- 6 days ago
Papa Ted’s Food truck, founded by recording artist Dawn Richard, is reimagining vegan cuisine with cheddar biscuits and frozen deserts. Join us as she chats with Dine Diaspora’s Nina Oduro about her amazing menu, and how she’s using food to empower a community of local artists.
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00:00Hey, this is Bites and Beats, Chopping It Up, delivered by Grubhub. Today, we're talking to
00:11Dawn Rashard. She's a singer. She's a songwriter. She's a food entrepreneur, has so many creative
00:17accolades. Can't wait to chat with her. But before we do that, I know y'all are probably hungry.
00:22And so you probably want to get something to eat. So here's a little tip. I want y'all to use the
00:27Afropunk discount to get 15% off on Grubhub. Order anything you like, but specifically look at the
00:35Black-owned restaurants on the Afropunk websites, look at the Dime Blacklist, and you will get 15%
00:42off of any order of $15 or more. All right? So go ahead and do that while I bring on Dawn Rashard.
00:48So Dawn has done so many things. You know her from her music career, but you probably want to know a
00:55lot more about what she's doing in the food industry. She's blazing a large, big trail. So Dawn,
01:02how are you doing today? How are you feeling? Feeling good. Feeling excited. Honored to be here.
01:09So I know that you're right now in Louisiana, where you're from. I love Louisiana. I love New Orleans. And
01:16you know, this is where you grew up. And this is how you entered both into music and the food industry,
01:22right? Can you maybe just share a little bit with us about sort of how food played a role in your
01:28family and in your life growing up? Yeah. I mean, if you're from New Orleans, food is just a part of
01:36you, right? Just like the music part of it. Like you just grow up understanding that your food and your
01:41music is in your veins, right? Because it's just rich all the way around through heritage,
01:46soul, presence. New Orleans just has something about whether it's the food you're eating or the
01:52heritage and the background and the music that you've been built to understand that it matters,
01:58right? It kind of dictates how you move in New Orleans. And so my dietary choices have
02:05changed throughout the times, but it's always been the same. If it tastes good,
02:09it's probably coming from New Orleans, right? I started my musical career with New Orleans in
02:16mind. Still to this day, the music that I do is always encouraged and really has an underlining of
02:22New Orleans culture behind it. The food aspect of it came a bit differently. Being that my father was
02:29diagnosed with cancer, a New Orleans girl has to figure out how to change her dynamic, right? So I
02:36promised my dad if he'd go vegan, I'd go vegan with him. And we try to beat the cancer and his journey
02:43through the dietary aspects of things, through the holistic journey of things. And what that did was
02:48save his life. And it also saved mine. But it also meant that a girl from New Orleans who loves flavor
02:54has to figure out how to eat vegan. And that became the, that started, that started on the journey
03:00of me figuring out how to not lose the Creole culture within me, not lose New Orleans while I
03:08was on this vegan journey. And that is how my food entrepreneurship, that is how I started into the
03:15road of creating Dawn as a food entrepreneur. Dawn, honestly, that is such a touching story to really
03:22take something that was such a challenge in your family and turn it into something so beautiful.
03:27One, just going on a, on a food journey, um, in a vegan journey is not easy, right? Especially for,
03:34like you say, for a New Orleans girl. So what are some of the dishes that you feel like you've been
03:39able to recreate in a, in a vegan lifestyle that have really helped you sort of honor your heritage
03:45and also embrace your, this vegan lifestyle? That's a great question. Uh, so I started with
03:52seasoning and roux. If you know, New Orleans, you know, the sauce, the roux, roux is kind of like,
03:57a, um, it's a French term that uses in your, whether it's a stew or a sauce, the etoufes that
04:03we use, your sauce and your seasoning is what makes everything pop in New Orleans. That's the,
04:08that's the big kahuna right there, right? Is the, is the flavor and the, and you're the way you season.
04:13Uh, so I started to play with seasoning and really how to create things from scratch. And what I started
04:19to make that really, what resonated with me was how do I get a vegan biscuit? Because I miss the Southern
04:25aspect of, you know, feeling like I was eating a really good biscuit without adding milk, right?
04:31Without having those, uh, dairy products that were a part of that. And that was hard for me because I
04:37was in LA and New York and I was missing that Southern biscuit. Um, so I got really good at creating
04:42that. And what I ran into was this biscuit sandwich that everybody kept stalking me for. First, it started
04:48out just within like my family and friends, I would make it on Sundays, right? For game day. Uh, uh, and
04:55it's, it's a vegan biscuit sandwich with, uh, sausage, vegan sausages, apple sage sausage, uh, sweet
05:02peppers, organic peppers, because I want to have that sweet heat. If you know, you're from New Orleans,
05:06you've got to have that sweet heat. Uh, and this organic, organic maple syrup kind of drenched over this
05:13organic biscuit. Uh, that was just something that I was doing at home. And then one person turned into
05:1810, 10 turned into 15 and they were like, maybe you should start selling these. They're really
05:23good. And I was like, guys, I'm a musician. I'm not a, I'm not a chef. Right. Um, but everyone
05:28kept asking for it. Uh, and I started perfecting the ingredients of it. And I started thinking
05:34about maybe I could do something really cool, but if I would do a business, it would have to
05:38be in New Orleans. Uh, my parents had just moved back to New Orleans. My dad had been doing
05:43his oncology over in New Orleans. So it made sense to kind of do the research from there.
05:48And what stemmed as something that started within my kitchen in LA, trying to figure out
05:52how to keep New Orleans present in my life, uh, became a business, uh, that I built here
05:57in New Orleans. And now Papa Ted's is starting to, you know, that's the beginning of the idea.
06:03One small recipe, one cool little thing that I knew I was good at, um, now has become a staple
06:08for my new business. That, you know, so, so many food entrepreneurs like yourself start at
06:15home and you know, you're onto something when your friends and family are like, you
06:18got to expose the world to it. So thank you for exposing the world to it. And so let's
06:23get into a little bit more about Papa Ted's one. Where's that name coming from? You know,
06:28what does that mean to you? Name it Papa Ted's. Um, yeah. Tell me about that.
06:33I lost my grandfather and Katrina. He was on dialysis. And, um, when Katrina happened, we all
06:39went through it. I was homeless after Katrina, my family, everyone. When I say my family,
06:43I don't mean my immediate family. I mean, from aunts to uncles to cousins, everyone's
06:47from New Orleans. So when Katrina happened, we all lost everything. So my entire family
06:52was homeless. Uh, and in the midst of that, we lost Papa Ted. His name was Theodore, but
06:56I called him Papa Ted. That's my mom's mother's husband. Uh, and he had a big beard, big mustache,
07:03looked like Santa Claus, black guy. Um, but he was, uh, this kind of oxymoron, right? Where
07:10he was funny, but he was also surly, uh, sweet heat, right? And, uh, I wanted to pay homage
07:16to him. So I named the business Papa Ted's because we lost him. Uh, and I had a choice
07:21of colors that were, uh, representative of cancer organizations. My father has lymphoma,
07:27which is the red, but, uh, I thought to do because of women and my, my aunt going through
07:32breast cancer as well, that we do the pink color as our symbol. So the pink mustache is our
07:39logo. So Papa Ted's is the name of the business and the pink mustache represents, uh, my Papa
07:44Ted's, but also uplifts cancer patients. I love that description of him because now when
07:51I see Papa Ted's and I see the branding, I get it. I'm like, you know, I might be walking
07:55in space and feel the energy that he brought. And I think that's so honestly breakthrough
07:59about, you know, food spaces. When you walk into a place, when you visit a place, you want
08:04to feel the story. And I think, I feel like that capsulates, um, his story a little bit.
08:10Um, and just looking at, you know, Papa Ted's as you created it, it's more than just a food
08:16truck. Actually, there's a lot of creative elements that you brought into it. So tell us a little
08:21bit about sort of how you're able to bring all the creative things that you care about into,
08:26um, your food truck. Absolutely. The first thing I say is Papa Ted isn't just a food truck.
08:32It's a sensory experience and that's how we're explaining it. And the reason why I say that
08:36is because my start came from being a musician and artist. So I don't want to lose that. If
08:41anything, if people have followed my career musically, they know that everything that
08:45I've ever done has walked with purpose, right? It's always been a push for the other, whether
08:49you're gay, queer, straight, uh, you're the weird kid out or the other. My music is always
08:55spoken to a specific, uh, type of person and acquired taste. Someone who really appreciates,
09:02um, pushing themselves with the possibility of things. Papa Ted's is the same. Uh, so we
09:08don't, we don't just sell plant-based food. Uh, we have organic snowballs. And if you are
09:13from New Orleans, you know, the shaved ice, uh, here in New Orleans is a thing, right? We,
09:18we, we are known for our snowball. And if you haven't tasted, you should come to New Orleans
09:23to understand that snowballs are a thing. And because of our weather, um, we are needing
09:29to have refreshments and sweets that kind of cater to the humidity in the city. Uh, but
09:34most of the time it is overtly processed with sugars that are unhealthy, right? Because it's
09:39just like syrups that are made with all this sugary stuff. So we created an organic snowball
09:44that has homemade syrups that come from seasonal fruits. We use no artificial sugars, no artificial
09:51flavors. And it comes in a recycled glass jar with metal straws that the art, the, all our
09:57stashers, we call them our stashers, our clients or our customers, they get to keep it, come back
10:01and get free refills. So again, not only are we a plant-based food system, but we are also
10:07an eco-friendly system. And the reason why I did that is because I feel like we can't tell
10:12people to not only eat vegan, we want to make them in internally, right? Internally and
10:17spatially, environmentally, uh, surrounded by things that make them feel good and things
10:22that are good for them. So we don't push that agenda. We just create a space and a creative
10:27hub where they can not only eat plant-based, but be surrounded by eco-friendly and sustainable
10:32things. So our branding is all recyclable or biodegradable. Our glass jars that we sell,
10:37our metal jars are all encouraging recycle, um, recycling and also durability and sustainability.
10:43Our, um, wrapping paper for our, even our sandwich paper is comics that have been recycled and rewashed
10:50in lavender oils and, and, and made sure that when you get them, it's clean, but it is also
10:57representative of pop culture and, and eco-friendly systems. So we have a, a collaboration with our
11:03comic book stores. So they give us all of their recycled comic book paper and we rewash them
11:07and use them as our branding as well. And we go a step further having an outreach program where we
11:14collaborate with all the local artists in new Orleans and they come, we invite them in and
11:18we invite them to paint, but with plant-based paint as well. So I have a deal where I give the painters
11:25eco-friendly sugar-based paint and they paint live. We stream it and all the money goes to the artists.
11:31So we sell their art. We have a bid. People get to like, learn about the local energy, the energy of
11:38the artists, how they really create, and they're learning how to work with plant-based paint in real
11:43time. So we're having all of that happen. Why are you just buying a sandwich? Right? So like it gets to
11:49a point where we're not just a food truck. We're literally, we're a sensory experience. We're a creative
11:54hub that we're encouraging local artists and especially local artists here in New Orleans who don't have
12:00access to things to be able to network, but network in a way that is efficient, but eco-friendly to them.
12:06And that is the first of its kind here in New Orleans. Don, you just said so many things that I
12:11I know it's a lot. Yeah. That sounds like a planet that I want to live on. Like it sounds like
12:17planet of Afro-punk. Like I want to live there. I don't want to just eat there. It's a really cool
12:22experience. It is truly an experience. Yeah, it's an experience. I couldn't, I've never even heard of a
12:28space that had all those elements tied together plus food. Um, so you're getting exposed to not
12:34just a vegan lifestyle, but just a sustainable living lifestyle. I I'm coming as soon as I can
12:39come to live there. You have space for, yes, it's important, especially for people of color. Like I
12:45think sometimes they just, you know, people, we are dissociated away from like people don't believe
12:50we understand what ego, you know, what an eco-friendly or sustainable lifestyle is when the truth
12:54is we are very aware of it. And especially in New Orleans, uh, sometimes financially because
12:59we are underprivileged and we don't have money, those opportunities for kids like me, you know,
13:05we didn't have those spaces. So what we're doing is our pricing is very like affordable, but we're
13:11giving better branding. So we're giving people more, you know, for their experience. We're telling
13:16people that especially people have come from nothing. You have a space that's built specifically
13:20for you. And not only is it plant-based, not only is it eco-friendly, but it's something you can afford
13:26and you can stay a while, stay a while and learn and network and grow and use materials that are
13:31beneficial for you, but also it makes you uncomfortable, right? They're learning as we go.
13:36They've never dealt with this type of pain. Some have never been vegan before. Some are, when they
13:40come, they're meat eaters and they're like, I've never tasted anything this good. We have a vegan fried
13:45egg that like New Orleans is the, we're the first to do it in New Orleans. Uh, like things like that,
13:50that are really cool. We're pushing the palette. We're pushing the idea of what a food truck really
13:55is. Um, we're pushing the idea of what a snowball really is in New Orleans, right? All these things
14:00that are normally staples, we're just pushing the possibilities of what veganism, what art,
14:05what creativity, what eco-friendly, what sustainability really can be in New Orleans.
14:10So I'm, I'm so intrigued and I want to know, you know, you're talking about how people are receiving
14:14it. And I think for me, food is always about community. And so I wanted to see, you know,
14:19has there been maybe, um, someone that you've impacted in a new way that you, you know, people
14:25that like a person that walked away with a new insight, a new experience that perhaps changed
14:29them a little bit, um, that you've heard of? Yeah. So here's a really cool story, by the
14:36way. Um, so our customers, we call them stashers, right? Because they, you know, they follow the
14:41pink mustache. Um, and, uh, we weren't aware, like, for example, they were discover was doing
14:47a grant, uh, for black businesses. And the only way you can be nominated is through customers.
14:54I had no clue about it. Um, we were just going around our merry little way as a business growing.
15:00We're only six months in, we're fairly new. Um, and we're literally having the pivot during the
15:04pandemic. So we're building a business in the middle of the pandemic. So we've really been kind
15:07of like doing the work in New Orleans. And we got a phone call saying, so a lot of your customers
15:13have nominated you for this grant. And we want to call you to let you know that you won. And the
15:18reason why we, we won $25,000. Yeah. Just based on our customers, uh, as a black business, we're only
15:25six months in and discovery was telling us that so many of our customers were like, so, and so happy
15:32and grateful for something like this in New Orleans and that they were raving about it, that they had to,
15:37they had to nominate us. And then we want to be on one of, one of the only two black businesses in
15:43New Orleans to win the grant. And that was literally a week ago we found out. So we received
15:47$25,000 based off of just the impact that we've had on our customers. And we've only been open six
15:54months. So like during a pandemic. And so it's been beautiful to see so many people saying that this
16:02has impacted them tremendously. And I think the biggest one also is we are a hundred percent female,
16:08a hundred percent black female. So like, that's even cooler. My chef is a black, beautiful female
16:13queer. Our workers are all women from all aspects, all local to New Orleans. And that's something that
16:20you haven't really seen in New Orleans like this, right? So down to our uniforms, which are made of
16:26hemp. Like we created this incredible energy in New Orleans that is strictly female, very black,
16:32very unapologetically. So, and in the midst of it, we're creating a hub for people to just kind of
16:39hang a while. So people come to buy something and they wind up staying over two to three hours
16:44just to experience it all. And they walk away with smiles on their faces. But I can say the coolest
16:49thing about that is we want a grant based off of our customers. Right. Congratulations on that. I think
16:57that is such a, you know, like when your community also gives back to you, you know, a lot of times
17:04we think about food as creating something, we're giving to the community, we're, you know, bringing
17:08the community, but when the community brings it back to you, that shows that connection. So definitely
17:14congratulations on that. Many more to come is just the beginning. And, you know, you mentioned
17:20I was thinking about a lot. COVID has really impacted food businesses quite a lot. How has it been for you
17:29and your team? The pivot is real. The pivot is real. And that's what I've learned. I wasn't even supposed
17:40to be in New Orleans this long. So it's been, you know, it's been, I'm very grateful for having to
17:46learn how to pivot in these times. I never thought that my trajectory would land me here. But what it
17:51has taught me is the importance of understanding how to take a challenge and make it, make it work
18:00for you. I've been lucky enough to say, okay, if this doesn't work, collaboration, that's what I
18:06wanted to say. Collaboration is imperative. I think more than anything, the pivot has taught me how to
18:11learn to collaborate with others. And because of that, I've been able to have really cool
18:16collaborations with other women, business entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs that are
18:20just as excited to figure out how to keep their business afloat. And what we've learned is that
18:26those collaborations have turned my business into something worth like saving, worth keeping around.
18:34And it has been very difficult, but it has also been very beautiful to learn how to survive in
18:40this. Because if you can survive in this pandemic, imagine what you can do when everything is just
18:45okay. And we're proving it. We're proving it within the six months that we've been, we've done,
18:51our numbers are astronomical, like what we've managed to do. We have eight locations that we pop up in,
18:56and that all grew during a time of pandemic. We weren't even built to be a delivery takeout service.
19:03And now we are. So to me, that was my weakness. I was built on just being one thing. And because
19:10of the pandemic, I now have four to five ways my business can stay open, just based off the fact that
19:15I had no choice but to learn how to keep it afloat. And I'm very proud of my girls and my chef and how
19:23they've managed to, you know, work because I've been able to help them still have paychecks, right?
19:28When most people are losing their jobs, we've been able to keep ourselves open and to support
19:34other Black incredible talents who need help, you know, in this time. So it has been difficult,
19:41but it also has been beautiful for me to learn how to grow as an entrepreneur, but also be savvy
19:46in times when things are not always going to go the way we want them to do. Now we're a very flexible
19:51and a very mobile business. And that is so critical. I think staying afloat during this time
19:58is so, it's so difficult as we see tons of restaurants are affected by the transition that
20:03this has met, but staying resilient, it seems like your team is really staying resilient, staying
20:08focused. And that's so necessary. And I think having a place like Papa Ted's is necessary for the future
20:15in general, like it's forward thinking. So we definitely need to be here. Um, but it brings
20:21me to another conversation that, you know, about challenging times in this world that we're in
20:26now where, you know, we're thinking, you know, Black rights, we're fighting for our rights and our
20:32equality in America, um, as well. And this, the theme for this festival is justice and joy. So I want
20:40to ask you, Don, what does justice and joy mean for you?
20:47That's a loaded question. Uh, justice and joy to me would be synonymous to someone like Breonna
20:53Taylor getting justice for her journey, right? That's what I see. I feel like we have a long
20:59way to go because when I hear of justice and joy, that means the justice would have to be prevailed,
21:06right? That means the justice would have to be met. And I feel like we're falling
21:09short on that. So I think we'll find joy when Breonna Taylor's name isn't in vain, right? Or,
21:16or Sandra Bland or like George Floyd, like those are the, those are the conversations where when I
21:23think of justice and joy, I think my people need to see their justice to feel that joy. Um, those two
21:31should be together and I feel like they're disjointed. And the moment I can see that my people,
21:37um, and those names, uh, can see, see, have their own justice, their families can walk away knowing
21:44that that wasn't in vain. That joy will be just as beautiful. And we can appreciate that. We finally
21:49understand that we, those words shouldn't be disjointed, but they should be one in the same.
21:55That's just a personal journey for me, especially as a woman. I feel like the black woman is severely
22:01underappreciated, severely, um, unrecognized injustice. Um, and so for me, joy comes when the,
22:10the, the black woman especially is understood as being the queen she is supposed to be and
22:16appreciated as, as so. And then that joy will be seen because it doesn't, it's not one side. It all
22:22has to be the same energy. We have to keep the same energy for all of it. And we have to understand
22:27that it is an imperative that those justices be met. And if they will do that, I think you'll see
22:33joy, not just within black culture, but you'll see joy within human humanity. I totally agree.
22:40Justice. It's hard to disassociate the terms. I, I totally agree with you. Um, because through one,
22:46we can get to the other, um, to the other true joy. Yeah. And it takes all of it. It takes all of it.
22:55Exactly. So Don, you said, you shared a lot with me and I think, you know, I'm, I'm almost a vegan
23:02based on this conversation. Let me tell you that. Almost, almost, almost. Just me with Mondays right now.
23:09It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. I want to take a moment to kind of bring your journey in music and
23:16food together through a little game. So I'm going to tell you the rules of the game. Yeah. And then
23:23we'll get started. Okay. So this game is called Beat or Grub Hub. Okay. So here's the rules. Okay. I will
23:31share with you a name of either a song or a dish from a menu, um, of a black owned restaurant,
23:40actually. And you will let me know if this is indeed a song, which is a beat, or is it really
23:48a grub, which is a dish? Okay. So does that make sense? A beat or a grub. All right. Okay. You ready?
23:58I think so. Okay. Mother popcorn. Huh? That's a grub. That is a beat. So that is a James
24:14Brown song. Yeah. That one is a James Brown song. That would be a James Brown song. Okay.
24:20That would be a James Brown song. I forgot. That's James. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Too lit to quit.
24:31Food. Grub. You're right. So this is actually, um, uh, a grub on Grub Hub. So you can find
24:40on Grub Hub people. And it is from a restaurant called Half Smoke in DC. If you're trying to
24:44check it out, it's a sort of a breakfast dish. Are you ready for the next one? Yep. We have
24:51a jerk pasta. Say it again. Turn up jerk pasta.
25:00That can't be a song. That's weird. Like, okay. I'm going to say grub. You're right. You're
25:10right. So that is a Grub Hub. And you can find it at Evelyn and Olive in Memphis, Tennessee,
25:18if you're looking for it. All right. So the last one is the Frim Fram Sauce. Now that's a song.
25:26Yeah, you're right. It's a Nat King Cole song. That would sound like something I would name
25:33a song. My question for you, right? If you could, um, what song, one of your songs, based
25:41on one of your songs that you have, what dish would you name after one of your songs?
25:45Ooh, from Papa Ted's. I would have to say, Ooh, well, I have a song called Sauce, by the
25:58way. Um, and I think that that's, that would be validation enough. Um, I don't know. Let
26:06me think. Oh, I have a, I have a song called Noir. And we do organic snowballs and we're doing
26:13a Saints snowball because, you know, go Saints every Sunday and we're doing a blackberry,
26:20a blackberry vanilla lime snowball, all organic with gold flakes. And that's the Saints stash
26:25ball that we're doing. And I feel like Noir could be a great name for that snowball.
26:30I totally agree. And I'm here for the flakes. It's very Instagrammy.
26:36It's very Instagrammy. It's yeah. Well, in New Orleans, anybody loves anything black and
26:43gold, like we bleed it. Um, but the organic blackberries with the hints of vanilla could
26:48be really beautiful. We also have a vegan condensed milk that we put on top of our, um, our stash
26:53balls. We call them stash balls, um, that are really popular as well. And it's a really,
26:57it's a coconut base. It's so good.
26:59Do you, um, send those cross country is the main question we're all dying to know.
27:06It's shaved ice. I don't know how long it would last in the mail.
27:10Um, but you got, that just means you guys have to come to New Orleans.
27:14Follow us at, at Papa Ted's truck on Instagram. We tell everybody where we're popping up.
27:18We always say, follow the pink mustache, hashtag pink mustache and see where the pot, the, um,
27:24the pink mustache will pop up next. We pop up all throughout New Orleans on the weekend.
27:28And now we're probably going to be on the weekdays. So follow us at, at Papa Ted's truck,
27:33P A P A T E D at T E D S T R U C K Papa Ted's truck and follow us and see what will pop up next.
27:41You just got to come to New Orleans. That's all that means is come Nola, come to the boot
27:46and get the best vegan experience you've ever had in your life. Not a food truck, a sensory experience.
27:52I'm so ready to be on my way to be part of the sensory experience.
27:57I told you I'm actually moving in, so I can't wait for that. I need a key, but honestly, Don,
28:02this has been such a great learning experience for me. Um, you're doing such an amazing thing,
28:07um, for in the food industry, but also as a black women in food, um, more women in food industry are needed.
28:15So being there and doing being a leader is really important. So thank you for sharing your work with us.
28:22Um, as you merge your experience in all these creative industries that you're in,
28:27we're looking forward to trying and coming down there as soon as we can.
28:31Well, the food will be on us snowballs on us. So make sure you guys come.
28:36All right. So you heard her. And if you haven't eaten yet, I keep encouraging you guys to definitely get your, your, your grub.
28:45So I want you to know we have our discount. So use the Afropunk discount to get, um, 15% off on any dish that you like.
28:54I suggest you get some black owned business dishes. Um, and like I said, check it out.
28:59Check it out the list on, on Afropunk's website. Dying black list has a whole bunch of black owned food businesses,
29:06and you can get 15% off of it off of any $15 or more items that you buy with the code Afropunk.
29:15So check that out, get your food on, get something to eat. And thank you for joining us.
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