The Global Taste Where Caribbean food, culture and travel collide

BY NOEL CUNNINGHAM

Earlier this year in April I was invited by Shana Jeannot-Thomas to be a guest on her Instagram show ‘The Convo.” After doing my research, I fully realized what The Convo was all about. The Convo is hosted by Global Taste, which is a multicultural online platform dedicated to bringing people together to celebrate food, travel and culture. As a Caribbean chef, a platform such as the Global Taste is well needed to start and continue the conversations of what the Caribbean itself has to offer the world; sharing the good and the bad and to use this platform to bring awareness to others. So, I had to share with everyone what the Global Taste is doing for our community and to highlight the positive work the media Maven Shana Jeannot-Thomas is doing.

“The Global Taste’s aim is to highlight the endless beauty of the Caribbean people and places through the art of storytelling!” said Shana Jeannot-Thomas.

What inspired you to start Global Taste?
Growing up my mom would always tell me that the best way to know someone is through food and travel. Shana was born and raised in New York with Haitian descent. Over the years Shana worked in various industries including hospitality and tourism, publishing and in the Ministry of Culture of Haiti handling branding and marketing.

Shana J who is highly influenced by Anthony Bourdain is a strategist, foodie, traveller and art lover, says the idea of The Global Taste was born in 2018.  It was through the art of storytelling she was first introduced to Haiti as a wide-eyed child.  Her parents, master storytellers in their own right, narrated stories and the culture of Haiti so vividly which later sparked a deep interest to learn about food, travel and culture. She knew learning about food, travel and culture allows you to see a different perspective. This knowledge sparked her to start her first food blog to learn about people behind the scenes but had to pause due to life transitions. While documenting several of her food and travel explorations on social media, watching food and travel shows especially anything Anthony  Bourdain, connecting with people from various ethnicities, it ignited the flames to take her passion forward to highlight the beauty of people,  places, and perception.

 The Global Taste’s aim is to promote, preserve and celebrate the culture.
“I aim to gather Caribbean stories and to share it with the globe likewise collect stories from the globe and share it with my people.” says Shana J.

Shana says this platform has allowed her the opportunity to include people of colour in a global conversation that will bring change, not only to the community but to the hospitality and tourism industry. The Global Taste will also feature other races but mainly the stories of people of colour.

They say when life throws you lemons you must make lemonade and that’s what Shana did at the start of COVID-19. Shanna explained that the COVID-19 virus helped her to start the conversation on the Global Taste. The Convo became a weekly show hosting different chefs, mixologists, entrepreneurs, and hospitality personalities from the Caribbean sharing their stories with the globe.

Where do you see Global Taste in the next couple of years?
Beaming with a smile Shana quickly reply “I definitely see Global Taste being a multicultural platform being the resource for chefs, foodies and travel. I aspire to be like the Delish, The Bon Appetit, where I can tell our stories.”

Do you think the stories of the Caribbean are not being told enough?
“I don’t think sharing our stories will ever be enough because we have so much still to share. We are a creative set of people, so it is important that we have these platforms to highlight the positivity of the Caribbean.” She further went on to add that “as a Caribbean person, it is my duty to share the Caribbean story to the world, not for them to come and tell us our own stories. This platform clears up any misconception people might have about our food, culture or our islands you are getting straight from the people.”

After COVID what can we expect from Global Taste?
“More editorial cultural related content. The Convo will continue via social media. Video content from different islands and we are working to build our website as a Caribbean guide for people who want to learn more about us.”

You can follow the Global Taste on Instagram or visit their website theglobaltaste.com to keep up with The Convo.