate us, are not enough. Real world protests are more effective. Mass boycotts of the companies that are helping fund, coordinate or overlook the government’s worst intentions do work. We’ve already pushed the world’s richest man out of the government to deal with the growing collapse of his companies. Lets do that for the rest of them. We only need 3.5% of the population to engage in non-violent resistance for this movement to be effective. The numbers are with us. Stand up and speak out. Rise up.