Wonder Woman of the Week: Padma Lakshmi
- Mar 9, 2022
- 2 min read
We don't spotlight many chefs for this blog, but several chefs across the world work far outside of their kitchen post. This week's Wonder Woman is no different. A social activist, television host, model, and world renown chef, this week's Wonder Woman uses food as the primer for discussing larger topics like wealth inequality, racism, and sexism in cultures around the world. Padma Lakshmi was born in Madras, India in 1970 to parents who divorces when she was two. Lakshmi spent most of her childhood growing up in New York city and later Los Angeles where she endured racism and abuse due to her Tamil heritage. Unfortunately, the abuse did not end with bullying as at sixteen, Lakshmi's boyfriend sexually assaulted her after enduring sexual assault from a stepfather's relative at seven. Lakshmi's childhood experiences would be a major source of drive towards fighting for immigrant and women's rights later in her career.
Padma Lakshmi's professional career began with modeling while she was in university in Spain. Lakshmi was one of the first South Asian models in major modeling labels in Europe, so she was able to use the money earned through modeling to pay for her schooling in theater arts and American literature. After graduating from college though, Lakshmi assumed a career in the food industry as a television host for the food competition show Top Chef and writing several cook books. In 2020, Lakshmi launched television show Taste the Nation in which Lakshmi travels across the United States and spotlights food among immigrant and indigenous communities. Beyond exposing how food tells the story of cultures across the US, Lakshmi also is a public advocate for research on endometriosis child healthcare among impoverished communities across the globe, social justice for women and immigrants, and a staunch supporter of independent restaurant owners.
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