PROJECT: This MetroEast Community Media Original docuseries takes us on a food journey through east Portland and Gresham. Imagine Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown but at local grocery stores with a host named Jessica. Food Foray is a documentary series where host Jess joins immigrant food lovers across East Portland to explore international markets, cook meaningful meals, and share intimate conversations about identity, geopolitics, humor, family, and love around the table. The first three episodes explore cuisines from the Republic of Georgia, Oaxaca Mexico and Myanmar (Formerly Burma).

APPROACH: We have all seen the Netflix and Hulu food shows, but none of them are quite like Food Foray. We decided to use a unique three-part format: we start inside different International grocery stores learning about unique goods, then move to our immigrant foodie guest's kitchen to cook an authentic cultural meal with the items bought from the store and end at the dinner table with friends and family where we are able to create an intimate atmosphere and get into deeper topics of geopolitics, identity, humor and love. Food is really just the jumping off point to get to know our immigrant and refugee neighbors, but it is also a superb excuse to see incredible foods being prepared that are not typically known in American culture. We hope that this series connects us to one another through the most universal thing we have: food. We're also very excited to get to inspire folks to shop at their local international stores while promoting some awesome independently owned immigrant businesses in East County.

RESULTS: Food Foray has screened at film festivals around the world, including PDX Panorama, Lake Placid Episodic Festival, and Basilicata International Film Festival, and won Best Docuseries at the Oregon Documentary Film Festival. The series has also been showcased at community screenings throughout Portland and Gresham, including the Hollywood Theatre, Milagro Theatre, and Tomorrow Theater, as well as in partnership with the Portland EcoFilm Festival. Beyond the festival circuit, Food Foray has partnered with community organizations to host screenings that support local cultural programming and nonprofit missions, including collaborations with Feed the Mass, Midway Business Association, and East Metro Arts & Culture Council. We are currently in production on Episode 4: Bosnia & Herzegovina while exploring future distribution opportunities—stay tuned.