Global Issues, Local Responses Book Club April 28 Meeting

April 28 | Book Club In-Store | 6:00 PM

Global Issues, Local Responses is a book club curated for readers of books that create connections by linking pressing global issues to particular local contexts. We’ll meet 4 times during 2026 to discuss media and authoritarianism, our environments, food systems, and more.

We focus on books that address some of the most important subjects of our time and their everyday manifestations in particular places. We read across genres and invite readers who seek to learn, listen, and laugh. (And we will have popcorn).

For our second meeting on Tuesday, April 28, we'll be reading by renowned human rights investigator Michael Shaikh.

About the book: Michael Shaikh’s is a groundbreaking combination of travel writing, memoir, and cookbook that uncovers how humanity’s appetite for violence shapes what’s on our plate. Animated by touching personal interviews, original reporting, and extraordinary recipes from modern-day conflict zones across the globe, Shaikh reveals the stories of how genocide, occupation, and civil war can disappear treasured recipes, but also introduces us to the extraordinary yet overlooked home cooks and human rights activists trying to save them. From a sprawling refugee camp in Bangladesh and a brutal civil war in Sri Lanka to the drug wars in the Andes and the enduring effects of America’s westward expansion, Shaikh highlights resilient diasporic communities refusing to let their culinary heritage become another casualty of war.

About the host: Laurell Sims (she/her) is a food systems strategist with a two-decade commitment to empowering communities through dynamic educational and job training initiatives rooted in urban agriculture. Currently, as the Executive Director of Evanston Grows, she continues her dedication to cultivating vibrant and healthy neighborhoods. Previously, Laurell co-founded and served as the Chief Executive Officer of Urban Growers Collective (UGC). Prior to UGC, she worked with Growing Power Chicago and Victory Program's ReVision House Urban Farm in Dorchester, MA. A 2023-2024 Castanea Fellow, Laurell has completed fellowships with the James Beard Women in Entrepreneurial Leadership Program and Goldman Sachs 10K Small Business. She also participated in the Bold Food Fellowship, collaborating with farmers from Uganda and Kenya through a State Department exchange to enhance urban farming programs. Since then, Laurell has led projects at urban farms in Port-au-Prince's Cité Soleil District in Haiti and across the United States.

Doors and minibar open at 5:30PM. The ticket covers the cost of the book (tax included). Bring your ticket in to pick up your book. (We will set aside the copies for scholarship readers). If you've already purchased the book, your ticket will cover the cost of an equal or higher value in-store purchase.

Getting here: We are located at 1620 Orrington Avenue, in downtown Evanston, just one block east of the Davis Street Metra, CTA, and PACE public transit stops. There is metered street parking as well as numerous parking garages nearby.

Scholarship tickets: If you would like to be considered for a scholarship ticket, please send a brief email with your name and scholarship request to [email protected] with "Global Local Book Club" as the subject heading. To be considered for a scholarship we must receive your email no later than Friday, April 17. And, If you would like to donate a book, please send an email to [email protected]

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