Two powerhouses of the local beverage and dining scene — Courtney Mailey, owner and founder of Blue Bee Cider, and Chef Brittanny Anderson, a two-time James Beard Award semifinalist and co-owner of Brenner Pass and Metzger Bar & Butchery — are teaming up to shed light on the forced labor and trafficking of women in the service and hospitality industry.
"In Plain Sight" is a five-course food and cider pairing dinner that will take place at Blue Bee Cider on March 21, during Women’s History Month, that will raise funds for the Human Trafficking Institute. Within the service industry, women often are more vulnerable to working without pay, or little pay. According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, Virginia ranks 15th in the country for human trafficking cases reported, and out of the 83 cases reported in the state last year, 65 involved women. Cases linked with the restaurant/food service industry and with domestic work were the most prevalent. How do we as a community and city address this issue?
Mailey hopes to help answer that question through this listen-and-learn event. “I thought an event like this could be a way to begin writing a new story for the future” she says. She and Anderson will be joined at the event by seven women from cideries throughout the state .
Throughout the evening, John Richmond, founder of the Human Trafficking Institute, will speak about the organization's work to bring charges against people who force women to work without pay in restaurants, hospitality venues and related businesses, and he will share ways to spot signs of trafficking and whom to notify of suspected trafficking activity.
"In Plain Sight" takes place from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, March 21, and is limited to 50 people. Tickets are $85 and on sale now, with proceeds benefiting the Human Trafficking Institute.