A 6 Day Trip, but a Learning Experience that Will Last a Lifetime

We are back from our powerful learning experience in New Orleans! With all sincerity, we want to thank everyone that helped us make this trip possible. We learned so much in such a short amount of time, and after this trip, we feel much more informed about our nation's health crisis. Additionally, we gained insight into the deep-rooted issue of inequality that produces hunger, food insecurity, obesity, and malnutrition. The organizations we worked with inspired many of us to become change agents ourselves, following the example of their carefully thought out programs.

One of our greatest takeaways from the trip was learning the power of collaboration between highly specialized community organizations. These organizations are effectively working together and with the city of New Orleans to create a sustainable healthy future for all residents.

Throughout the next month, we will be posting more details about our trip, as well as our documentary-style video on THIS blog, so stay tuned!

Below is a breakdown of our daily experiences on the trip:

Friday, March 23rd: Propellor Incubator

We began our trip with a visit to Propellor Incubator, a nonprofit that supports entrepreneurs tackling social and environmental disparities. Here we learned about the importance of supporting entrepreneurs of color since only 1% of VC-funded founders are Black, 12% are Asian, and 87% are White. During our visit, we were fortunate to meet with Caroline Lutkewitte, Food Program Associate at Propellor. She gave us valuable insight into Propellor's work on the Healthy Corner Store Collaborative, a program that works to make fresh produce more affordable and accessible in corner stores throughout the city. On Wednesday, we had a spontaneous encounter with two of Propellor's partners in this initiative: Liberty's Kitchen and Top Box Foods. In learning about each of these organizations, we discovered that the Healthy Corner Store Collaborative is just one example of the many synergistic community efforts in New Orleans.

Saturday, March 24th: Cultural Activities

We had no visits or volunteering scheduled for this day since the organizations we worked with were only open on weekdays. However, this was a great day to explore the city and immerse ourselves in New Orleans culture. We began our day visiting a fun record store near our AirBnb. Then we walked through Crescent Park and stumbled upon a small Heritage Festival featuring local entrepreneurs. Walking through the park led us to the French Quarter, where we sampled some hot sauce, browsed through some local arts and crafts, watched street performers, and ate an authentic Louisiana-style lunch. After eating lunch and walking around Bourbon Street, we visited Rouses Market to buy some groceries for the week. We found the prices to be very expensive there, even though we were buying basic food necessities (e.g. bread, peanut butter, cereal, milk, fruit, etc.). We look forward to posting more of our insights from grocery shopping on our website within the next month.

Sunday, March 25th: Cultural Activities

On Sunday, our group had a unique cultural experience when we attended the Downtown Super Sunday Parade. Thank you to Jonathan Sackheim who recommended we check this out! The parade is put on by the New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian Council, known for their rich history and traditions. We enjoyed seeing the New Orleans Mardi Gras Indians dressed up in their extravagant costumes, and the excitement of the surrounding community was contagious. Neighborhood streets were lined with local food and drink stands. In the park, people were dancing and playing sports. Below are some photos of us participating in festivities during the parade:

Monday, March 26th: Edible Schoolyard NOLA

We woke up early to prepare breakfast with our new grocery items and catch the bus on time to volunteer with Edible Schoolyard NOLA at Phillis Wheatley Community School. Here we learned that almost all schools in New Orleans have become charter schools, enabling signature programs like Edible Schoolyard to provide enhanced educational opportunities to students.

During our visit, we split up into two groups. Some of us helped Dave DeCotiis, the Site Gardener, break down a plot of land to prepare for growing a new garden. It was hard work! The other group was assigned an easier task: helping Emily Neustrom, the Network Garden Manager, load up her truck with benches and supplies from another elementary school. This group had the pleasure of meeting some farm animals (a pig and some goats) at that school as well. Below is a photo of our group after volunteering:

Tuesday, March 27th: New Orleans Health Department and Sprout NOLA

Our eyes were opened to important issues beyond food insecurity during our morning visit to the New Orleans Health Department. Here we gained insight into a variety of problems the city faces, all stemming from the deep-rooted issues of inequality and poverty. A few major issues we discussed were violence, the opioid epidemic, and the issue of high unemployment rates amongst African American males. All of these problems coincide with food insecurity and poor health outcomes.

After visiting the Health Department, we bussed over to Whole Foods on Broad Street to eat lunch near our next volunteering opportunity. Through an interview with a friendly employee in the bakery, we learned that this particular Whole Foods offers the lowest-priced goods in New Orleans because of its affiliation with the ReFresh Project. This project was launched by Broad Community Connections after Hurricane Katrina to help promote the well-being of diverse neighborhoods in New Orleans. Although this Whole Foods store makes a smaller profit than other stores, it is still profitable and simultaneously stimulates growth in its surrounding community. For example, this Whole Foods permits local residents to set up a farmers market on their property every Monday. This example of corporate social responsibility was inspiring for our group since we witnessed the warmth and contentment of the surrounding Broad Street community and the Tremé Neighborhood first-hand.

After lunch, our group volunteered with Sprout NOLA where we were touched by the warmth and benevolence of the director, Emily Mickley-Doyle, and some of her co-workers. She gave us more information about the ReFresh Project and the sustainable impact it has made in their community. We helped Emily during our visit by painting some signs for their community garden. Our work is pictured below! We were so grateful when a local resident named Dera brought us a full bag of snacks from Whole Foods. She sells homemade pickles at the ReFresh Farmers Market at Whole Foods every Monday. Stay tuned, because we will be featuring her in a story on our blog.

We concluded our Tuesday night by attending a live jazz performance at Preservation Jazz Hall. This experience made us feel like we were transported to the past: it was so personal and pure. Pictures and video recording were not allowed. Instead, the audience was entirely invested in the present moment as the jazz musicians filled the room with passion and energy. 

Wednesday, March 28th: GrowDat Youth Farm and Revolution Foods

We woke up early to check out of our AirBnb and bring our luggage with us to GrowDat Youth Farm, which works to nurture a diverse group of young leaders through the meaningful work of growing food. When we arrived at the farm, we were greeted by Sean Winford, Head Crew Leader and Farm Fellow. He started working at GrowDat in high school. GrowDat Youth Farm was started by a high school teacher who wanted to see her students doing more meaningful work than their typical fast food jobs. Now, GrowDat employs roughly 70 high school students while simultaneously helping them develop strong leadership skills and learn about food sovereignty. Sean has been strongly impacted by his work at GrowDat, and he plans to go back to school in the near future to study Food Medicine. Sean will be featured in our documentary-style video, so look out for him in our footage from GrowDat!

Throughout our visit to Grow Dat, we helped pick weeds out of lettuce plots. We also had the opportunity to pull some crops out of the ground for harvesting. This experience was eye-opening since we typically never think about the source of the foods we eat. When we shop at the grocery store, eat at restaurants, etc., we are alienated from both the people who produced our food and the land from which our food originated. Volunteering at GrowDat made our group feel more connected and thoughtful about our daily consumption of food.

After our visit to GrowDat, we drove to Kenner, LA to visit Revolution Foods, a company that produces healthy lunches for kids throughout the U.S. In contrast to our gardening-related visits, this company visit gave us insight into the role of corporations in the food industry. Unfortunately, most corporations that provide school lunches (e.g. Sodexo) do not have the children's best interests in mind; however, Revolution Foods is working to change this culture. Our group was in awe of the staff's authentic concern for the well-being of children in schools they supply to. In fact, this motive dictates their everyday work, and their mission statement, to build lifelong healthy eaters by making kid-inspired, chef-crafted food accessible to all, is posted all over their facility. Keith Brown, Director of Business Development at the company, stressed that Revolution Foods works to be a partner for schools, not just another company trying to turn a profit. Revolution Foods is a certified B Corporation. 

The wonderful staff at Revolution Foods stayed after hours to answer all of our questions and emphasize their passion for the work they do. Below is a picture of our group and the staff at Revolution Foods, with a poster in the background that says: "Because of what I do TODAY, a child will eat TOMORROW."

After our visit to Revolution Foods, we went to the airport to catch our flight home. Deeply moved by our experiences in New Orleans, we were very sad to leave! We still have so much to contemplate on so that we can fully soak in the learning outcomes we received from our trip. Soon, our group will reunite for a viewing party of our completed documentary. We plan to cook dinner together like we did in New Orleans, and continue discussing some of our favorite memories from the trip.

Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, to everyone that helped us make this trip possible. Also, thank you to the warm people of New Orleans who welcomed us into their communities during our visit. As we add more information about our trip to this blog, we would appreciate you sharing our website with anyone that might be interested in our journey!

Blog post by Ellyson Beyer