March 13, 2024 • 45 mins
Rayna Andrews, a fervent Public Health Ambassador, shares a slice of her life where adversity and advocacy intertwine. Milwaukee's own Food is Medicine proponent, Rayna, not only offers nourishment but also seeds of health to communities in need. Our conversation dips into a pool of personal accounts, from my own to Rayna’s.
In this episode, we discuss the harrowing realities of youth homelessness as we dive into an experience created by Rayna to reveal shocking truth, of survival for just 72 hours on the streets of Milwaukee. We dissect the barriers homeless youth face in accessing shelter and food, and the glaring inefficiencies of emergency resources.
We wrap up with an in-depth look at how food insecurity, housing, healthcare, and employment are interlaced strands in the tapestry of societal challenges.
A special shoutout for the great mission and work of The Collaboratory of SWFL!
You don’t want to miss this thought provoking conversation.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, proven, not perfect.
This is Sean Trapal, yourpodcast host.
I have a great one for us.
Today.
I'm talking to Reina Andrews,who's Public Health Ambassador
and Food is Medicine thoughtleader, located in the Midwest
the mighty Midwest, in theMilwaukee area and with Women's
(00:20):
Month 2024 in full swing, I amdelighted to share what I
believe is a heart ledconversation with this social
activist for food accessibility,reina Andrews.
Reina shares her story andpassion in a 2016 TEDx talk
entitled Food and Security is aPublic Health Concern.
Reina reached over 47,000viewers in this talk.
(00:44):
Y'all.
Reina has launched new ideas forFood is Medicine, adding to the
equation.
It's not good enough to providefood.
It must be thoughtful andhealthy.
What a novel idea.
And she provides us a rubricfor us to consider.
So Reina is a published authorof a children's book series that
(01:06):
cleverly peaks our curiosityand understanding by evolving
the character to become anentrepreneur.
This young girl becomes anentrepreneur.
I love it.
In true proven, not perfectstyle.
You get the girlfriend opening.
I'm just warning you.
You do.
It happens is just how we roll,where we reminisce and we catch
up.
But when I tell you, this hitshard, as Reina's vulnerability
(01:28):
is an inspiration.
I'm telling you, I'm tellingyou, I'm telling you, this hits
hard.
Also, there's a shout out to mygirls Sarah Owen, past CEO of
the Southwest FloridaCollaboratory, and current CEO,
dawn Bellamiric, current who areboth ladies that are advancing
a mission to eradicatedisparities with a very
(01:51):
audacious goal and a veryaudacious timeline, including
poverty.
So I think I actually made acommitment to make a connection
there, so we all heard it andit's got to happen.
You will want to listen to this, you will want to like it, you
will want to share it.
Enjoy, proven, not perfect.
(02:11):
Reina girl, yes, it's been aminute since I've seen you
outside of the scrolling.
You know the scrolling that wedo and we have our friends in
the scroll and we're like, ohhey, girl, it's been about six
years in person.
It's been six years in person.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Because how old is your baby.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Julian is six and a half, that's what I'm saying.
So this is how I know, becauseyou were what.
I just remember the closingtour when my family was getting
ready to move, make a huge movefrom Midwest to South Florida,
and you had just had baby.
(02:56):
And part of the closing tour wasto hit those, those personal
spots that were really importantto me.
And you know the privilege tobe in the space with you and
your baby as he was just born,as you were a beautiful mom just
so concerned with figuring allthe things out.
But just like we talked about,it was instinctive, right, like
(03:20):
it is insane how instinctive itis.
And then we get the privilegeof having our mama there too.
Yeah, there's something aboutthat that just blows my mind,
right.
And so I remember being in thatplace with you.
And here we are, six and a halfyears later, and literally,
(03:40):
figuratively right.
I mean seriously, can we talkabout that?
Because I even try to thinkback to who I was when I left
the Midwest and who I am now,six and a half years in South
Florida.
When I left the Midwest I feellike I was a bit broken.
(04:07):
Sounds crazy to say, because ifyou roll the tape back, yeah,
when onlooker to an outsider younever would have thought that I
would grow was all good, allgood, all gravy, nothing but the
high points, right.
But when I think back, why do Isay broken?
(04:29):
I think because what resonatesfor me is just got a bit more
bumpy and tough and I believenow, looking back, that that was
just the God movement of notfit.
Personally feel like I fitthere anymore, so that I would
(04:53):
be ready to move.
So I just remember feeling likethe jeans just feel a little
tight or, you know, the shirtjust doesn't fit quite right.
That's what I remember.
So maybe it wasn't broken,maybe it was just it was time to
move.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
I truly believe that we all have and should get used
to as a part of the journey, ourhilltop moments and our moments
in the valley.
And we don't often talk aboutare the transitioning points,
which is the up and down.
Yes, and I think the analogy ofexample of the tightening of the
pants is your preparation orthat transition period up or
(05:36):
down.
Yes, I was a bit discussing andthe pastor talks about the
lilies in the valley and you usethe example of the lily and
that God has you and the beautyof the lily is that they're
perennial so that they can growyear after year after year, but
they'll get to their lowestpoint and sometimes, when you're
(05:58):
in the valley, you could feellike you're in your lowest point
, but this next season ispromising and it would never
look like you went through thatlowest point and I feel like in
2016, when we last connected,you know I've birthed something
beautiful and being a new mom,but I was certainly and at my
(06:20):
lowest point, you knowpostpartum depression, trying to
figure things out, trying to amI prepared, lord?
What Did I sign up for this?
Why, and what was so beautiful?
I don't think I saw it as sobeautiful, but I realized that
there was an agreement that Imade with God.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Yes, yeah, oh, my God .
And so here we are, six and ahalf years later, and we're both
doing that hug, virtually noless, but we're doing that hug
and we're both bringing up that.
At that place where I thoughtyou had it all going on together
(07:02):
, collected, you were feelinglike, ooh, and you thought I had
it all going on collected.
Of course you do.
You're promoted to this newplace and then this new thing,
dah, dah, dah dah.
It's not about that.
It's about what's going oninternally and how God is
working on us at that placewhere we are at that moment, and
(07:25):
the purity to be able toacknowledge that, oh my God, wow
, I just got all kind of chills.
So today, today, here wereunion, because one of the
things that I have seen andacknowledged that you're working
on is in the space where Iremember meeting you.
So I'm gonna file it back to.
(07:46):
It probably was like 2015, 2014,.
That feels about the timeframefor me and I was in Milwaukee
Forum.
Oh my God, I'm taking you back,sis.
I'm taking you back Cause thisis before.
I knew you as my sore, really,but you came as a visitor to the
Milwaukee Forum meeting.
(08:07):
So, just for my listeners, ifyou are in sort of a local,
global community of leaders,where there is an organization
that pulls those leaderstogether for a place of
conversation, of contracts, ofdebates, of discussion.
A lot of time, the leaders ofany place and space that you're
(08:30):
in so that's Milwaukee Forum,that was the group that I was in
Raina came in as a specialguest and speaker, and I
remember that night distinctlywhen you shared an experiment
Homeless for the holidays.
Yeah, it's for the holidays.
Talk about that.
Tell me, bring it back to me.
(08:51):
What was homeless for theholidays, so that we can.
So we can start there, cause Iwant people to know who I
connected with initially.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
So that was before my days, even in food banking.
That was before my days incounty government.
That was back in my city,milwaukee days, yes, where I was
just on the brink of startingoff with the human trafficking
task force of Greater Milwaukee,where I was one of the initial
founders with Martha Love whowas in the past.
(09:21):
Oh my God, yes, yes, and Iremember so that dates back to
like that was like close to 2010.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Okay, I knew it was way back.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
And then, after that, I ended up joining the forum.
But to stick to the story, sothere's a statistic that after
72 hours, a teenager or youthbegin to engage in survival sex
in order to meet their mostbasic human needs, and the most
basic is food and shelter.
I just didn't understand thatin a community where we have I
(09:56):
mean, milwaukee has so manynonprofits covering so many
areas, why is it that a youthcan't discover these problems?
And so I really want to putmyself in the shoes of a young
person, and I was probably in myearly 20s.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
You were early 20s.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Yes, Wow, I want to put myself in the shoes of
someone who didn't know of anyof these other resources.
I knew in the back of my mind211, but the average person
doesn't know about 211, which isour emergency hotline.
And so I assembled a crew,because I was also very much
into film back then from a localart institute it was the art
(10:37):
institute before it leftMilwaukee and I had some film
students who were willing totake this rugged road with me
and just really capture some ofthe moments and the instances.
And so for 72 hours the weekleading up to Christmas Eve, I
started off at the very top ofthat hill on North Avenue, going
(10:59):
towards the east side, and Ididn't have a cell phone, no
money in my pocket, just a coat,the clothes that I put on that
morning.
The crew picked me up from myhouse and dropped me off at this
point, and so I remember thefirst point was going to
McDonald's where I was able touse a cell phone, and I can't
believe I said I can't rememberwhat I wore yesterday, and so it
(11:19):
just all coming back to me sovividly.
I remember.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
This is an appointed story for an appointed time.
That's what I'm saying BecauseI don't remember breakfast
yesterday, but I remember thatyeah.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
So in this experiment it was for me a way of getting
rooted to the lived experienceof so many of our young people
in our community that you seethe symptom being they're strung
out on drugs, they're depressed, they're stripping, they're
selling drugs, but we don't lookat the cause, like the root of
(11:52):
it, which is abandonment.
And so to this experiment.
Look for it, look for cellphone, look for shelter, called
around, and in the first, Iwould say, 12 hours I had
nothing to eat and I was runningaround trying to figure it out.
First they sent me to theSalvation Army, but all of their
beds were taken.
Then they sent me to a warm bedplace which was a church that
(12:17):
had maybe 25 beds laid out inthe basement, almost like a
refugee camp.
And because I didn't have anymoney, I couldn't get on the bus
and I couldn't walk there fastenough for the time that they
would close.
So I couldn't get a hot bed.
And I remember being sodesperate, jumping on a bus to
(12:39):
Pathfinders, which was the onlyorganization that I knew of, and
I was starving.
I remember I was feelingdelirious at this point that I
was on the bus and I was able totalk to them long enough to get
me to stay without paying quiteyet, and they ended up getting
me to Pathfinders, which they'renot supposed to do.
(13:03):
And Pathfinders, for yourviewers, is an organization, one
of the very few that work withhomeless youth and provide
shelter and provide food andsupport, and so they just so
happened to be making meals forChristmas and, for my background
, I knew them and I said youknow I need some support, but
(13:27):
had it not been for that andjust thinking about a young 14,
15, 18, even 21-year-old, that'sa system that you can't
navigate.
And in this scenario, theauspice is that I lived with my
mother who had an abusiveboyfriend who was sexually
(13:47):
assaulting me, and my mother didnot believe me and I was kicked
out of the house.
The reason why I use that is,prior to doing this experiment,
I was interviewing a number ofhomeless youth at Pathfinders
and a number of other outreachclinics, and that was a common
thread where there was physical,sexual abuse, where the parent
(14:09):
did not back the child and thechild was removed from the home
or abandoned in some way.
And so that was my experienceand that's what I shared, and
that there is a need for us tocoordinate the system and
there's a need for us, ascommunity, to pressure test the
systems at hand, because even atthe time and 211 has come a
(14:29):
long way, but even at the time Icouldn't get connected to my
basic human needs, which is whythey exist, and the resources
that they connected me to eitherweren't available, were out of
order, and if just think I don'thave a cell phone because I've
just been abandoned, it's likewho do I call?
(14:50):
And then I could begin to seeby date.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
So that night, and this is Christmas season, when
everybody else in God's world isfollow the line and figuring
out the challenge of what giftdo I give right and which part
do I go to, what do I cancel?
Like?
That is the beauty of thisconversation happening right now
(15:17):
the faceless, the facelessaspects of the holiday season.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
I didn't look like I do now.
I had on a scully, I had on ablack inconspicuous coat, I had
like a hoodie, I had some jeansand some boots and that night I
actually slept in the loadingdock outside of the Art
Institute because there was,like it was kind of like a
covering.
It was freezing cold, but Imean there was cardboard boxes
(15:47):
and like I cannot do this.
So the next day I woke up tolook for additional resources
and it's over there by where theOld Green Avenue Mall is, and I
went into that Marriott.
You know how some of thecourtyards have like the fresh
fruit, like the oranges andapples.
So I went in there again juststarving, and I went and I
grabbed some apples and orangesand I sat in the lobby and I ate
(16:10):
them until someone asked me toleave.
That's sad, but you know I'mhere waiting for someone, just
like you've been waiting for toolong.
You have to leave.
So I ended up going and hangingout at the park right across
the street.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Because you don't want to see it right.
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Because you don't want to see it oh exactly.
But it's somebody's job to seeit, to make sure the guests
don't see it, that's right, andI remember going to and I slept
on the gazebo and I was thinkingI've got a camera crew in the
car across the street, but as avulnerable woman sleeping
outside in the middle of thenight, I just remember my inner
(16:45):
spities just going off like thisis not safe, wow.
And so I completed the 72 hours.
Finally I ended up going to.
It was so long ago.
I remember the next day I endedup finding shelter and a warm
meal and I can't believe thename escapes me it was at a
(17:06):
church in Jackson Square,downtown, and I got a warm meal.
But one thing they'll neverforget is that it's so
prescriptive that you have tocheck in a certain time, you
have to check in for food at acertain time, you have to check
in at a certain time to get yourbed and if you're late one day
(17:26):
you'll be taken off the list andthere's a 30-day penalty.
Wow.
And so just the exhaustivenature on how you're looking to
make your basic human needs met.
That's so prescriptive and soexact.
You don't have transportation,you barely have communication,
and you're expected to find ajob.
I just think the system thatwe've created is very much
(17:49):
slated from the lens of themversus us, and I mean, what
we're talking about was like in2009, 2010, which was really the
preparation, unbeknownst to me,for the TEDx that I ended up
doing in 2016.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
So let's talk about that, because, raina, that TEDx
I'm serious, I've known you foryears, at this point, and I
watched that TEDx and it justhit me so hard One.
I think it's brilliant.
So Raina did a TEDx in 2016,.
(18:26):
Almost to the day, I think itwas November 21st 2016.
And the TEDx Milwaukee that youdid address food, food poverty,
food insecurity, but you didn'treally stop there.
You also talked about thesystemic infrastructure that
(18:46):
perpetuates it, and then youended by offering some really
actionable ideas and solutions.
So I just ask everybody if youwant some real context, you can
press pause on the podcast, youcan go to YouTube and you can
look up the TEDx with RainaAndrews from November 21st 2016
(19:11):
and watch it.
It's about 17 minutes, it's nota whole lot of time, but if you
don't do it before, youcontinue the rest of this,
definitely I know you'll wannado it after, because it is a
wonderful, wonderfully designed.
It's humorous in the beginning,it opens your heart with
laughter, but then it reallytakes that open heart and starts
(19:33):
to plant seeds about the thingsthat you can do proactively to
address that faceless world,that it's easier for most of us
to just walk around and movearound.
So, raina, tell us a little bitabout the TEDx.
I'd love to hear what compelledyou to be so vulnerable in
(19:55):
telling your story on the stageto the world at that point.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
So the TEDx is called Food and Security as a Public
Health Concern, and for thosewho are going to look forward on
YouTube, and what compelled meto actually do the TEDx is that
I was really.
This is when I went fromworking in procurement, working
in city government, to workingin food banking and as a set of
(20:27):
fresh eyes, it's like here youhave food banking, which
collects food as a repository,and then you have them who
collect fund money on behalf ofa network of food pantries, meal
programs and shelters, whoactually do direct service, and
(20:48):
my background being urbanplanning and real estate
development and spatial and theplacement of the built
environment and how peoplerespond to that built
environment, I think I had aunique lens, but in doing it,
what I wanted to share is thethem versus us.
But in caring for the TEDx,that eight weeks leading up to
it, I didn't realize that I hadto look to the them.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
That was me, and so Chandra I had Girl, I'm gonna
just say I'm gonna double clickthere as a woman of God.
It is amazing.
How can you guys do that?
Yes, talk about divine.
You seriously want me to saythat to people outside of me
when I didn't what?
I didn't even see that myself.
Okay, all right, that's whatwe're doing.
(21:32):
Okay, sorry.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
So someone said you know you're a pretty good public
speaker.
I've thought about, becauseI've seen a lot of community
conversations talking about foodbanking, raising resources,
raising friends.
We talked about food funds andfriends.
I thought this TEDx would be anopportunity for me to raise
some food funds and friends,girl.
And so I signed up for theclass to do the TEDx and they
said well, what is your why?
I'm here for food funds andfriends.
(21:56):
And she's like well, yourealize, in this TEDx you can't
even mention your organization'sname.
And I said, hmm, and they saidyou know, let's see your outline
.
And I was showing up every weekand you're like you gotta go
deeper, you gotta go deeper.
And when I talk to you, when Itell you, shandra, this was God
(22:16):
working on me because you know,in this country we have a
tendency to shame people For thecancel culture.
It was shaming culture and theshame culture was strong, that I
had a race.
I was so embarrassed andhumiliated as a child for
growing up with very loweconomic means, yeah that I had
(22:38):
blocked out that area and thatarea of my past and I realized
that I had recreated a newidentity for myself.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
It's in the tumble beginnings.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Dana talk about that.
How many people in the countrythat?
Speaker 2 (22:55):
your testimony really lives and since that TEDx I can
talk to you about the countriesand across the country that
have been able to speak to tellthis story.
But in telling my story withthat TEDx, it was a journey and
I had, like a committee ofpublic health leaders, spiritual
guides, people that were youknow your kitchen cabinet, and
(23:18):
so it advised me.
It's like yo, I'm notcomfortable in telling this
version of my story, but somehowthey convinced me to do it and
I've even had some familymembers or people who really
know me and know that side of methat says I don't know if I
would have shared that becauseyou know people are gonna start
treating you differently and Isaid, well, that's a part of the
problem, that's a part of whatI talk about with them versus us
(23:40):
.
So the TEDx food insecurity isa public health concern was
really about me telling my ownpersonal journey, about being
experiencing hunger twice in mylife.
Once was as a child, beingraised by a vulnerable, single
parent, a single mom who waseducated, she had a job, but she
(24:01):
had gotten really sick with arare disease that had her in and
out of hospitals and nearlyfatal, and so going from making
income to making nothing, whichis about 50% of the population
in the United States is one sickday away from being in the
poverty line.
I realized that we went from atwo bedroom apartment to a one
(24:25):
bedroom apartment, from me goingoutside and riding my bike with
my friends to changing mymother's bandages, and having
decided and figure out how do wego from making it work.
We had magical miracle meals,okay.
And so in doing this exercise, Itold that very vulnerable story
.
(24:45):
But I also told the story ofMargo, who is a single mother
who's trying to figure out ifshe's going to buy formula and
Pampers and put food on thetable right.
And then I talked about Maria,who is the senior on fixed
income, who has to figure out ifshe's going to buy her
medication or put a healthy mealon her table and juggle the
cost of rent.
And then I talk about Jim orJose, who has various skills but
(25:11):
he can't seem to find a livingwage and so he's juggling to
make ends meet.
And I talk about Richard, whois educated very similar to my
mom's story who is married, hasa family of three, but lost his
job and is trying to figure outokay.
Well, how do, I pick up thepieces again, and so I found it
to be powerful and therapeuticin uncovering what I had buried,
(25:33):
to see how, what were the oddsthat I ended up feeding people
for a living, and as I went fromfeeding the body now I'm
feeding the soul, and I've gonefor Uncovering what you were
forgetting, yeah, uncoveringwhat I had buried, what you had
buried, yeah.
(25:55):
And in that TEDx I talked aboutthe system where people don't
just wake up hungry one day.
It is systemic, where you loseyour resources, where it's a
part of household instability,and my call to action was that
for those in the nonprofit spaceyou may be for food, you may be
for education, you may be forhousing, you may be for
(26:15):
employment, but there's aconsequence for you to be so
monolithic and laser focusedjust on your thing, and that
really what we're talking about,what we all should be working
towards, is an anti-povertystrategy which is focused on
household stability, becausewhat we're experiencing in
hunger is a symptom of anunstable household.
So let's say this was likeindicators or like tires, spokes
(26:38):
on a wheel.
Right, in order for that tireto work, you have to have
adequate housing, food, health,employment, education, education
, as in literacy, like foodliteracy, academic literacy,
fitness literacy, lifestyleliteracy, like these are basic
(26:59):
needs that are missing from many, many individuals.
But if these are spokes on thewheel and let's say, if you
don't have stable housing, well,your car can't function because
that wheel's not moving.
If you don't have food, again,that car's not moving because
you've got a flat tire somewhere.
And the call is to get us to seeas practitioners and that, that
(27:21):
, one, we have a responsibilityto the people to do what's best
for their interests and, two, tobe unwavering in that pursuit.
Oftentimes, in nonprofitleadership, the dollars that are
available are finite and so youhave, like these fiefdoms where
, yes, you do food, but nowyou're going to do workforce
(27:42):
development, to tag into thesedollars to make your mission
work.
My call is is can there not bean assembly of funders to change
the narrative so that we cannow begin to look creatively and
work cooperatively in concert?
So if I'm in food, you're inhousing, you're in employment,
you're in education, can we notcome together, put our puzzle
(28:05):
piece together to create adynamic strategy and concert
that really focuses onstabilizing the households
within our region of service?
That has not been theconversation and that is the
call to action appeal through myTEDx, that it's not them that
need to pick themselves up bytheir bootstraps Because, guess
(28:25):
what, they don't have boots inthe first place.
They don't have boots.
It's really a system-wideapproach that's failing the
people, because you don't justwake up hungry one day.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
So you, what resonates for me, honestly, is
collaboration.
Right, you're saying how, howcan we stop focusing on one
aspect of a wheel andacknowledge that it is a wheel?
And if we all have some money,some funds, how do we come
(28:55):
together with even a portion ofthem to attack a portion of it,
to create the space forsolutioning, to maybe then
convince us all to do bigger?
Girl, I love that.
So where does that conversationlive?
On a bigger basis, have you,have you made space to try to
(29:17):
bring that one forward frompolitical impact or from you
know what I mean?
How, how, how are you seeingthat TEDx and that seed planted
sprout in community?
I can tell you one.
There's an organization and youknow whether they've heard the
TEDx or not.
(29:38):
There's an organization inSouthwest Florida called the
Collaboratory.
It's formerly the SouthwestFlorida Community Fund, the
Community Foundation.
13 years ago, their leader backthen, a woman by the name of
Sarah Owens, who I have a greatdeal of respect for, brought
forward a mission to createsomething called the
(29:59):
Collaboratory, rebranding itself, and the goal by 2030 is to
address poverty, education,homelessness, all of the things
right, workforce.
You know, a very, veryaudacious goal.
Okay, I've had the privilege toserve on the board of that
(30:22):
organization, be a board oftrustee member, so I definitely
want to make a connection foryou with their new CEO, because
I just think that there's anopportunity there just to
collaborate.
But now you know, I see that somany of us are realizing that
we can't do anything alone andit does take the, the systemic
(30:45):
approach.
Are you, are you finding spacesmore interested in cultivating
that, advancing that?
Where does this go?
And how do people that arelistening to this in spaces and
places around the world thinkabout aspects of, you know,
human, human basic needs andills of society?
(31:09):
How do they think about tappingit?
Speaker 2 (31:12):
Yeah, I think a couple of things have happened
since that TEDx.
I've spoken at a number ofglobal and regional associations
and I know from all the pingson Google all the universities
who have cited and used my TEDxas kind of like a case for their
classes, and so I know the wordis getting out.
(31:33):
But even personally for myself,during the pandemic, there was
a task force developed here inthe Greater Milwaukee area,
where this was a veryinteresting time for us, where
funders were asking thenonprofits what they needed.
Like, how can we shift thenarrative on how we've been
(31:53):
doing things to be of greatersupport, rather than dictating,
in an area that we're notexperts at?
So is it technology?
Is it capacity building?
Is it just financial resources?
Like, how can we support inhaving you collaborate together?
And I think what that alsocaused as a result are the
(32:14):
nonprofits within this regionworking together to do group
purchasing orders.
So instead of just onenonprofit or one food pantry
needing to buy 25 gallons ofmilk, getting five together and
you're able to then buy 125gallons of milk, so the cost on
the margin goes down, yep.
(32:34):
So, as a matter of fact, I'mworking on a healthy food pantry
pilot here in Milwaukee we'rejust doing a beta test with one,
but the idea is, since thatTEDx I've gone from food and
security as a public healthconcern to now really focusing
on nutrition, and in focusing onnutrition, it's transitioning
(32:56):
it to the future of nutritionsecurity Wow, that could look
like.
And so I've done a number oftalks on nourishing our future
and nutrition security as apublic health imperative, where
it's one thing to focus ongetting people food, but now
that I've been working in foodas medicine, it's looking much
broader at the consequence ofjust giving people processed
(33:17):
food.
Girl.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
The number in it.
It's not OK to just film out ofa sack with a whole bunch of
stuff that, honestly, is goingin me and going through me and
doing absolutely no good andactually in a lot of instances
it's doing a lot of harm.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
That's exactly it, and I'm not too my own porn peer
when I say that was beyond mytime.
But I felt like food banks havebeen around since before the
80s and they were born out offederal programs where they had
excess food.
They needed local partners tohelp them distribute it on a
wide level, and so they've beendoing that, and it's like they
(33:57):
haven't really changed the waythat they've done things.
And so for me, I always thoughtabout well, what is the
consequence?
Because I was brought into thefood banking system in the mid
2000s from the lens of how welook upstream.
I was brought into the foodbank to solve the problem of
hunger, and in solving it youhave to define it, and in
(34:17):
defining it I realized that wetalk about hunger, hunger,
hunger.
How do you solve hunger?
Well, you can never solvehunger because it's a symptom,
it's at the individual level.
You can't measure hunger, it'sa bodily symptom, and so a big
issue in the spaces that Ioperate in with the food system
(34:38):
is that we're not speaking thesame language.
So the way to do that is tosolve for food insecurity, which
is on an index, which is thelevel of how much could you
afford the food that you ate inthe last 12 months and how could
you access it?
What was your level ofaccessibility?
So, to answer your question,what has happened since then?
I've gone from the conversationof feeding America, not the
(35:03):
organization, from the sense ofgetting people food, to truly
nurturing America, looking atthe impact, the quality,
quantity, variety, theaccessibility that the food has
to the individual receiving itat the household level.
And so since then, you have thedefinition from the USDA on
(35:23):
food insecurity, but you alsohave the definition for
nutrition and security, and I'mjust excited about this because
people are really picking upthis conversation for the need
to focus on nutrition security.
And really nutrition securitymeans the consistent access,
availability and affordabilityof foods and beverages that
(35:45):
promote well-being, preventdisease and, if needed, treat
disease, particularly amongracial, ethnic minority, lower
income and rural and remotepopulations, including tribal
communities.
Chandra, we've had a definitionfor food insecurity and
nutrition, for food insecurity,for sure, since the 80s.
Most recently, I'd say sincelast year, has this definition
(36:08):
been updated to includeaccessibility, availability,
affordability, and that promoteswell-being, which is the
operative phrase.
The reason why I focus on thisis that last year, september, I
had a chance to tune into theWhite House conference on health
and nutrition, and why that'sso important is that 60% of
(36:31):
Americans have at least onechronic disease.
85% of US health expendituresare spent on chronic disease and
that's a trillion-dollarindustry of sick care, 74%
relative increase in diabetesprevalence and near-low income
versus higher income, and 87% ofemployers believe that the cost
of providing health benefitswill become unsustainable in the
(36:54):
next five to 10 years.
But when you think about thatholistically, chronic disease
has caused a health crisis inour country.
It's draining society andkilling our families, it's
hurting the ones most with lowerincomes and it's crippling
employers.
And if we talk about competingon a global society and if you
didn't give me the first timewith them versus us we don't
(37:15):
start looking at this from asystems-wide approach and even
understanding that something isbroken, like we've really got to
disrupt the status quo or thesenumbers will just continue to
increase.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
Girl, woo Girl, when I wrote the book Proving Not
Perfect, it was very much in thelane of a woman doing it all
who was not taking care ofherself because she was doing it
all Right.
And when I hear you and thinkabout all that you're tapping
into as it relates to healthylifestyle, healthy thinking, but
(37:53):
not them versus us.
For all, girl, this work has toadvance, right, it has to.
We can't afford another globalpandemic where we get caught
flat-footed not having addressedsome of these ills that are
(38:16):
right here, right, but I dobelieve, as I come to learn, and
actually some of theconversations that I've been
having in podcasts that aregoing to be flowing, are all in
this lane of health, even as Italk to my friends who are
doctors, practicing medicalphysicians, who underscore the
fact that Chandra folks need tobe focused on staying well,
(38:41):
care-free, steadying well,because once you get sick and
you come into the system, thedemands, the time demands and
the inefficiency that existsbecause of escalating costs
don't allow the healthpractitioners to really robustly
(39:02):
offer you an understanding anddiagnosis that can get you where
you need to go.
It's easier to listen veryquickly, slap something on you,
throw some meds on you and, inmost instances, exacerbate the
very simple problem to solvethat could have been solved
(39:22):
preemptively with food asmedicine and lifestyle.
It's a whole pivot of aconversation.
Wow, all right.
So I know we're coming to theend and there's probably going
to be a podcast number two,because I feel like in so many
ways we've scratched the surfaceand you're such an expert in
this field that I know thatthere's more that we can tap
into.
But I'd love to talk a littlebit about what you're doing now
(39:47):
as an author published doingsome really cool things.
Speaker 2 (39:52):
Yeah, so I do have my books and I always keep this
one in my book.
This is original Alex McGreen,the Tale of Mysterious Kale.
And my second book, which I'mreally proud of I probably it's
in my car is Alex McGreen to theBlack Toy Boys and it's all
about healthy eating forchildren.
The nature of the work and thearea of food is medicine that I
(40:12):
do here throughout Wisconsin isreally focused on adults 18 and
older, but I really trulybelieve that we're going to
solve this issue and, as yousaid, be more preventative than
reactive.
It's important that we lookupstream and I'm excited that
I'm working, piloting someprojects looking at baby in
utero, right.
So we're working on maternalhealth projects that focus on
(40:35):
high risk, low income pregnantwomen who are at risk of
developing gestational diabetesor preeclampsia, in just
resulting in healthier birthoutcomes.
So we provide the meals, weprovide one-on-one week coaching
, we provide health biometrics.
(40:56):
I mean we do need to do a parttwo for me to go through.
We provide and remove everybarrier to the diet and
lifestyle challenge.
So when you think that you knowwhat is the barrier, there are
six indicators that are in theway of people becoming healthy.
Most free programs provideaccess and costs.
That's what you get at foodpantry.
(41:17):
They'll give you a box of food.
It didn't cost you anything.
You have access to it.
It also has to taste good,right.
You have to have stuff thatmatches stuff that's relatively
familiar.
It has to save you time.
You have to have some literacyaround it, like how do I use
this?
And you have to have a littlesupport.
Like, everybody has a walk, noteverybody has a full set of
pans and good knives, right, andso, through the program that I
(41:40):
lead, we've been able to combinefreshly cold ingredients,
locally sourced, balance ofrelatable and exploratory which
I call culturally sensitive andcreate a diet profile in
partnership with our registereddietitian, nutritionists and our
culinary team to create thesenutritional guidelines and
profile which create thesedelicious, nutrient dense meals.
(42:04):
And there's a lot of educationthat we provide around that, and
so we not only tell you thethings that you need to do, but
we also provide you with thoseresources to take the guessing
out of it.
And there's a transition and astep down process to where, when
you leave our program, you'vetransitioned to a place of
self-reliance, and so I've beenworking on this since the summer
(42:26):
of 2021.
I started this in December of2020 and really launched one of
our first pilots, or series ofprior pilots, throughout the
spring of 2021.
And it's grown to more than 300people who have been to our
program and specifically rightnow, the pilot with the maternal
health.
There's 120 women and, if youcount the unborn babies, 240
(42:50):
lives that were impacting.
But maternal health, as youknow, is a very big challenge
here in Wisconsin and through mybook, I really focus on healthy
eating.
So Alex McGreen, the tail andthe stear is kale is about a
young girl who develops avertical garden with her
grandfather and there's anexplosion of kale.
(43:11):
So what do you do with a bunchof kale?
You may kill cookies, killchips, kill smoothies, may go
kill crazy.
But when you have abundance andyou have a product that people
love, what do you do with it?
Well, you begin to market it.
So part two, alex McGreen thebok choy boys, is her journey to
entrepreneurship, as this 13year old selling her products at
the local farmer's market.
(43:32):
It's cute, it's relatable.
Wow, yeah, you can find it athealthygreencom, yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:39):
Say that again.
Where can we find that?
Speaker 2 (43:41):
You can find the books at healthyfoodmovementcom.
Speaker (43:44):
Healthyfoodmovementcom .
I love that.
Well, I will be probablygifting a few people this
holiday season because I thinkthat you know it's a season for
us to start to be reallyintentional about the things
that we do.
So I'm so proud of you and Imiss the hug, but the virtual
(44:06):
hug will have to do right now.
Keep doing it, keep rocking outand, yeah, I'm looking forward
to us having many moreconversations on Proving Not
Perfect.
I believe my community is gonnareally love you.
It's your community too,because that's how we roll.
Thank you for joining me.
Speaker 2 (44:25):
Thank you for having me and I think from this
definitely Proving Not Perfect,amen.
Look forward to seeing you soon.
See you soon, bye.
Hey, proven, not perfect.
This is Sean Trapal, yourpodcast host.
I have a great one for us.
Today.
I'm talking to Reina Andrews,who's Public Health Ambassador
and Food is Medicine thoughtleader, located in the Midwest
the mighty Midwest, in theMilwaukee area and with Women's
(00:20):
Month 2024 in full swing, I amdelighted to share what I
believe is a heart ledconversation with this social
activist for food accessibility,reina Andrews.
Reina shares her story andpassion in a 2016 TEDx talk
entitled Food and Security is aPublic Health Concern.
Reina reached over 47,000viewers in this talk.
(00:44):
Y'all.
Reina has launched new ideas forFood is Medicine, adding to the
equation.
It's not good enough to providefood.
It must be thoughtful andhealthy.
What a novel idea.
And she provides us a rubricfor us to consider.
So Reina is a published authorof a children's book series that
(01:06):
cleverly peaks our curiosityand understanding by evolving
the character to become anentrepreneur.
This young girl becomes anentrepreneur.
I love it.
In true proven, not perfectstyle.
You get the girlfriend opening.
I'm just warning you.
You do.
It happens is just how we roll,where we reminisce and we catch
up.
But when I tell you, this hitshard, as Reina's vulnerability
(01:28):
is an inspiration.
I'm telling you, I'm tellingyou, I'm telling you, this hits
hard.
Also, there's a shout out to mygirls Sarah Owen, past CEO of
the Southwest FloridaCollaboratory, and current CEO,
dawn Bellamiric, current who areboth ladies that are advancing
a mission to eradicatedisparities with a very
(01:51):
audacious goal and a veryaudacious timeline, including
poverty.
So I think I actually made acommitment to make a connection
there, so we all heard it andit's got to happen.
You will want to listen to this, you will want to like it, you
will want to share it.
Enjoy, proven, not perfect.
(02:11):
Reina girl, yes, it's been aminute since I've seen you
outside of the scrolling.
You know the scrolling that wedo and we have our friends in
the scroll and we're like, ohhey, girl, it's been about six
years in person.
It's been six years in person.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Because how old is your baby.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Julian is six and a half, that's what I'm saying.
So this is how I know, becauseyou were what.
I just remember the closingtour when my family was getting
ready to move, make a huge movefrom Midwest to South Florida,
and you had just had baby.
(02:56):
And part of the closing tour wasto hit those, those personal
spots that were really importantto me.
And you know the privilege tobe in the space with you and
your baby as he was just born,as you were a beautiful mom just
so concerned with figuring allthe things out.
But just like we talked about,it was instinctive, right, like
(03:20):
it is insane how instinctive itis.
And then we get the privilegeof having our mama there too.
Yeah, there's something aboutthat that just blows my mind,
right.
And so I remember being in thatplace with you.
And here we are, six and a halfyears later, and literally,
(03:40):
figuratively right.
I mean seriously, can we talkabout that?
Because I even try to thinkback to who I was when I left
the Midwest and who I am now,six and a half years in South
Florida.
When I left the Midwest I feellike I was a bit broken.
(04:07):
Sounds crazy to say, because ifyou roll the tape back, yeah,
when onlooker to an outsider younever would have thought that I
would grow was all good, allgood, all gravy, nothing but the
high points, right.
But when I think back, why do Isay broken?
(04:29):
I think because what resonatesfor me is just got a bit more
bumpy and tough and I believenow, looking back, that that was
just the God movement of notfit.
Personally feel like I fitthere anymore, so that I would
(04:53):
be ready to move.
So I just remember feeling likethe jeans just feel a little
tight or, you know, the shirtjust doesn't fit quite right.
That's what I remember.
So maybe it wasn't broken,maybe it was just it was time to
move.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
I truly believe that we all have and should get used
to as a part of the journey, ourhilltop moments and our moments
in the valley.
And we don't often talk aboutare the transitioning points,
which is the up and down.
Yes, and I think the analogy ofexample of the tightening of the
pants is your preparation orthat transition period up or
(05:36):
down.
Yes, I was a bit discussing andthe pastor talks about the
lilies in the valley and you usethe example of the lily and
that God has you and the beautyof the lily is that they're
perennial so that they can growyear after year after year, but
they'll get to their lowestpoint and sometimes, when you're
(05:58):
in the valley, you could feellike you're in your lowest point
, but this next season ispromising and it would never
look like you went through thatlowest point and I feel like in
2016, when we last connected,you know I've birthed something
beautiful and being a new mom,but I was certainly and at my
(06:20):
lowest point, you knowpostpartum depression, trying to
figure things out, trying to amI prepared, lord?
What Did I sign up for this?
Why, and what was so beautiful?
I don't think I saw it as sobeautiful, but I realized that
there was an agreement that Imade with God.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Yes, yeah, oh, my God .
And so here we are, six and ahalf years later, and we're both
doing that hug, virtually noless, but we're doing that hug
and we're both bringing up that.
At that place where I thoughtyou had it all going on together
(07:02):
, collected, you were feelinglike, ooh, and you thought I had
it all going on collected.
Of course you do.
You're promoted to this newplace and then this new thing,
dah, dah, dah dah.
It's not about that.
It's about what's going oninternally and how God is
working on us at that placewhere we are at that moment, and
(07:25):
the purity to be able toacknowledge that, oh my God, wow
, I just got all kind of chills.
So today, today, here wereunion, because one of the
things that I have seen andacknowledged that you're working
on is in the space where Iremember meeting you.
So I'm gonna file it back to.
(07:46):
It probably was like 2015, 2014,.
That feels about the timeframefor me and I was in Milwaukee
Forum.
Oh my God, I'm taking you back,sis.
I'm taking you back Cause thisis before.
I knew you as my sore, really,but you came as a visitor to the
Milwaukee Forum meeting.
(08:07):
So, just for my listeners, ifyou are in sort of a local,
global community of leaders,where there is an organization
that pulls those leaderstogether for a place of
conversation, of contracts, ofdebates, of discussion.
A lot of time, the leaders ofany place and space that you're
(08:30):
in so that's Milwaukee Forum,that was the group that I was in
Raina came in as a specialguest and speaker, and I
remember that night distinctlywhen you shared an experiment
Homeless for the holidays.
Yeah, it's for the holidays.
Talk about that.
Tell me, bring it back to me.
(08:51):
What was homeless for theholidays, so that we can.
So we can start there, cause Iwant people to know who I
connected with initially.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
So that was before my days, even in food banking.
That was before my days incounty government.
That was back in my city,milwaukee days, yes, where I was
just on the brink of startingoff with the human trafficking
task force of Greater Milwaukee,where I was one of the initial
founders with Martha Love whowas in the past.
(09:21):
Oh my God, yes, yes, and Iremember so that dates back to
like that was like close to 2010.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Okay, I knew it was way back.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
And then, after that, I ended up joining the forum.
But to stick to the story, sothere's a statistic that after
72 hours, a teenager or youthbegin to engage in survival sex
in order to meet their mostbasic human needs, and the most
basic is food and shelter.
I just didn't understand thatin a community where we have I
(09:56):
mean, milwaukee has so manynonprofits covering so many
areas, why is it that a youthcan't discover these problems?
And so I really want to putmyself in the shoes of a young
person, and I was probably in myearly 20s.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
You were early 20s.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Yes, Wow, I want to put myself in the shoes of
someone who didn't know of anyof these other resources.
I knew in the back of my mind211, but the average person
doesn't know about 211, which isour emergency hotline.
And so I assembled a crew,because I was also very much
into film back then from a localart institute it was the art
(10:37):
institute before it leftMilwaukee and I had some film
students who were willing totake this rugged road with me
and just really capture some ofthe moments and the instances.
And so for 72 hours the weekleading up to Christmas Eve, I
started off at the very top ofthat hill on North Avenue, going
(10:59):
towards the east side, and Ididn't have a cell phone, no
money in my pocket, just a coat,the clothes that I put on that
morning.
The crew picked me up from myhouse and dropped me off at this
point, and so I remember thefirst point was going to
McDonald's where I was able touse a cell phone, and I can't
believe I said I can't rememberwhat I wore yesterday, and so it
(11:19):
just all coming back to me sovividly.
I remember.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
This is an appointed story for an appointed time.
That's what I'm saying BecauseI don't remember breakfast
yesterday, but I remember thatyeah.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
So in this experiment it was for me a way of getting
rooted to the lived experienceof so many of our young people
in our community that you seethe symptom being they're strung
out on drugs, they're depressed, they're stripping, they're
selling drugs, but we don't lookat the cause, like the root of
(11:52):
it, which is abandonment.
And so to this experiment.
Look for it, look for cellphone, look for shelter, called
around, and in the first, Iwould say, 12 hours I had
nothing to eat and I was runningaround trying to figure it out.
First they sent me to theSalvation Army, but all of their
beds were taken.
Then they sent me to a warm bedplace which was a church that
(12:17):
had maybe 25 beds laid out inthe basement, almost like a
refugee camp.
And because I didn't have anymoney, I couldn't get on the bus
and I couldn't walk there fastenough for the time that they
would close.
So I couldn't get a hot bed.
And I remember being sodesperate, jumping on a bus to
(12:39):
Pathfinders, which was the onlyorganization that I knew of, and
I was starving.
I remember I was feelingdelirious at this point that I
was on the bus and I was able totalk to them long enough to get
me to stay without paying quiteyet, and they ended up getting
me to Pathfinders, which they'renot supposed to do.
(13:03):
And Pathfinders, for yourviewers, is an organization, one
of the very few that work withhomeless youth and provide
shelter and provide food andsupport, and so they just so
happened to be making meals forChristmas and, for my background
, I knew them and I said youknow I need some support, but
(13:27):
had it not been for that andjust thinking about a young 14,
15, 18, even 21-year-old, that'sa system that you can't
navigate.
And in this scenario, theauspice is that I lived with my
mother who had an abusiveboyfriend who was sexually
(13:47):
assaulting me, and my mother didnot believe me and I was kicked
out of the house.
The reason why I use that is,prior to doing this experiment,
I was interviewing a number ofhomeless youth at Pathfinders
and a number of other outreachclinics, and that was a common
thread where there was physical,sexual abuse, where the parent
(14:09):
did not back the child and thechild was removed from the home
or abandoned in some way.
And so that was my experienceand that's what I shared, and
that there is a need for us tocoordinate the system and
there's a need for us, ascommunity, to pressure test the
systems at hand, because even atthe time and 211 has come a
(14:29):
long way, but even at the time Icouldn't get connected to my
basic human needs, which is whythey exist, and the resources
that they connected me to eitherweren't available, were out of
order, and if just think I don'thave a cell phone because I've
just been abandoned, it's likewho do I call?
(14:50):
And then I could begin to seeby date.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
So that night, and this is Christmas season, when
everybody else in God's world isfollow the line and figuring
out the challenge of what giftdo I give right and which part
do I go to, what do I cancel?
Like?
That is the beauty of thisconversation happening right now
(15:17):
the faceless, the facelessaspects of the holiday season.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
I didn't look like I do now.
I had on a scully, I had on ablack inconspicuous coat, I had
like a hoodie, I had some jeansand some boots and that night I
actually slept in the loadingdock outside of the Art
Institute because there was,like it was kind of like a
covering.
It was freezing cold, but Imean there was cardboard boxes
(15:47):
and like I cannot do this.
So the next day I woke up tolook for additional resources
and it's over there by where theOld Green Avenue Mall is, and I
went into that Marriott.
You know how some of thecourtyards have like the fresh
fruit, like the oranges andapples.
So I went in there again juststarving, and I went and I
grabbed some apples and orangesand I sat in the lobby and I ate
(16:10):
them until someone asked me toleave.
That's sad, but you know I'mhere waiting for someone, just
like you've been waiting for toolong.
You have to leave.
So I ended up going and hangingout at the park right across
the street.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Because you don't want to see it right.
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Because you don't want to see it oh exactly.
But it's somebody's job to seeit, to make sure the guests
don't see it, that's right, andI remember going to and I slept
on the gazebo and I was thinkingI've got a camera crew in the
car across the street, but as avulnerable woman sleeping
outside in the middle of thenight, I just remember my inner
(16:45):
spities just going off like thisis not safe, wow.
And so I completed the 72 hours.
Finally I ended up going to.
It was so long ago.
I remember the next day I endedup finding shelter and a warm
meal and I can't believe thename escapes me it was at a
(17:06):
church in Jackson Square,downtown, and I got a warm meal.
But one thing they'll neverforget is that it's so
prescriptive that you have tocheck in a certain time, you
have to check in for food at acertain time, you have to check
in at a certain time to get yourbed and if you're late one day
(17:26):
you'll be taken off the list andthere's a 30-day penalty.
Wow.
And so just the exhaustivenature on how you're looking to
make your basic human needs met.
That's so prescriptive and soexact.
You don't have transportation,you barely have communication,
and you're expected to find ajob.
I just think the system thatwe've created is very much
(17:49):
slated from the lens of themversus us, and I mean, what
we're talking about was like in2009, 2010, which was really the
preparation, unbeknownst to me,for the TEDx that I ended up
doing in 2016.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
So let's talk about that, because, raina, that TEDx
I'm serious, I've known you foryears, at this point, and I
watched that TEDx and it justhit me so hard One.
I think it's brilliant.
So Raina did a TEDx in 2016,.
(18:26):
Almost to the day, I think itwas November 21st 2016.
And the TEDx Milwaukee that youdid address food, food poverty,
food insecurity, but you didn'treally stop there.
You also talked about thesystemic infrastructure that
(18:46):
perpetuates it, and then youended by offering some really
actionable ideas and solutions.
So I just ask everybody if youwant some real context, you can
press pause on the podcast, youcan go to YouTube and you can
look up the TEDx with RainaAndrews from November 21st 2016
(19:11):
and watch it.
It's about 17 minutes, it's nota whole lot of time, but if you
don't do it before, youcontinue the rest of this,
definitely I know you'll wannado it after, because it is a
wonderful, wonderfully designed.
It's humorous in the beginning,it opens your heart with
laughter, but then it reallytakes that open heart and starts
(19:33):
to plant seeds about the thingsthat you can do proactively to
address that faceless world,that it's easier for most of us
to just walk around and movearound.
So, raina, tell us a little bitabout the TEDx.
I'd love to hear what compelledyou to be so vulnerable in
(19:55):
telling your story on the stageto the world at that point.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
So the TEDx is called Food and Security as a Public
Health Concern, and for thosewho are going to look forward on
YouTube, and what compelled meto actually do the TEDx is that
I was really.
This is when I went fromworking in procurement, working
in city government, to workingin food banking and as a set of
(20:27):
fresh eyes, it's like here youhave food banking, which
collects food as a repository,and then you have them who
collect fund money on behalf ofa network of food pantries, meal
programs and shelters, whoactually do direct service, and
(20:48):
my background being urbanplanning and real estate
development and spatial and theplacement of the built
environment and how peoplerespond to that built
environment, I think I had aunique lens, but in doing it,
what I wanted to share is thethem versus us.
But in caring for the TEDx,that eight weeks leading up to
it, I didn't realize that I hadto look to the them.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
That was me, and so Chandra I had Girl, I'm gonna
just say I'm gonna double clickthere as a woman of God.
It is amazing.
How can you guys do that?
Yes, talk about divine.
You seriously want me to saythat to people outside of me
when I didn't what?
I didn't even see that myself.
Okay, all right, that's whatwe're doing.
(21:32):
Okay, sorry.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
So someone said you know you're a pretty good public
speaker.
I've thought about, becauseI've seen a lot of community
conversations talking about foodbanking, raising resources,
raising friends.
We talked about food funds andfriends.
I thought this TEDx would be anopportunity for me to raise
some food funds and friends,girl.
And so I signed up for theclass to do the TEDx and they
said well, what is your why?
I'm here for food funds andfriends.
(21:56):
And she's like well, yourealize, in this TEDx you can't
even mention your organization'sname.
And I said, hmm, and they saidyou know, let's see your outline
.
And I was showing up every weekand you're like you gotta go
deeper, you gotta go deeper.
And when I talk to you, when Itell you, shandra, this was God
(22:16):
working on me because you know,in this country we have a
tendency to shame people For thecancel culture.
It was shaming culture and theshame culture was strong, that I
had a race.
I was so embarrassed andhumiliated as a child for
growing up with very loweconomic means, yeah that I had
(22:38):
blocked out that area and thatarea of my past and I realized
that I had recreated a newidentity for myself.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
It's in the tumble beginnings.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Dana talk about that.
How many people in the countrythat?
Speaker 2 (22:55):
your testimony really lives and since that TEDx I can
talk to you about the countriesand across the country that
have been able to speak to tellthis story.
But in telling my story withthat TEDx, it was a journey and
I had, like a committee ofpublic health leaders, spiritual
guides, people that were youknow your kitchen cabinet, and
(23:18):
so it advised me.
It's like yo, I'm notcomfortable in telling this
version of my story, but somehowthey convinced me to do it and
I've even had some familymembers or people who really
know me and know that side of methat says I don't know if I
would have shared that becauseyou know people are gonna start
treating you differently and Isaid, well, that's a part of the
problem, that's a part of whatI talk about with them versus us
(23:40):
.
So the TEDx food insecurity isa public health concern was
really about me telling my ownpersonal journey, about being
experiencing hunger twice in mylife.
Once was as a child, beingraised by a vulnerable, single
parent, a single mom who waseducated, she had a job, but she
(24:01):
had gotten really sick with arare disease that had her in and
out of hospitals and nearlyfatal, and so going from making
income to making nothing, whichis about 50% of the population
in the United States is one sickday away from being in the
poverty line.
I realized that we went from atwo bedroom apartment to a one
(24:25):
bedroom apartment, from me goingoutside and riding my bike with
my friends to changing mymother's bandages, and having
decided and figure out how do wego from making it work.
We had magical miracle meals,okay.
And so in doing this exercise, Itold that very vulnerable story
.
(24:45):
But I also told the story ofMargo, who is a single mother
who's trying to figure out ifshe's going to buy formula and
Pampers and put food on thetable right.
And then I talked about Maria,who is the senior on fixed
income, who has to figure out ifshe's going to buy her
medication or put a healthy mealon her table and juggle the
cost of rent.
And then I talk about Jim orJose, who has various skills but
(25:11):
he can't seem to find a livingwage and so he's juggling to
make ends meet.
And I talk about Richard, whois educated very similar to my
mom's story who is married, hasa family of three, but lost his
job and is trying to figure outokay.
Well, how do, I pick up thepieces again, and so I found it
to be powerful and therapeuticin uncovering what I had buried,
(25:33):
to see how, what were the oddsthat I ended up feeding people
for a living, and as I went fromfeeding the body now I'm
feeding the soul, and I've gonefor Uncovering what you were
forgetting, yeah, uncoveringwhat I had buried, what you had
buried, yeah.
(25:55):
And in that TEDx I talked aboutthe system where people don't
just wake up hungry one day.
It is systemic, where you loseyour resources, where it's a
part of household instability,and my call to action was that
for those in the nonprofit spaceyou may be for food, you may be
for education, you may be forhousing, you may be for
(26:15):
employment, but there's aconsequence for you to be so
monolithic and laser focusedjust on your thing, and that
really what we're talking about,what we all should be working
towards, is an anti-povertystrategy which is focused on
household stability, becausewhat we're experiencing in
hunger is a symptom of anunstable household.
So let's say this was likeindicators or like tires, spokes
(26:38):
on a wheel.
Right, in order for that tireto work, you have to have
adequate housing, food, health,employment, education, education
, as in literacy, like foodliteracy, academic literacy,
fitness literacy, lifestyleliteracy, like these are basic
(26:59):
needs that are missing from many, many individuals.
But if these are spokes on thewheel and let's say, if you
don't have stable housing, well,your car can't function because
that wheel's not moving.
If you don't have food, again,that car's not moving because
you've got a flat tire somewhere.
And the call is to get us to seeas practitioners and that, that
(27:21):
, one, we have a responsibilityto the people to do what's best
for their interests and, two, tobe unwavering in that pursuit.
Oftentimes, in nonprofitleadership, the dollars that are
available are finite and so youhave, like these fiefdoms where
, yes, you do food, but nowyou're going to do workforce
(27:42):
development, to tag into thesedollars to make your mission
work.
My call is is can there not bean assembly of funders to change
the narrative so that we cannow begin to look creatively and
work cooperatively in concert?
So if I'm in food, you're inhousing, you're in employment,
you're in education, can we notcome together, put our puzzle
(28:05):
piece together to create adynamic strategy and concert
that really focuses onstabilizing the households
within our region of service?
That has not been theconversation and that is the
call to action appeal through myTEDx, that it's not them that
need to pick themselves up bytheir bootstraps Because, guess
(28:25):
what, they don't have boots inthe first place.
They don't have boots.
It's really a system-wideapproach that's failing the
people, because you don't justwake up hungry one day.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
So you, what resonates for me, honestly, is
collaboration.
Right, you're saying how, howcan we stop focusing on one
aspect of a wheel andacknowledge that it is a wheel?
And if we all have some money,some funds, how do we come
(28:55):
together with even a portion ofthem to attack a portion of it,
to create the space forsolutioning, to maybe then
convince us all to do bigger?
Girl, I love that.
So where does that conversationlive?
On a bigger basis, have you,have you made space to try to
(29:17):
bring that one forward frompolitical impact or from you
know what I mean?
How, how, how are you seeingthat TEDx and that seed planted
sprout in community?
I can tell you one.
There's an organization and youknow whether they've heard the
TEDx or not.
(29:38):
There's an organization inSouthwest Florida called the
Collaboratory.
It's formerly the SouthwestFlorida Community Fund, the
Community Foundation.
13 years ago, their leader backthen, a woman by the name of
Sarah Owens, who I have a greatdeal of respect for, brought
forward a mission to createsomething called the
(29:59):
Collaboratory, rebranding itself, and the goal by 2030 is to
address poverty, education,homelessness, all of the things
right, workforce.
You know, a very, veryaudacious goal.
Okay, I've had the privilege toserve on the board of that
(30:22):
organization, be a board oftrustee member, so I definitely
want to make a connection foryou with their new CEO, because
I just think that there's anopportunity there just to
collaborate.
But now you know, I see that somany of us are realizing that
we can't do anything alone andit does take the, the systemic
(30:45):
approach.
Are you, are you finding spacesmore interested in cultivating
that, advancing that?
Where does this go?
And how do people that arelistening to this in spaces and
places around the world thinkabout aspects of, you know,
human, human basic needs andills of society?
(31:09):
How do they think about tappingit?
Speaker 2 (31:12):
Yeah, I think a couple of things have happened
since that TEDx.
I've spoken at a number ofglobal and regional associations
and I know from all the pingson Google all the universities
who have cited and used my TEDxas kind of like a case for their
classes, and so I know the wordis getting out.
(31:33):
But even personally for myself,during the pandemic, there was
a task force developed here inthe Greater Milwaukee area,
where this was a veryinteresting time for us, where
funders were asking thenonprofits what they needed.
Like, how can we shift thenarrative on how we've been
(31:53):
doing things to be of greatersupport, rather than dictating,
in an area that we're notexperts at?
So is it technology?
Is it capacity building?
Is it just financial resources?
Like, how can we support inhaving you collaborate together?
And I think what that alsocaused as a result are the
(32:14):
nonprofits within this regionworking together to do group
purchasing orders.
So instead of just onenonprofit or one food pantry
needing to buy 25 gallons ofmilk, getting five together and
you're able to then buy 125gallons of milk, so the cost on
the margin goes down, yep.
(32:34):
So, as a matter of fact, I'mworking on a healthy food pantry
pilot here in Milwaukee we'rejust doing a beta test with one,
but the idea is, since thatTEDx I've gone from food and
security as a public healthconcern to now really focusing
on nutrition, and in focusing onnutrition, it's transitioning
(32:56):
it to the future of nutritionsecurity Wow, that could look
like.
And so I've done a number oftalks on nourishing our future
and nutrition security as apublic health imperative, where
it's one thing to focus ongetting people food, but now
that I've been working in foodas medicine, it's looking much
broader at the consequence ofjust giving people processed
(33:17):
food.
Girl.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
The number in it.
It's not OK to just film out ofa sack with a whole bunch of
stuff that, honestly, is goingin me and going through me and
doing absolutely no good andactually in a lot of instances
it's doing a lot of harm.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
That's exactly it, and I'm not too my own porn peer
when I say that was beyond mytime.
But I felt like food banks havebeen around since before the
80s and they were born out offederal programs where they had
excess food.
They needed local partners tohelp them distribute it on a
wide level, and so they've beendoing that, and it's like they
(33:57):
haven't really changed the waythat they've done things.
And so for me, I always thoughtabout well, what is the
consequence?
Because I was brought into thefood banking system in the mid
2000s from the lens of how welook upstream.
I was brought into the foodbank to solve the problem of
hunger, and in solving it youhave to define it, and in
(34:17):
defining it I realized that wetalk about hunger, hunger,
hunger.
How do you solve hunger?
Well, you can never solvehunger because it's a symptom,
it's at the individual level.
You can't measure hunger, it'sa bodily symptom, and so a big
issue in the spaces that Ioperate in with the food system
(34:38):
is that we're not speaking thesame language.
So the way to do that is tosolve for food insecurity, which
is on an index, which is thelevel of how much could you
afford the food that you ate inthe last 12 months and how could
you access it?
What was your level ofaccessibility?
So, to answer your question,what has happened since then?
I've gone from the conversationof feeding America, not the
(35:03):
organization, from the sense ofgetting people food, to truly
nurturing America, looking atthe impact, the quality,
quantity, variety, theaccessibility that the food has
to the individual receiving itat the household level.
And so since then, you have thedefinition from the USDA on
(35:23):
food insecurity, but you alsohave the definition for
nutrition and security, and I'mjust excited about this because
people are really picking upthis conversation for the need
to focus on nutrition security.
And really nutrition securitymeans the consistent access,
availability and affordabilityof foods and beverages that
(35:45):
promote well-being, preventdisease and, if needed, treat
disease, particularly amongracial, ethnic minority, lower
income and rural and remotepopulations, including tribal
communities.
Chandra, we've had a definitionfor food insecurity and
nutrition, for food insecurity,for sure, since the 80s.
Most recently, I'd say sincelast year, has this definition
(36:08):
been updated to includeaccessibility, availability,
affordability, and that promoteswell-being, which is the
operative phrase.
The reason why I focus on thisis that last year, september, I
had a chance to tune into theWhite House conference on health
and nutrition, and why that'sso important is that 60% of
(36:31):
Americans have at least onechronic disease.
85% of US health expendituresare spent on chronic disease and
that's a trillion-dollarindustry of sick care, 74%
relative increase in diabetesprevalence and near-low income
versus higher income, and 87% ofemployers believe that the cost
of providing health benefitswill become unsustainable in the
(36:54):
next five to 10 years.
But when you think about thatholistically, chronic disease
has caused a health crisis inour country.
It's draining society andkilling our families, it's
hurting the ones most with lowerincomes and it's crippling
employers.
And if we talk about competingon a global society and if you
didn't give me the first timewith them versus us we don't
(37:15):
start looking at this from asystems-wide approach and even
understanding that something isbroken, like we've really got to
disrupt the status quo or thesenumbers will just continue to
increase.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
Girl, woo Girl, when I wrote the book Proving Not
Perfect, it was very much in thelane of a woman doing it all
who was not taking care ofherself because she was doing it
all Right.
And when I hear you and thinkabout all that you're tapping
into as it relates to healthylifestyle, healthy thinking, but
(37:53):
not them versus us.
For all, girl, this work has toadvance, right, it has to.
We can't afford another globalpandemic where we get caught
flat-footed not having addressedsome of these ills that are
(38:16):
right here, right, but I dobelieve, as I come to learn, and
actually some of theconversations that I've been
having in podcasts that aregoing to be flowing, are all in
this lane of health, even as Italk to my friends who are
doctors, practicing medicalphysicians, who underscore the
fact that Chandra folks need tobe focused on staying well,
(38:41):
care-free, steadying well,because once you get sick and
you come into the system, thedemands, the time demands and
the inefficiency that existsbecause of escalating costs
don't allow the healthpractitioners to really robustly
(39:02):
offer you an understanding anddiagnosis that can get you where
you need to go.
It's easier to listen veryquickly, slap something on you,
throw some meds on you and, inmost instances, exacerbate the
very simple problem to solvethat could have been solved
(39:22):
preemptively with food asmedicine and lifestyle.
It's a whole pivot of aconversation.
Wow, all right.
So I know we're coming to theend and there's probably going
to be a podcast number two,because I feel like in so many
ways we've scratched the surfaceand you're such an expert in
this field that I know thatthere's more that we can tap
into.
But I'd love to talk a littlebit about what you're doing now
(39:47):
as an author published doingsome really cool things.
Speaker 2 (39:52):
Yeah, so I do have my books and I always keep this
one in my book.
This is original Alex McGreen,the Tale of Mysterious Kale.
And my second book, which I'mreally proud of I probably it's
in my car is Alex McGreen to theBlack Toy Boys and it's all
about healthy eating forchildren.
The nature of the work and thearea of food is medicine that I
(40:12):
do here throughout Wisconsin isreally focused on adults 18 and
older, but I really trulybelieve that we're going to
solve this issue and, as yousaid, be more preventative than
reactive.
It's important that we lookupstream and I'm excited that
I'm working, piloting someprojects looking at baby in
utero, right.
So we're working on maternalhealth projects that focus on
(40:35):
high risk, low income pregnantwomen who are at risk of
developing gestational diabetesor preeclampsia, in just
resulting in healthier birthoutcomes.
So we provide the meals, weprovide one-on-one week coaching
, we provide health biometrics.
(40:56):
I mean we do need to do a parttwo for me to go through.
We provide and remove everybarrier to the diet and
lifestyle challenge.
So when you think that you knowwhat is the barrier, there are
six indicators that are in theway of people becoming healthy.
Most free programs provideaccess and costs.
That's what you get at foodpantry.
(41:17):
They'll give you a box of food.
It didn't cost you anything.
You have access to it.
It also has to taste good,right.
You have to have stuff thatmatches stuff that's relatively
familiar.
It has to save you time.
You have to have some literacyaround it, like how do I use
this?
And you have to have a littlesupport.
Like, everybody has a walk, noteverybody has a full set of
pans and good knives, right, andso, through the program that I
(41:40):
lead, we've been able to combinefreshly cold ingredients,
locally sourced, balance ofrelatable and exploratory which
I call culturally sensitive andcreate a diet profile in
partnership with our registereddietitian, nutritionists and our
culinary team to create thesenutritional guidelines and
profile which create thesedelicious, nutrient dense meals.
(42:04):
And there's a lot of educationthat we provide around that, and
so we not only tell you thethings that you need to do, but
we also provide you with thoseresources to take the guessing
out of it.
And there's a transition and astep down process to where, when
you leave our program, you'vetransitioned to a place of
self-reliance, and so I've beenworking on this since the summer
(42:26):
of 2021.
I started this in December of2020 and really launched one of
our first pilots, or series ofprior pilots, throughout the
spring of 2021.
And it's grown to more than 300people who have been to our
program and specifically rightnow, the pilot with the maternal
health.
There's 120 women and, if youcount the unborn babies, 240
(42:50):
lives that were impacting.
But maternal health, as youknow, is a very big challenge
here in Wisconsin and through mybook, I really focus on healthy
eating.
So Alex McGreen, the tail andthe stear is kale is about a
young girl who develops avertical garden with her
grandfather and there's anexplosion of kale.
(43:11):
So what do you do with a bunchof kale?
You may kill cookies, killchips, kill smoothies, may go
kill crazy.
But when you have abundance andyou have a product that people
love, what do you do with it?
Well, you begin to market it.
So part two, alex McGreen thebok choy boys, is her journey to
entrepreneurship, as this 13year old selling her products at
the local farmer's market.
(43:32):
It's cute, it's relatable.
Wow, yeah, you can find it athealthygreencom, yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:39):
Say that again.
Where can we find that?
Speaker 2 (43:41):
You can find the books at healthyfoodmovementcom.
Speaker (43:44):
Healthyfoodmovementcom .
I love that.
Well, I will be probablygifting a few people this
holiday season because I thinkthat you know it's a season for
us to start to be reallyintentional about the things
that we do.
So I'm so proud of you and Imiss the hug, but the virtual
(44:06):
hug will have to do right now.
Keep doing it, keep rocking outand, yeah, I'm looking forward
to us having many moreconversations on Proving Not
Perfect.
I believe my community is gonnareally love you.
It's your community too,because that's how we roll.
Thank you for joining me.
Speaker 2 (44:25):
Thank you for having me and I think from this
definitely Proving Not Perfect,amen.
Look forward to seeing you soon.
See you soon, bye.
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