Brian Nordli

This is a story about food from around the world, and the memories they hold. Embedded in the ingredients are tales of oppression and economic conflict, of cultural traditions and memories. One Chicago chef believes it has the power to unite.

GirlForward serves about 200 girls in Chicago and Austin, Texas, through its mentorship program, summer camp and tutoring services. The nonprofit focuses on helping refugee girls who arrive in the U.S. between the ages of 14 and 18. It’s at that age that the girls are most at risk for struggling in school or isolating themselves, They not only face the typical trials of high school, but often have to overcome interrupted educations, traumas, a steep language barrier and household responsibilities that boys are less likely to face, she said.

Located in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood, the Plant is a 93,500-square-foot experiment in eco-sustainability. John Edel’s company, Bubbly Dynamics, LLC, purchased the building in 2010 to create a closed-loop, circular economy. Inside the Plant, more than 15 food production businesses—including a coffee roaster, a brewery and Edel’s nonpr

There's a grim understanding between the two teens: A terminal form of muscular dystrophy is slowly consuming Colton’s body, paralyzing all but his forearms. Darius has stayed by his best friend’s side, knowing he is terminally ill. Their journey began in a sixth-grade English class.

Twice a week, chief rescue officer Breanne Ward drives from restaurant to restaurant, market to market saving boxes full of day-old leftovers from the clutches of the dumpster for start-up Zero Percent.

Tony Nsola couldn’t sleep. In his Chicago apartment, he clutched his phone watching the hours tick past midnight. At about 3 a.m., inside a hospital some 7,600 miles away in Kampala, Uganda, his wife gave birth to their first child. They named him Kenan. Nsola held him for the first time in the palm of his hand, a picture on his iPhone. It was the closest he could be to his wife, Laetitia Tudila Boko, and his newborn son. That was the sacrifice they made to start a new life in the U.S.

Tina Kitchel learned that while her heart was stopped, her hippocampus — the portion of her brain that stores short-term memory — atrophied. She was told she would never be able to recall a memory again; not her wedding day, the births of her children, their school graduations, their wedding days. Her neurologist told Tina she is disabled and would never be able to work again. But the Social Security Administration has rejected her application. Tina is one of 3,616 people in Clark County seeking Social Security disability payments. They’re competing for the attention of six administrative judges and they’re looking at 11 months of waiting.