March 23, 2018

Has #MeToo Changed Your Relationship With Restaurants?

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Mother Jones is exploring how #MeToo is affecting the culinary world for an upcoming episode of Bite, our food politics podcast—and we want to hear from you.

In the past few months, accusations of sexual misconduct have emerged at major restaurants across the country, leaving customers to navigate the thorny ethical question of whether to continue as patrons. New York restaurant owner and cooking show host Mario Batali is the most famous chef embroiled in such a scandal; after facing accusations of misconduct from four women, he has stepped down from running the day-to-day operations of his 24 restaurants. Accusations of sexual impropriety have also been reported about the likes of New Orleans chef John Besh, co-owner of Besh Restaurant Group; restaurateur Ken Friedman; and Oakland’s Charlie Hallowell, chef-owner of Pizzaiolo and two other popular restaurants in the area. 

Meanwhile, tipped workers across the country have spoken out more loudly in recent months about facing sexual harassment, spurring conversations about whether it’s fair for them to depend on pleasing customers to make a living wage. 

How has #MeToo changed your relationship with restaurants? Has it influenced where you eat or caused you take action in some other way? Let us know by filling out the form below or sending a voice memo to talk@motherjones.com. We might include your response in the upcoming episode of Bite.








We may share your response with our staff and publish a selection of stories which would include your name, age, and location. We respect your privacy. Your email address will not be published and by providing it, you agree to let us contact you regarding your response.

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It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

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Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

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