02/23/2026
I was raised in the Delta, where water isn’t scenery — it is life.
I grew up hunting along rice fields, watching them flood and drain with the seasons. I have farmers in my family from Arkansas to Louisiana. I’ve seen how much care it takes to grow something that feeds other people.
So when I built my dish around rice and alligator gar, it felt necessary. It felt like a call to action — a reason to pull out my tiny soapbox.
Because the Delta’s waterways aren’t just lines on a map. They’re why rice grows. They’re why wildlife thrives. They’re why rural communities survive.
You can celebrate food and still protect the source.
You can gather in joy and still honor responsibility.
But you cannot separate the nation’s largest rice-producing region from the Delta that sustains it.
And I can’t cook rice without discussing the Hyperion Project and their projected water use and what could mean for the friends and family who still live here.
Because where I’m from, you take care of what takes care of you. So Thank you to everyone who showed up to support ! We raised $11,000 for food/bev industry workers 🎉
