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Abuse runs rampant in restaurant industry. What will it take to change?

A worker arranges food onto plates in the kitchen of a restaurant in New York. (Brittainy Newman/AP)
A worker arranges food onto plates in the kitchen of a restaurant in New York. (Brittainy Newman/AP)

In April, the New York Times and Boston Globe published incendiary reports detailing credible allegations of abusive behavior by iconic chef Barbara Lynch.

Lynch won industry-wide admiration for her skills and her climb from a tough childhood in South Boston to the top of the food world with her award-winning restaurants. The stories were shocking for the fact that many said the allegations were widely known already and for how common they were industry-wide.

Host Robin Young recently spoke to a panel including the Boston Globe’s Janelle Nanos and women in thethree food industry women: Hassel Aviles, former restaurateur and founder of Not 9 To 5, a food industry advocacy group; Irene Li, James Beard award-winning chef and co-founder of Mei Mei Dumplings in Boston; and Hannah Selinger, who’s written about being fired from Momofuko Restaurant, run by restaurant giant David Chang.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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