- [Zoe] Coming up on "One Detroit," Michigan voters went to the polls.

Analysis of the primary results.

And Vice President Kamala Harris chooses a running mate in the race for president.

Plus the CEO of Forgotten Harvest explains how the nonprofit is helping families keep food on the table this summer.

Also ahead, it's time for Detroit's Collard Green Cookoff.

We'll talk with last year's champion about his winning recipe.

And we'll share some of the unique events taking place in metro Detroit this weekend and beyond.

It's all coming up next on "One Detroit."

- [Announcer 1] From Delta faucets to Behr Paint, Masco Corporation is proud to deliver products that enhance the way consumers all over the world experience and enjoy their living spaces.

Masco, serving Michigan communities since 1929.

Support also provided by the Cynthia and Edsel Ford Fund for Journalism at Detroit PBS.

- [Announcer 2] DTE Foundation is a proud sponsor of Detroit PBS.

Among the state's largest foundations committed to Michigan focused giving, we support organizations that are doing exceptional work in our state.

Learn more at DTEFoundation.com.

- [Announcer 1] Nissan Foundation.

And viewers like you.

(rhythmic music) - [Zoe] Just ahead on "One Detroit" the new CEO of Forgotten Harvest talks about a rising demand for his organization services.

Plus we'll meet the defending champion of Detroit's Collard Green Cookoff and learn what makes his dish unique.

And David Wagner from 90.9 WRCJ has a list of Metro Detroit events to enjoy this weekend and beyond.

But first up, Michigan is looking ahead to the November election now that the primary is over.

And Vice President Kamala Harris made the state one of her first presidential campaign stops with her newly named running mate.

I joined my fellow "One Detroit" contributors Nolan Finley of the Detroit News and Stephen Henderson of American Black Journal for a discussion about this week's big political news.

(rhythmic music) Okay, you two.

So we are now post-primary.

I maybe gotta just ask, are we a little status quo?

Like we've got this open US Senate seat is going to be Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin, the Democrat.

Former congressman Mike Rogers, the Republican.

We all sort of knew this was coming, no, Nolan?

- Yeah.

I don't think there was any surprise there.

You know, you had some dropouts in this race on the Republican side that pretty much gave Mike Rogers an easy path to victory.

Justin Amash, the former congressman from west Michigan who went from Republican, to independent, and then back to the Republican party to run in this race.

Never seemed to take off, never seemed to have much of a campaign going on.

And you know, Hill Harper put up a pretty good fight given what he was up against.

He was just overwhelmed by Slotkin's fundraising.

But you know, he did respectably in that race.

And now we've got what I think is gonna be a real donnybrook of a fall race.

- Stephen, I mean, we should note this Open US Senate seat could really, I mean, change and will have a big influence on what the US Senate looks like come November.

- Yeah, I mean it's a place where Republicans of course hope to pick up a seat that they haven't had in a long time.

And let's remember, a Republican has not won a senate race in Michigan since, I think it's 1998 or before that.

- 1994.

- '94, right?

There's a reason for that.

You know, I don't know that that Mike Rogers gets it done, but I will say that he's probably the strongest candidate they've nominated in a long time.

You know, his problem will be he has wrapped his arms pretty enthusiastically around Donald Trump.

And I think this fall in Michigan, that could be something of a liability.

And then of course Elissa Slotkin is just a juggernaut in terms of campaign organization and fundraising, and matching that is gonna be, I mean this is gonna be a terribly expensive race, but just keeping up with her is gonna be quite a bit for him.

- Well, there's gonna be a lot of money poured into this race by both Republican Democrats from the outside.

Republicans see it as one of their top two chances to flip a Democratic seat.

The other one being West Virginia, which is also an open seat.

So you're gonna see a lot of outside spending.

This won't be won or lost for lack of money, I don't think.

And yeah, it's all about Trump.

But if you look, Trump's still running pretty strong in Michigan.

And if he makes this race really close, as close as it was, say in 2016, or even 2020, the Senate candidate has a pretty good chance.

I think Rogers might find some coattails there, or if it goes the other way, I think he doesn't have a very good chance at all against Slotkin.

- So one of the interesting stats out of the election is the total number of votes on both sides, right?

You've got an enthusiasm gap on the Republican side that I think was really evident yesterday.

The number of votes that Slotkin got was staggering.

And Mike Rogers is gonna have to figure out a way to get people on his side more enthusiastic about it.

I would imagine that there were a lot of independents perhaps who bled over into that Democratic primary as well.

- You know, or didn't vote.

It's not all that uncommon for Democrats to outperform Republican participation in primaries.

It's just- - Right, but if they do that in the general in Michigan, they always win.

And so that's that's the challenge he has.

- There's always, in the state of Michigan, the sort of get out the vote effort, right?

Let's look at some of those other congressional races.

Again, no huge surprises, but one race I know the three of us were watching, was Detroit, Shri Thanedar, the incumbent who will remain the incumbent, Nolan.

But Mary Waters gave him a little bit of a run for his money.

- Well she had the endorsement of the mayor and she was sort of the default candidate of the Detroit Democratic establishment.

But Shri Thanedar has proven now in two elections a lot tougher to beat than than folks thought he would be.

And I don't think Mary Waters was the right candidate to oust him, but I do think now Detroit's gonna have to live with Shri Thanedar as their representative for a while to come.

And you win that second race and you almost become unbeatable as a congressperson.

- Stephen, and here we go, and we continue.

No Black representation in Congress for the city of Detroit.

- Yeah, For the first time since 1955, I think it was, when African Americans first were represented by one of their in Congress.

So, here we are again.

It doesn't look like that's gonna change for Black Detroiters anytime soon.

- Well, we've got just about a minute left.

Let's talk about the very, very tippity top of the ballot come November.

And that is the all encompassing presidential race.

Vice President and Presidential candidate Kamala Harris announced Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate just this week.

And they are just barnstorming up a storm, a bunch of different swing states, including the state of Michigan.

We only got a minute or so.

Stephen, I wanna start with you.

Does the Tim Waltz nomination mean anything here in the state of Michigan?

- I think it does.

He's a mid-westerner.

He is a hunter and a teacher, and all of these things that no one's laughing, but you know, these independent voters, especially independent women, are looking for those kind of qualities in a candidate.

I don't think the Democrats could have done any better in terms of who they picked here.

Minnesota is the best performing Midwest state.

It invests in education and other things, but also attracts all kinds of businesses.

It spends more on education than it does on prisons, which we can't figure out how to do here in Michigan.

It's a strong pick.

It'll be interesting to see how they do.

- Nolan, last word with you.

- Yeah, I don't think anybody heard of, most people hadn't heard of Tim Walz before the pick.

He wasn't among, for very long, among the top choices.

He does nothing to balance the ticket.

He's also a far left progressive.

Has governed that way.

I don't think that's gonna have a great deal appeal for independents of either sex.

So here we go again.

We've got a Republican ticket that's wholly from the far right.

A democratic ticket wholly from the far left, and the middle is completely uncovered.

- And just a little more than 80 days to go.

We're gonna keep talking about it here.

Thank you both so much, you two.

Turning now to the high price of food and the impact on families who are trying to make ends meet.

According to Feed America, one in five children in southeastern Michigan faces hunger.

The need increases during the summer when kids don't get regular meals at school.

"One Detroit" contributor and American Black Journal host Stephen Henderson spoke with the new CEO of Forgotten Harvest, Adrian Lewis, about how the organization is making sure families have access to fresh, nutritious food now and throughout the year.

(rhythmic music) - Let's talk about the things that you're confronting as you take over there at Forgotten Harvest.

We want to talk more specifically about summer and how different that is, but give us an overall picture of the organization and the challenges.

- Absolutely.

Well, Forgotten Harvest, over the almost 35 years of its existence, it's always been about closing that gap on food insecurity and hunger throughout Metro Detroit.

That has not changed.

And as we begin to now better leverage our new facility, we are truly doing that, Stephen.

And that's really fortunate in a sense that we're able to do it because we're seeing a 30% increase in demand for our services.

So being able to do that, it's definitely a plus.

But obviously we wanna make sure that we're being very specific and concise on where we're addressing that need.

- Yeah, let's talk about that new facility.

That's been a long time coming.

What's the advantage to the organization of having that facility and how much better that makes the services that that you provide?

- Absolutely.

You know, the facility itself is about 78,000, I'll call it 80,000 square feet.

And to be able to not only have the extra capacity to hold food goods, but we're now able to really be creative in how we distribute it, especially from an equitable perspective, making sure that we're getting things sorted so that we can reach all of our 260 distribution sites in a timely manner.

- All right, so let's talk about summer and what summer means for hunger in this community, and therefore what it means for Forgotten Harvest.

Things look a little different than they do other parts of the year.

- Yeah.

You know, if we look at the vulnerable populations of our children as well as, I've seen this, right?

If we look at just those two, and there's probably a few others I could easily name, but summer feeding has definitely been a focus.

You know, we have at over 10 sites that we're doing summer feeding at.

But being able to definitely keep the youth nourished as well as involved during the summer months.

But also for our seniors.

We're partnering with Amazon, DoorDash to be able to do deliveries throughout the summer.

Many of our seniors aren't able to get out, as you would imagine.

So we're identifying those individuals that we can help and assist.

And it's all about choice, right?

I mean, many of our distributions are a matter of, you know, you'll see those already predetermined amounts that we're giving to our neighbors in need.

But we are now working on our client choice market in which we will have the ability to have our neighbors to come in and shop just like a grocery store and which it's not a new concept, but it is new and exciting for us to be able to roll out into the community.

- I also wonder what you're seeing in terms of the need in our community and whether it is more acute right now because of some of the things that we're dealing with in the general economy, or in fact whether maybe they're not as acute.

I mean, we keep hearing stats about the falling numbers of children in poverty because of things like the federal tax credit and some other measures.

But I wonder what that looks like from you as a provider.

- Yeah, it definitely, what we're seeing it definitely aligns with the high inflation of food, right?

It definitely aligns with that.

It definitely shifted as the tax credits were exhausted, so to speak.

So that definitely aligned.

But you know what was really interesting post-pandemic, as I would say, is that many of our family, of our neighbors in need, or neighbors in general, were just made more aware of that dignity of respect that we're providing as a service, that they're not ashamed to share.

That they're sharing more about the awareness with other neighbors.

So I believe that also has an uptick in the use of our services that may or may not have been there in the past.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- [Zoe] The second annual Collard Green Cookoff Championship takes place next week in Detroit.

Some of the city's finest cooks will compete for the title of Best Collard Green Chef.

The event is produced by Detroit is Different.

Bridge Detroit reporter, Jena Brooker and "One Detroit's" Chris Jordan caught up with last year's winner at the Detroit Food Commons to find out what makes his greens so special.

(rhythmic music) (pan sizzling) - [Jena] Collard greens are a staple of the Black community.

Recipes are passed down through generations to family and friends.

For Chef Buddah Calhoun, the recipe he refined earned him the title of Champion at last year's Collard Green Cookoff in Detroit.

This year he'll be back to defend that title.

(vegetables sizzling) - My name is Chef Buddah.

I'm a owner and director of Buddah Foods.

I'm also known as the vegan gumbo guy across the world because I started off doing vegan gumbo.

You know, I grew up on collard greens and if my grandma was here to taste those, she probably would've gave me that look.

Like, "How did you do this?"

Because traditionally I wasn't taught that.

I just learned it from my buddy who learned it from somebody else, and I just took off with it.

- So what makes the recipe special?

- Pan frying it.

Traditionally, in most families, people will boil their collard greens.

Me, I like the saute 'em, which is kind of equivalent to how they do over in the east, in Africa and the Caribbean, they kind of pan fry their stuff with the callaloo and all that kind of stuff.

Not majority of the culture, but some culture would pan fry.

So I said, if we're going into the contest, everybody's going to cook traditional collard greens.

Why don't I saute mine?

I had elders in wheelchairs holding my hand the whole time we were serving, 'cause they was like, "How did you do this?"

- [Jena] On August 15th, Calhoun will face off against five other finalists at the Joseph Walker Williams Recreation Center on Rosa Parks Boulevard in Detroit.

- Yeah, so these collard greens I got from D Town Farm.

- Okay, great.

- I like to put sweet peppers and onions in mine.

I don't know, traditionally I don't think we ever had it like that.

If we did, my grandma would cut up fresh tomatoes and fresh onions on the side, and we'd just sprinkle it on top of the greens that were already cooked.

But me, I love cooking with sweet peppers 'cause it gives it such a great taste.

And I added shallots to this one today just because I had one shallot at home.

I said, that's not gonna hurt, so why not add that.

(knife slicing) Today we're gonna use avocado oil.

(vegetables sizzling) - [Jena] So roughly what temperature do we want the pan at?

- Just hot enough to cook down the peppers and onions.

With the greens, we don't want to overcook 'em, so we're just gonna toss them around a few times.

Let it simmer for like, I'd say about eight minutes at the most.

(pan clattering) (vegetables sizzling) I'm pretty sure a lot of elders would turn their nose up at this the way I'm pan frying greens instead of putting 'em in a pot of boiling water with chicken stock, or turkey stock, or some type of dead animal product in there to season it.

I will tell you what I'm seasoning it with today, though.

Chili powder and cumin.

That is kind of slash like a island flavor that most of the islanders might use.

(vegetables sizzling) - [Jena] So was that a hot sauce or?

- That's liquid smoke.

- [Jena] Liquid smoke, okay.

- And I got some chili powder.

It doesn't need much because of the potent of the cumin and the chili powder.

They both have earthy, strong flavors.

- [Jena] It smells so good already.

- Oh yes.

(vegetables sizzling) I have a secret ingredient.

I'm not gonna tell you guys what it is because I don't- - [Jena] What if we guess?

(laughing) - It's definitely vegetable.

(vegetables sizzling an pan clattering) I don't wanna overcook the greens, so I'll cook the peppers and onions first, then add the greens.

(vegetables sizzling) And I think we're ready to roll.

Mm.

No sodium.

I usually do add like a Creole seasoning to it, which will probably bring it out a little bit more, but it's definitely good.

What you think?

- These are so flavorful.

And like you were saying, the texture's still there, or there's a little bit of a bite into it.

What was the experience like being at the Collard Green Cookoff competing against fellow chefs and your neighbors, the community out there?

- I think it was a little bit too festive for me.

I had too much fun.

I think I made like 400 friends that day.

- 400 friends.

- New friends.

So now when people see me on the street, they're like, "It's the collard green guy," right?

Before they would call me the vegan gumbo guy.

You know, I'm used to that in a way, but with so much people that day, it was overwhelming.

So it felt like a royal convention because they was crowning me as like, you are really doing it.

And especially to see so many elders give me praise.

That was just a beautiful feeling, man.

It made me feel real good and it gave me more confidence.

So this year I got something a little bit special.

It's gonna be similar to the last year's recipe, but I'm gonna add something extra, something that people love, that I realized goes well with greens now.

So hopefully I'll come home again with a second trophy.

- [Jena] Calhoun is a proponent of a vegan lifestyle and he's adapted some family recipes to lose the meat and focus on locally grown produce.

- I was raised by my granny.

Greens were always boiled, and it was always either smoked turkey or smoked ham hocks in it, or something like that, which back then as a kid they were good.

And just about every household or even restaurants that sell greens, it's all cooked the same way.

And then so often a lot of people are raised into a certain situation and never really asked why.

You know, I wish I could have asked my grandma like, "Why do we boil greens?"

Plus, I'm a big fan of not overcooking produce.

I'm always, I want to eat the freshest I can.

Basically from farm to table, not overcooked.

I think we're doing things a little bit different than our elders did.

And I think it's good, so now we can pass some of these traditions on to our children, our grandchildren.

(vegetables sizzling) - [Zoe] The Collard Green Cookoff Championship takes place Thursday, August 15th from 4 to to 7:00 PM.

Admission is free.

Now let's take a look at some of the other events taking place in Metro Detroit.

From barbecue and music in downtown Detroit, to a massive yard sale stretching across the state, there's something for families and individuals to enjoy.

Here's Dave Wagner of 90.9 WRCJ with today's "One Detroit Weekend."

- Hi, I'm Dave Wagner with WRCJ 90.9 here to tell you about some events to go and check out this weekend and beyond in Metro Detroit.

Friday through Sunday is the Ribs R&B Music Festival weekend in Hart Plaza, where you guessed it, there will be barbecue and R&B on the riverfront.

Featured artists are Next, Glenn Jones, and Adina Howard.

Friday through Sunday the city of Dundee is celebrating their bicentennial.

Pickleball tournaments, historical scavenger hunts, and monster truck rides are just a few of the unique activities that will be happening at that three day festival.

And let me tell you, this weekend has so much more going on, including the antique yard sale trail along Michigan's Thumbcoast.

You can shop over 150 miles of antiques following M29 and M25 through scenic waterfront communities and beaches.

On Wednesday, August 14th, families can head to Eastern Market Shed 5 in Detroit for the Be My Neighbor Day, hosted by Detroit PBS and the Michigan Learning Channel.

There will be free resources for families, fun activities, and a dance party led by none other than Daniel Tiger.

And of course, this time of year brings sunflower blooms, and DeBuck's Family Farm is having their Sunflower Festival Friday through August 25th.

And there's a ton more happening around Metro Detroit, so stick around for a few more options, and have a great weekend.

(rhythmic music) - [Zoe] That'll do it for this week's "One Detroit."

Thank you for watching.

Head to the "One Detroit" website for all of the stories we're working on, and follow us on social media, and sign up for our weekly newsletter.

(rhythmic music) - [Announcer 1] From Delta Faucets to Behr Paint, Masco Corporation is proud to deliver products that enhance the way consumers all over the world experience and enjoy their living spaces.

Masco, serving Michigan communities since 1929.

Support also provided by the Cynthia and Edsel Ford Fund for Journalism at Detroit PBS.

- [Announcer 2] DTE Foundation is a proud sponsor of Detroit PBS.

Among the state's largest foundations committed to Michigan-focused giving, we support organizations that are doing exceptional work in our state.

Learn more at DTEFoundation.com.

- [Announcer 1] Nissan Foundation, and viewers like you.

(rhythmic music) (triumphant piano music)