“Making kraut-chi together is way better than Diana, my therapist.”
- 8yo, Berkeley Public Library
“The team arrived after a long hard day of unilateral working. In our teambuild, I saw them expand and become multidimensional.”
- Christine, Director, Google
WUNDERLAND KITCHEN partners with schools, libraries, and organizations that care about food as culture, education, and public good.
WHO WE ARE
June Jo Lee is a Food Ethnographer
and cultural strategist who studies the emotional, social, and sensory dimensions of eating. From Korean kimchi factories to consumer homes and Google canteens, her work dives deep into how food reflects identity, culture, and our shared futures.
She is co-author of award-winning picture books, Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix (2017) and Sandor Katz and the Tiny Wild (2022). Her forthcoming book, Kimchi Taco Time (Fall 2026) explores the chili’s way of helping kids to try more, taste more, feel more, and grow.
Philip Lee is a children’s book publisher
and co-founder of Readers to Eaters, dedicated to food literacy through books and community programming. A pioneer in multicultural publishing and co-founder of Lee & Low Books, he was named one of Publishers Weekly’s Top 25 Book Industry Changemakers.
Ari Jo is an illustrator
whose work blends humor, tenderness, and cultural questioning. Her visual voice brings a Gen Z perspective that make big ideas accessible, playful, and inviting.
Our Values
We believe food is not just fuel or content. It is how people learn, remember, care, and belong.
We design food experiences that are grounded, playful, and culturally responsive.
We honor many ways of knowing, many ways of tasting, and many ways of coming to the table.
Secret Sauce
Our work is grounded in Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop’s classic Windows, Mirrors, and Doors framework and informed by June Jo Lee’s two decades of ethnographic research.
We believe food is a powerful medium for reflection, perspective-taking, and belonging.
When people are invited to taste, make, and reflect together, they begin to see themselves and others more clearly.
Partners
New York Public Library • New York City Public Schools • San Francisco Public Libraries • King County Library System • DC Public Library • Skokie Public Library • The Dalton School • Open Book Foundation • California Farmers Markets • CA WIC • Farmers Foodprint • National Ag In The Classroom • Google • Organic Valley
Origin Story
WUNDERLAND KITCHEN began as a Food Art Project during the COVID era. We produced 48 tasting boxes and hosted digital gatherings where participants unpacked ideas, remixed flavors together, and experienced taste as transformation. 2021 prototypes included:
Sugar Mirrors (CGMs)
All is made of Light (regenerative business)
Hot Mess (Afrofuturism)
Liquid Gold (NFTs)
Forest Kitchen (edible taboos)
For Ever Green (regenerative investing)