By Lori Fredrich Senior Food Writer, Dining Editor Published Jun 24, 2020 at 8:01 PM

The FoodCrush podcast is back, with two new episodes featuring Amy Walberg of Press Premium Alcohol Seltzer and Luke Zahm, owner of Driftless Cafe and host of Wisconsin Foodie.

But we've also decided to continue featuring conversations with local guests from the food and beverage community in our FoodCrush Live Facebook video series. 

This week, FoodCrush co-hosts Matt Mueller and Lori Fredrich hosted a conversation with Emerald Mills, owner of Diverse Dining, a company which offers curated training programs and unique cultural dining experiences that serve to dissect biases and develop diversity and inclusion solutions that impact change.

During the live, Mills shares reasoning behind the launch of Diverse Dining, an orchestrated event series which brings together people of wide-ranging backgrounds and life experiences for conversation and delicious food. Along the way, she also shares insights from her new book "Rejection Uprooted" and tips on how to engage in tough conversations about race, diversity, equity and inclusion in order to better work for social justice in our city. 

For more information on Mills and Diverse Dining or to purchase her book, visit 4diversedining.com.

In case you missed it, you can watch it now: 

Lori Fredrich Senior Food Writer, Dining Editor

As a passionate champion of the local dining scene, Lori has reimagined the restaurant critic's role into that of a trusted dining concierge, guiding food lovers to delightful culinary discoveries and memorable experiences.

Lori is an avid cook whose accrual of condiments and spices is rivaled only by her cookbook collection. Her passion for the culinary industry was birthed while balancing A&W root beer mugs as a teenage carhop, fed by insatiable curiosity and fueled by the people whose stories entwine with every dish. Lori is the author of two books: the "Wisconsin Field to Fork" cookbook and "Milwaukee Food". Her work has garnered journalism awards from entities including the Milwaukee Press Club. In 2024, Lori was honored with a "Top 20 Women in Hospitality to Watch" award by the Wisconsin Restaurant Association.

When she’s not eating, photographing food, writing or planning for TV and radio spots, you’ll find Lori seeking out adventures with her husband Paul, traveling, cooking, reading, learning, snuggling with her cats and looking for ways to make a difference.