Episode 142: The 2026 Imbibe 75 With Fabiola Santiago

Among our 2026 Imbibe 75 People to Watch is Fabiola Santiago, founder of Mi Oaxaca, a non-profit focused on preserving Oaxaca’s food and beverage cultures. Santiago joins us to talk about protecting the culture and heritage surrounding mezcal and how to ensure a sustainable future for the spirit and the people who produce it.

Radio Imbibe is the audio home of Imbibe magazine. In each episode, we dive into liquid culture, exploring the people, places, and flavors of the drinkscape through conversations about cocktails, coffee, beer, spirits, and wine. Keep up with us on Instagram, Threads, and Facebook. And if you’re not already a subscriber, we’d love to have you join us—click here to subscribe. 

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Paul Clarke

Hey everybody, welcome back to Radio Imbibe from Imbibe Magazine. I’m Paul Clarke, Imbibe’s editor-in-chief. 

And as you may have picked up upon by now, if you’ve been reading Imbibe or listening to the podcast, we are heading into our 20th anniversary year at Imbibe. And that means lots of things for us. First off, as an independent publication, one that still very much has the classic ink and paper model of magazine production going on, making it to 20 years is a super big deal. Very few magazines can make it that long, especially without some kind of rigid corporate ownership. So we owe a tremendous debt of thanks to our subscribers.

If you’re already a subscriber to the print and/or digital issues of Imbibe, then sincere and heartfelt thanks from all of our small team at Imbibe. And if you’re not a subscriber, then please help us keep the wheels on and gas in the tank as we head into our third decade, and sign up as a subscriber today. We’ve got a link for you in this episode’s notes, and on our website. We’re happy to help you out. 

But also, when we look back on what we’ve covered over the past two decades, and on the changes and evolution that have gone on in the drinks world during that time, we’re seeing lots of different patterns that have emerged over the years. Sometimes it may just be a little blip or tiny trends. A cocktail bar in a particular city starts using some spirit or flavor or some special ingredient. And we write about it as we do. Then years later, that spirit or flavor or ingredient are absolutely everywhere. And we can no longer imagine a cocktail world or a drinks world without it. 

When we first got rolling at Imbibe back in 2006, mezcal was one of those relatively tiny blips on the drinks scene in the United States. In Mexico, and particularly in Oaxaca, of course, it’s been a part of the culture and the society and an integral part of the culinary landscape for many generations. As mezcal’s fortunes took off in the United States, we started seeing mezcal poured into countless cocktails around the world. A lot of attention has been paid to mezcal and how it’s made and what it tastes like and all that, which is great in a way. 

But mezcal’s popularity hasn’t only meant good things for the people who make it or the communities that rely on it or the cultures for which it has such significance. And as the money has poured into the category and big companies have gotten involved and celebrities have launched their own brands, it’s made the world of mezcal a lot more complicated. 

Last year, when we were first putting together ideas for what would become our 2026 list of the Imbibe 75 people and places who are changing the way we drink, I came across an organization online called Mi Oaxaca, and its founder, Fabiola Santiago. Fabiola and her family are originally from Oaxaca. And over the years that she’s been living and working in California in restaurants and the hospitality sector early on. More recently as a public health researcher, she’s turned her attention more to the people and communities in Oaxaca and how this culture that gives us mezcal and mole and a whole range of culinary and cultural contributions is being overlooked or commodified or simplified or just lumped altogether as simply Mexican.

Mi Oaxaca engages in a range of educational programs that aim to bring more insight and context to our conversations about Oaxaca and its cultural contributions, including mezcal. So we selected Fabiola Santiago for our 2026 list of the Imbibe 75, and asked her to share with us her story and to fill us in on the work she does. 

Before we get started, from February 19 through the 22, celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival, presented by Capital One, featuring Diplo Live. Tickets benefit FIU. Get yours now at sobewff.org. 

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Paul Clarke

Fabiola, welcome to Radio Imbibe. 

Fabiola Santiago

Hi, thank you for having me here. 

Paul Clarke

And I’m excited to chat with you. Thanks for taking the time, and especially because I know this is a very busy time for you. You’re the founder of Mi Oaxaca, a nonprofit organization focused on preserving Oaxaca’s food and beverage cultures. And at the time we’re having this conversation, you just wrapped up a major event. Before we get into some of the particulars of the organization and its work, can I ask you to take a step back and explain kind of the rationale for an organization like yours in the first place? What need did you see for an effort focused on preserving Oaxaca’s food and beverage cultures? 

Fabiola Santiago

Yeah, the one phrase would be cultural appropriation with Oaxaca becoming a central point for travel, tourism, mezcal, culinary experiences, and all of that. What I was seeing in the United States is that people were misrepresenting it or appropriating it altogether. There’s been various examples. So I figured I think people deserve much more particular education. And Oaxaca deserves to have its own attributions, cultural attributions, and not to be homogenized as just Mexican food. 

Paul Clarke

Right. And when you look at something like mezcal, as you mentioned, which in the past 20, 25 years has gone from relative obscurity in the United States and globally outside of Mexico, and has turned into this massive kind of enterprise with all kinds of implications for the communities that make it. What kinds of concerns has that raised from the perspective of thinking about this traditional culture and heritage? 

Fabiola Santiago

Oh, it’s, um, so many concerns from the physical environment, the social cultural fabric, economic equity, as well as cultural equity. And also for consumers, like quality of products. I think like at almost every stage across the supply chain, there are a lot of issues that don’t get highlighted, don’t get the attention. Or people don’t know about to truly understand, appreciate, and consume consciously. 

Paul Clarke

And all of this is not abstract to you. You and your family are from Oaxaca. You’ve lived in California for decades, and you’ve worked in restaurants and the hospitality sector. Uh, you’ve also worked as a public health researcher publishing studies on wage theft within the hospitality world. From all of those experiences, that range of experiences, what compelled you to take the next step and look at this nonprofit organization and look at this kind of educational engagement? 

Fabiola Santiago

Yeah, well, my background in public health has been more focused on what we call social determinants of health. Some people call it social conditions that affect health. So it’s not just what you eat or how much you exercise, but access to quality education, access to good housing, employment and having good employment. And all of those things, when we look at mezcal, are things that are missing for producers, for hospitality industry workers that are actually running the show. Right. And so with Mi Oaxaca, there is a very strong education emphasis because we believe that through education. It’s the same, or that similar concept of education and knowledge is power. And we truly mean it.

But it’s also for us, a public health intervention where we would love to get at some point where producers understand the massiveness of the global economy and the mezcal economy in particular, because I don’t think a lot of folks know just how big of an industry it is and what their labor is contributing towards. So that’s one end. And then for folks in the hospitality industry, it could be that they get bombarded by brands or they don’t have the decision making power to decide what they’re going to serve. So they just serve it most often.

And so with this education program, we’re hoping that folks who are in the hospitality industry have more cultural knowledge and can perhaps choose mezcals or guide consumers towards mezcals that are a little bit more ethical and maybe producer. And there’s just so many markers and benchmarks that we can use to have mezcal options that are a little better than the huge conglomerated kinds. 

Paul Clarke 

And can we talk about some of the programs you engage in cultural education, both in person and virtually, from mezcal classes to a six-week course, an introduction of mezcal through Indigenous world views? What’s the response been to these since you first introduced them and what kinds of audiences and engagement are you looking for? 

Fabiola Santiago

Yeah, let’s start with the six weeks, because that’s our flagship course, and we are on our third cohort. The response has been very affirming, very positive. So the folks who join are a mix of people like me who are what hawking is in diaspora. So either born in Oaxaca and raised here or born here in the United States. And a lot of times there is no access to knowledge and how, like, for example, today we covered Indigenous intellectual knowledge.

We were looking at some hieroglyphics and looking at the herbs that we use and that are in that hieroglyphics that we still use today in our ceremonies. We also did that same exercise or a similar exercise with maguey, which, you know, is agave and understanding that the plant had a different type of value. It wasn’t just a commodity. But it had the word that comes to mind is like a sacredness to the plant. 

So it’s really fascinating for folks who would never think to dive that deeply when they’re thinking or drinking mezcal. I think it’s the same thing for folks who are not from Oaxaca who there’s some folks who run restaurants, hospitality industry, people who join the course. And they oftentimes don’t have this knowledge either because, you know, when they go on their trips to Oaxaca, a lot of times the information that they gather is around the production process or the different production processes that each pueblo or region has. And they have a vast amount of knowledge. But understanding it through Indigenous world views is something that kind of opens up their eyes to like, oh, wait, this really is a sacred plant and it has multiple uses. So it’s been very promising. I mean, we’re in our third cohort, so I think it’s going really well.

For the six-week cohort, our intention is to affect social and cultural responsibility and to increase critical thinking. The reason why we do that is because living in the United States or being bombarded with consumerism, we want people to make more ethical decisions when they imbibe in mezcal. And so, but through this course, they also engage in critical thinking and invites to get, take off our U.S. lens of understanding culture mezcal and all the things that we cover and understanding it in a different way. yeah. And for our other programs, once a year, we do a cultural exchange where folks either … For example, a couple of years ago, a group of folks, folks of color who work in the hospitality industry, either as restaurant owners or some other food business, went to Oaxaca, many of them for the first time.

I think for them it was also just like, “Oh, wow, yes.” And we have a cultural exchange for the first time. We don’t promote it online. We don’t promote it on social media, because we don’t want to partake in the human zoo component of tourism and travel culture. It really truly is about connecting with people and asking folks that we take, what are you also bringing? This is an exchange. This is not just for you to learn and take whatever you learn and bring it to your business. But what are you also bringing to the communities that we’re visiting. And how are you going to continue to practice the things that you love about it? Whether that’s the real hospitality, the generosity that you will be opened with, the love, and just…

I mean, I don’t know if you’ve been to Oaxaca, but it’s a very special place where I think people will say, “Yes, Mexico is very hospitable. But when you go to Oaxaca, it’s another level.” I like to call that the Indigenous hospitality because sometimes we treat our guests really so much better than ourselves. There’s like a double-edged sword there, but I won’t get into it. 

And so, yeah, we do this trip once a year or so. And then we also engage in workshops, whether that’s a tasting or a training with other nonprofit partners at universities and colleges. Really, anybody who is… Because the thing is, like, mezcal touches culture, it touches agriculture, it touches business, it touches… Looking at it through a gender lens, also, we can touch on that. Indigenous culture, mainly because, you know, Oaxaca is one of the states with the largest indigenous populations. And Zapotec people are still one of the largest producers in this era of mezcal production. 

Paul Clarke 

And you also emphasize narrative change, narrative storytelling as part of your programs. How does this factor into Mi Oaxaca’s mission and why is this so valuable to your work? 

Fabiola Santiago

Yeah, yeah, no, that’s very valuable because… Well, I’ll share one example of why narrative change is such a key part of our strategy our programs. It’s because when the mezcal boom started happening. And I know you heard this, we heard all across know, many articles and media, sorry, that mezcal is tequila’s smoky cousin. That would drive me a little nuts. I’m like, oh my gosh, how can you disrespect mezcal like that? Because mezcal is like, I would say, the mother and not a cousin. And it’s like, the smokiness, it was like the only attribution that mezcal got. And that narrative took root. 

I think now we’re unrooting it. And you know, folks are doing like, nope, not all mezcals are smoky, and actually mezcal precedes tequila, and tequila is a type of mezcal. So who gets to tell the stories about mezcal, the people who make the mezcal is very important. And it’s not to say that people who are not from Oaxaca, or from producing communities should not be saying it. But it’s more so to be mindful about how we’re saying those things. And who, and what it is that we’re trying to transmit, or the narrative and storytellers are trying to transmit.

That’s one part of the other part of our narrative change work is seeing that in a lot of websites, mezcal websites, or even tastings when brand representatives or ambassadors talk about it, their brand, they talk about it in a very romanticized way. This is made by a fourth-generation mezcalero or fifth-generation mezcalero in this know, area.

And being from Oaxaca, I’m like, well, why aren’t you saying the part that he was also a dishwasher in a restaurant in the U.S. during the ’90s? Or what about the part of their humanity where they actually had to go back and they’re constantly being driven by or being pushed and pulled by the larger economic conditions of this world that there’s seldom any agency for them? And they do it because they were producing mezcal because that was one way that they could have some form of economic stability or opportunities. 

But then when nobody wanted mezcal in the ’90s, in the ’80s and ’90s, and even, you know, the different eras, people had to migrate. And that was the case for Santiago Matatlan. A lot of the men migrated in the ’80s, late ’80s and ’90s because nobody wanted to buy mezcal. And I mean, there were a bunch of other conditions. And we won’t get into that because it’s just very complicated and complex information. But they came here.

A lot of them worked in LA in the hospitality industry. If I was going to go back to Oaxaca and in particular my town, you can find Persian food, Korean food, Chinese food, Thai food is because they worked in these fields. But we don’t tell those stories because I think people are afraid to be what we say political. However, everything is political because it’s political. Well, everything is political. 

We have a denomination of origin that was established in 1994 that literally changed the trajectory of what can be called mezcal, how it is supposed to be produced, that some producers pushed back against and that some producers are like, I’m not going to engage in that. And so it is political. And I think in this era what we’re living right now, it is critical to be political and to name the bigger things that are affecting our health and our future. 

Paul Clarke 

So, and I’m really glad you brought that up because I want to touch upon that just a little bit. At the time that we’re having this conversation, we’re seeing the news every day about raids from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE in communities across the country. You’ve posted about this on social media to some degree. How does the current climate and these current news issues have a bearing on the message you’re conveying and the work you’re doing right now? How does this all kind of fit together? 

Fabiola Santiago 

Yeah, I mean, that’s the news, right? That’s what we’re seeing in the news outlet. Then at the same time, we’re seeing that the misguided law. And then when we’re seeing that the mezcal category is growing, it continues to grow a multi-billion dollar industry. As I’m sitting at this intersection, these groups are not talking to each other necessarily. People want to stay in their industry and don’t want to get political. However, they don’t realize that a lot of the times that people that make this industry possible, that is the growers, the producers, the distillers, the culture are first in line to get impacted and targeted by anti-immigration and anti-Indigenous sentiments. 

And for me, it doesn’t make sense for people to say, I love Oaxaca. I love mezcal. And I hear that so much without actually showing up and loving the humans and the land that make us make it possible for us to have mezcal. Now, that folks listening to this, you know, there are going to be a number of folks who care about mezcal, who maybe love mezcal and want to make the right kinds of decisions. 

Paul Clarke

What are some of the first steps that they can take to think about this a little bit more ethically in terms of their purchasing and consumption? 

Fabiola Santiago

Mi Oaxaca’s standpoint, we start with reflection questions. So when people say, I love mezcal, I ask them why. What is it? What was your first mezcal experience like? And what do you love about it? Because what I’ll hear often is that people will say, oh, I had it in a cocktail. But sometimes I don’t know that by just sticking to cocktails, they are engaging in the growing monoculture of a specific type of maguey or agave species, the one that takes the least amount of time to grow. And so that actually does damage to the diversity of the plant.

We invite people to taste other different types of mezcals and taste it without mixing it because it’s kind of like any food. If you can appreciate how it tastes, the word that comes to mind is if you can appreciate the way it tastes naked just by itself, you maybe there’ll be not as much of a need to mix it. So that’s how I think about it. 

Not to say, you know, I get it. Cocktail culture is strong. It has its own history. And I think tasting outside of mezcal is outside of cocktails is one way to engage with it more holistically. Also understanding that the plant doesn’t just produce mezcal. It does so much more for and, you know, has done a lot for indigenous Mexican communities. Uh, and so learning about all that it does and all that it gives, I think, is also another way that we invite people to engage with the plant. Another thing that has come up more recently is create a relationship with the plant because, you know, I think in the U.S. food system and maybe a lot of food systems, we’re so disconnected from the sources. We’re so disconnected from the people and the, and the foods that we eat and we get to have.

But when somebody actually learns how to plant something, whether that’s corn or squash or tomatoes, or I don’t know, onions. There’s a different appreciation. Like, wow, that took a lot of care, a lot of time. And we don’t take it for granted as much. Or we appreciate it more indifferently. And then one of the things that I would love to see is for mezcal to actually be valued at the same rate or at a rate that also values human labor. Because right now I think it’s cheap.

And I know people say, whoa, it’s so expensive. And I’m like, no, it’s not. It’s a lot of labor that goes into it that is not being accounted for. And if we actually valued the labor, the hands that work the land and work the distillation process, it would have a different value. And perhaps we could imbibe in it more consciously, more respectfully, and not as recklessly.

We are seeing some changes in alcohol consumption by the new generations and that they’re not as much into it. And we shouldn’t have to be drinking mezcal or any alcohol, really, to a degree that it damages our planet and our bodies. And that’s really at the core of our work. It’s to promote human health and planetary health. Because they go hand in hand. 

Paul Clarke

Right. At the time this episode comes out and the time that we have you in the magazine, it’ll be early 2026. And you were recently accepted into the Changemaker authors cohort to share some of your research findings in a book. What was the origin of that work? And when and what should we expect to see when that’s finished? 

Fabiola Santiago

What makes you proud of being from this community? What makes you stand out? You know, the pros and the cons, if you will. We also partake in interviews. And so these interviews will be going in a book that I am writing. And it’s going to be through my lens. Because I have a both and lens. I like to say soy de aquí y soy de allá, which is “I am from here and I am from there.” I do feel a sense of belonging in both places. In Oaxaca and here in the U.S. 

And I think my goal is for people to understand Oaxaca, the producers mezcal, indigenous identity through a diasporic lens. Because I think right now, and it’s not our fault. It’s our education systems. We don’t learn enough about geography or about our cultures. And we think like, oh, it’s just Mexico. But there’s so much diversity in Mexico. And one thing, one way that we can keep indigenous peoples alive is by giving attribution. And by acknowledging that we are still here. We may look like a Latina. Because that’s what they see. But there’s more to that. But ultimately that invites people to also reflect on their own identities and how they relate to their foods.

It’s been hard, I will say, to write this book, because it’s very personal. I think I realized, I thought I could. So not be so personal about it. But as somebody who had to, whose family had to migrate out of necessity to the United States, and was undocumented over 20 years, I can’t deny that there is some anger. There is also frustrations about the industry, about the way that people are engaging with the cultures of Oaxaca. And also what my hopes are.

Because I think like, you know, a lot of times we don’t get the spotlight that the mic doesn’t make it to us. It’s other people speaking about mezcal, about Oaxaca that are not from Oaxaca, that are not from mezcal producing communities. And so it’s more about sharing the mic. But yeah, it’s been quite a process. And we will see. 2026, the goal is to finish that book. Publication is a whole other story, right? 

Paul Clarke

Well, fantastic. We’ll keep our eyes out for that. We are coming to near the end of our time together. Is there anything else you’d like to share with us or that we should know about the work that you’re doing or how to follow it in the days ahead? 

Fabiola Santiago

Yes. You can visit our website, www.mioxaca.org. That’s M-I-O-A-X-A-C-A. org, where we have a little bit more of our programs, our narrative change work, our events, and then our Instagram, which is probably where we are most active, though not every single day. We are a small organization still. And we’d love for folks to join our next cohort, which is going to be in the spring. The dates are forthcoming. But if you get on our email list, you’ll be the first to know. And we’ll always do it like an early bird.

And, the last thing I want to say is, Mi Oaxaca, really, really wants, you know, people to continue to enjoy Oaxacan culture. But do it in a way that it feels respectful. To relate to our foods and cultures by keeping the Indigenous peoples alive, giving us attribution for our cultural contributions globally, because that’s the right thing to do. Especially in this era, when people are reconnecting with their Indigenous roots. I think the people who know that or can do that are folks who are from the pueblos originarios or the Indigenous communities. I don’t know.

Times are tough. Sometimes I feel hopeless, to be honest. But I still wake up every day to do this work because, gosh, gosh, what are we leaving our kids, you know? Like, I grew up around, there was like a river that I played in before the boom that I, as a child, that I, my child can’t play in because it’s dumped on. That’s what I’m talking about. And that’s why I do this work. And I’m just wondering, what would you do if your child cannot play in the rivers and have clean water? This is what Mi Oaxaca is for future generations. To have something. 

Paul Clarke

Fantastic. Fabiola, thanks so much for taking the time to share all of this with us. And please keep up the good work. 

Fabiola Santiago

Thank you. Thanks for having me. 

Paul Clarke

You can find Fabiola Santiago on Instagram at @oaxacthetalk. And learn more about Mi Oaxaca at mioaxaca.org. We’ve got the links for you in this episode’s notes. 

Once again, this episode is sponsored by the Food Network South Beach Wine and Food Festival, presented by Capital One. Find out more at sobewff.org.

And that’s it for this episode. Subscribe to Radio Imbibe on your favorite podcast app to keep up with all our future episodes. You can find plenty of articles and recipes on our website, imbibemagazine.com. Keep up with us day-to-day on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and Threads. And if you’re not already a subscriber to the print and or digital issues of Imbibe, then here’s your opportunity to change that. Just follow the links in this episode’s notes, and we’ll be happy to help you out. I’m Paul Clarke. This is Radio Imbibe. Catch you next time.