Right on Track 

Kudos to the Wine Soul Train, winner of the Taste Award for Outstanding Culinary Travel Experience! Organized by the Oakland Food Policy Council, the bus tour of Northern California wineries owned by people of color brought national attention to successful Black- and Brown-owned wineries. The tour was prompted by a shameful episode on the Napa Valley Wine Train last August: Police escorted 11 members of a women’s book club, 10 of whom were Black, off of the train for laughing too loudly. Edible East Bay writer Jillian Steinberger took the bus tour and wrote about her experience in this story.

Esperanza Pallana, executive director of the Oakland Food Policy Council (at right), and media specialist Haven Bourque at the Taste Awards.
Photo courtesy of Haven Bourque.

Esperanza Pallana, executive director of the Oakland Food Policy Council, said the group is thrilled to be recognized by the Taste Awards for the approach taken by the Council. “The Wine Soul train arose from a deep desire to create an enjoyable, impactful experience in which Oakland and Bay Area communities of color could laugh as loudly as we wished while patronizing environments that welcome our business, rather than racially profile us,” she said. The Taste Awards celebrates the year’s best in food, fashion, and lifestyle events and programs on television, in film, online, through apps, and on the radio.