为了对抗食物不平等，一家非营利组织帮助邻居吃得健康

When Bria Hutson was growing up in East Oakland, 加州, she had a routine. 每天放学后, she and her friends would stop at a corner store and load up on chips, 苏打水和其他垃圾食品. The nearest grocery store was miles away and her mom didn't drive.

她周围的人都经常吃快餐, 说到水果和蔬菜, 她的接触仅限于卷心莴苣, apples and other basic fruit and vegetables sold in the local bodegas.

But when Hutson's son was born in 2012, she knew she needed to change her unhealthy habits. She began buying more produce and learning creative ways to cook so her son and daughter, 两年后出生, 不会对着甘蓝做鬼脸吗, 花椰菜和其他蔬菜在他们的盘子里.

健康烹饪成了一种激情, 以至于她开始接受朋友的订单, 邻居和社区的其他人. She'd make foods like a burger made with jackfruit instead of meat, and healthy nachos loaded with vegetables and quinoa instead of processed cheese.

在…的帮助下 曼德拉的合作伙伴, a nonprofit that supports local food entrepreneurs and works to increase access to healthy food in low-income communities, 哈特森接受了如何经营食品企业的培训, 协助办理许可证和, 也许最重要的是, 操作售货亭, 三个月免租金, 在社区市场.

"Deep East Oakland is still a food desert and residents have to travel to a different community to access healthy food, 这是个问题,赫特森说。, now 27. “这段经历让我开始了自己的事业，Ju’c Fruits. 我就是我想看到的改变."

成立于2004年, 曼德拉的合作伙伴 was born out of a community effort to bring a grocery store to West Oakland. 多年来, Mandela has expanded to include business incubation and entrepreneur training services, a community-supported agriculture (CSA) program and a produce distribution network that connects more than a dozen local farmers to local retailers.

So, farmers get access to customers and a fair price for their produce, while residents in Oakland and the surrounding area get access to healthy and affordable food.

The nonprofit's work is driven by a vision that locally owned enterprises can be a vehicle for both economic empowerment and a healthier community. Instead of waiting for national retailers to set up shop in the neighborhood, 提供就业和投资, 曼德拉帮助当地人自己做这件事.

“我们的使命不仅仅是食品正义,西亚拉·塞古拉说, 曼德拉合作伙伴项目和政策主任. "It's about creating a locally owned economy so that the money that is being made in this community stays in the community."

The organization also runs a Healthy Retail Network that consists of 10 small grocers and corner market owners, 学校里还有八个社区农产品摊位, 图书馆和老年中心. 自大流行开始以来, the produce stands have been replaced by a fully subsidized CSA program that provides fresh produce for 400 low-income families per week.

曼德拉的合作伙伴 was recently awarded funding by the 美国心脏协会's 伯纳德J. 泰森影响基金该基金投资于资源不足的社区.

Meanwhile, Hutson is pushing ahead with her new business and is busier than ever. Thanks to Mandela, she now has a contract to cook 200 meals a week for a local women's shelter. 哈特森还计划开设一家实体店.

“能成为人们的祝福，感觉真的很棒,她说, 做你喜欢做的事."

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