Explore every episode of the podcast Mindfull Eating

Amy Paige Condon hosts the Mindfull Eating podcast. In Season 1, Episode 1, she interviews husband-and-wife chefs and farmers, Matthew and Tia Raiford. Matthew Raiford grew up near Brunswick, Georgia, not far from the farm that his great-great-great-great grandfather Jupiter Gilliard bought more than 150 years ago after being freed from enslavement. Matthew left soon after graduating high school when he joined the military, vowing he would never return to the South. But his Nana knew better and turned over the deed to the farm to Matthew and his sister Althea in 2010, making them the sixth generation of their Gullah Geechee family to turn this soil.

After leaving the military, Matthew attended the Culinary Institute of America, where he first met Tia, a Philadelphia native who riffs on recipes like her uncle and father did on jazz albums. They remained friends and culinary collaborators until they married in 2021. Tia now serves as a senior corporate chef for the Hormel Culinary Collective. Together, they have started a series of spice blends and hot sauces and host dinners on their farm. 

In 2018, Matthew and Amy collaborated on Matthew's debut cookbook, "Bress 'n' Nyam: Gullah Geechee Recipes from a Sixth-Generation Farmer," which was published by Countryman Press in May 2021.

For this episode of Mindfull Eating, Amy served Grandma Florine's Salmon Cakes on Pepper Rice, Cowpea Salad, Curried Vegetable Galette, and Nana's Sweet Potato Pie--all recipes from Matthew's cookbook that brought back the taste of home for him. In this episode, Matthew, Tia and Amy discuss their roads to the kitchen; what it means to return home, especially as a Black man to the South; the way the Great Migration influenced foods in places like Philly and Chicago; and their mission to spread the gospel of heritage and regenerative farming.

Get recipes and more through The Tasty Bits newsletter. Each new episode of Mindfull Eating drops every other Thursday. On the following Sundays, the Tasty Bits newsletter takes you behind the scenes with recipes, images, pieces of conversation that didn’t make the cut, and five takeaways. 

EPISODES OF MINDFULL EATING ARE SPONSORED BY:

The Refinery Writing Studio

Russell Feed and Supply

Picker Joe's Antique Mall and Marketplace

MINDFULL EATING IS PROUDLY PRODUCED BY: 

DEE DANIELS MEDIA, Storytelling with a Purpose

Mindfull Eating: Official Trailer

In the South, food isn’t just fuel—it’s history, memory, and the way we show love.

Join writer and Southern storyteller Amy Paige Condon for the launch of Mindfull Eating, a new podcast from the Dee Daniels Media Podcast Network. In this trailer, get a taste of the stories we’re serving up—from front porches to fish fries, cast iron to community cookbooks.

We’re dishing out the people, places, and moments behind the meals that shape us. Whether you’re a chef, a home cook, or just someone who knows the kitchen is where the real stories live, there’s a seat at our table for you.

Pull up a chair and let’s get full in every sense of the word.

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Keywords: Mindfull Eating, Mindful Eating, Southern Food, Food History, Storytelling, Amy Paige Condon, Dee Daniels Media.