Future of Food Conversation Series Recap: Thinking Ahead While Honoring Our Past

By Allison Thayer, Director of Community Engagement at The Nashville Food Project

On May 2, the Nashville Food Project co-hosted the kickoff event for a community conversation series exploring “The Future of Food” in Nashville. The series, part of a collaboration with the FeedBack Nashville initiative and TN Local Food, is exploring how we can work together as a community to build a more equitable, just, and sustainable food future for everyone in our city. 

Each event features a moderated panel with audience Q&A, and the kickoff event brought an all-star lineup: Kia Jarmon, visionary leader and consultant, and founder of the Nonprofit Equity Collaborative; Amanda Little, Vanderbilt professor of journalism and author of The Fate of Food: What We’ll Eat in a Bigger, Hotter, Smarter World; and Samantha Veide, the Managing Director for Americas and Transformation at Forum for the Future (the organization providing convenient support for the FeedBack Nashville Initiative). Maris Masellis, of the Tennessee Environmental Council and the Critical Root Zone podcast, moderated the discussion.

Panelist Kia Jarmon chooses a word to represent her hopes for the future of the food system.

Maris Masellis and Amanda Little

Maris Masellis and Samantha Veide

The kickoff was a discussion titled Futurist Mindsets and the Pursuit of a Just & Regenerative Food Future. The panelists discussed how fostering system-oriented, forward-thinking mindsets — and honoring lessons from our past — are both critical to building momentum for positive change in our local food system. They discussed the potential role and risks of technology in creating more equitable access to affordable, nutritious food. But, they also discussed the need for a patient, human-centric process to drive lasting positive change. Audience members asked, among other things, what actions they could take to generate positive change in our food system, and the community shared their hopes for what Nashville’s food future might look like.

The next event in the series will be on Thursday, May 30 from 6:00-7:30pm at our HQ. It will feature panelists Rev. Jen Bailey of the Faith Matters Network and People’s Supper, Rasheedat Fetuga of Gideon’s Army, and Patricia Tarquino of Cosecha Community Development. The panel, and will be moderated by NPT’s Jerome Moore of Explore Social Change. You can read more about the conversation and RSVP to attend here.

Goodbye, Winter: Slowing Down To Show Up With Intention

by Julia Baynor, Director of Meals

A few years ago, in the middle of the pandemic, I wrote a blog post about ‘Wintering,’  a concept author Katherine May describes as a season inside of us that warrants intentionally slowing down, reflecting, and taking stock of what’s going on around you. In the rush of the holiday season, it's hard to think about slowing down for a second. Even when you make plans to relax during that time, the flow of life has its own trajectory, and things don’t always go to plan. 

With the holidays over, at the Food Project we gathered ourselves to set to do the work of another demanding year; but this is winter in the south, and eight inches of snow fell hard and fast on a Sunday night recently. Snow and ice have a way of putting a stop to things down here; this was the universe giving me a second to pause. At the end of the year I struggled to write new year's resolutions, just as I struggled to write this during our week trapped in our houses, surrounded by snow and ice. Many fuzzy beginnings of this post came as I stared out my window at the sparkling snow, watching fat snowflakes fall. In the very short moment I went outside, I slammed down into it and made a snow angel, feeling the cold on my face and breathing it in.

As a person whose personal resolutions mostly amount to what new things I want to learn to bake (I have a problem), this extra time to reflect came as a boon to me. I have been working at the Food Project for a long time now, and in the demands of the day to day, I don’t often make a lot of time to reflect on the ‘why’ because I am focused very intensely on the logistics of the ‘how.’ So I decided to spend some time sitting, reading, pondering and looking for the connections of the hows in the work that I do and the whys of a broader scope of this work. I worked my way backwards, thinking of recent events first. 

The week before Christmas, we had a huge community ask to fill in and support the local tornado relief, and our teams mobilized to help get needs met the best we could. In a few short days, we had cooked and shared a few thousand extra meals. Everyone was tired and ready to go home for the holidays, but this work has a way of making you show up, and we quickly worked together to figure out how to do what we needed to do. We used food procured intentionally that would’ve gone to waste to make meals for those who needed that comfort. We had people navigating all the logistics and driving out on the weekend to deliver that food, and people who showed up to partner with others and serve it to the community. That’s what’s inspiring about the people I work with, and about people in general. When it comes down to it, they dive headfirst into the struggle. In this and so many ways, food is resistance. Sharing a meal is something that can bring people together through hard times and something that makes it easier for us to come together to figure out the hard questions.

We navigate change at every turn, recognizing that each of us are going through changes in our own lives. Some who work here have recently become parents for the first time, have come to the end of relationships, or have just been engaged to get married. Some people have lost loved ones this past year. Some people are new here and are navigating a new space, new coworkers and new job. Many cherished in this space who have done good work have left or are leaving. Some have left but have found their way back, through the path of personal sabbatical. Some are exploring new ways to find their voice in this work. Humans go through so much just being humans, and it raises so many questions: How do we stay engaged in such a difficult world? How can we stay motivated to fight when the world around us can so often feels like it’s crumbling? We continue to listen to those who struggle and to meet them where they are. We continue to sit in our discomfort as we recognize we don’t have all the answers or solutions but still have the hunger and drive to try to figure them out together. We commit to amplifying voices of people who don’t have the privilege or platform that we do. 

I reflected more on the hows and the whys. The spirit of our work is constant action; but follow-through on any action requires the careful pre-work of intention setting. How does intentionality show up in the work I do every day, with the people I work alongside? 

I see the intentions of our mission cultivated in the little ways community is built in our space every day. 

I see it in the way Josh, our Catering Manager, sets aside time to make lunch for us; making sure anyone who wants something to eat, has something. 

I see it in the way our Procurement Director David loads hundreds and hundreds of pounds of donations in and out of his truck every day, but still stops me if I try to pick up something too heavy because “that one’s really a back breaker!”

I see it when our Facilities Manager, Landon, comes through the kitchen and never fails to ask, “How can I help?” Even when he has 17 things he has to fix or address on his own roster.

I see it when Annie, who is in charge of managing and cultivating relationships with our Community Meals Partners, comes to tell me about a conversation she had at a partner site, or a joke she shared with a student on a site visit, and her face lights up as she tells the story.

I see it in the willingness of our volunteers to show up and do the most menial and tedious tasks, no questions asked; from Cheri staying after helping to lead “Best Use” prep sessions to wash ALL the dishes piled up in our dish room, to Theresa and Shelley coming in to make hundreds of sandwiches (AGAIN!) for our partners receiving cold meals. All of these interactions are things I see every day, and being a witness to them brings me back to the words of our values, “we belong to each other.”

I talk about internal care and dwell on the care we show each other because not dwelling on those things can make the stark reality we navigate as humans living in this world that much harsher. So how do we stay engaged in such a difficult world? How can we stay motivated to fight when the world around us can so often feels like it’s crumbling? We continue to listen to those who struggle and to meet them where they are. We continue to sit in our discomfort as we recognize we don’t have all the answers or solutions but still have the hunger and drive to try to figure them out together. We commit to amplifying voices of people who don’t have the privilege or platform that we do. 

At the end of the day, we are people, we are tired, we are not perfect, but we are trying to figure it out. We have to work through a lot of issues to make it sustainable for the people who are doing this work, so we can better serve and work in concert with others to try to build a sustainable food web in our community. The way we build community internally amongst one another and with our volunteers has a direct correlation with the way we are able to show up for others. As we move toward expanding the horizons of our work by mapping the reality of our food system, we work to deepen relationships with partners we have already cultivated through our programming over the years, and with them, set to working with the larger food justice community to navigate and draw up that map, to study it, and to chart our course forward. 

At the conclusion of my series of ponderings, after a full week of ice and snow, there are always more questions. Why do people continue to do this work? Why does anyone choose to do something that is hard? At the close of my favorite essay by him, James Baldwin puts it this way:

“It is a mighty heritage, it is the human heritage, and it is all there is to trust. And I learned this through descending, as it were, into the eyes of my father and my mother. I wondered, when I was little, how they bore it-for I knew that they had much to bear. It had not yet occurred to me that I also would have much to bear; but they knew it, and the unimaginable rigors of their journey helped them to prepare me for mine. This is why one must say Yes to life and embrace it whenever it is found- and it is found in terrible places; nevertheless, there it is; and if the father can say, Yes, Lord, the child can learn that most difficult of words, Amen. 

For nothing is fixed, forever and forever and forever, it is not fixed; the earth is always shifting, the light is always changing, the sea does not cease to grind down rock. Generations do not cease to be born, and we are responsible to them because we are the only witnesses they have.

The sea rises, the light fails, lovers cling to each other, and children cling to us. The moment we cease to hold each other, the moment we break faith with one another, the sea engulfs us and the light goes out.”

Apple Joe's Giving Trees

Anyone who has walked into the kitchen since August has probably noticed the crates and crates of apples stacked anywhere we can find room: under prep tables, along walls, on carts and racks. Anyone who has walked into the kitchen has probably touched one, too — whether it’s our meals team unloading them from a truck, staff juicing them for warm apple cider, volunteers blending them into applesauce or touring visitors indulging in a snack. 

In fact, since the beginning of apple season, apples have been diluted into vinegar, chopped into salads, baked into muffins and pies, and served whole alongside a hearty lunch. The 5,000 pounds of apples we have stewarded this year are thanks to our dear friends Joe and Penny Hodgson, who tend a vibrant orchard and donate a large majority of their yield to our kitchens. 

The Hodgsons’ orchard has about 575 trees of many different varieties, from classics like Fujis and Galas to lesser-known varieties like Jonagolds and Arkansas Blacks, that produce fruit from August to October each year. Tucked in the hills of McMinnville, the orchard is a haven that feeds plants, animals and people alike.

One of our favorite things about being connected with the Hodgsons is how they use their land to cultivate community. Picking 3,000 apples in a weekend is no small task, but when a group comes out to help, this laborious work transforms into time to build connections, share stories, and participate in a timeless fall tradition. This year, our team got to make two different visits to the orchard to join in the fun!

As the fall winds down and our team prepares for a season of rest, we cherish these memories from sunny days at the orchard with the Hodgsons. We’re already looking forward to next apple season!

Mill Ridge Park Makes Its Public Debut

If you’ve been following along with the Food Project over the years, you’re probably familiar with what we mean when we say the Community Farm at Mill Ridge. Together with our community of gardeners, we have been growing food on about three acres of land at Mill Ridge Park since 2019. But earlier this fall, the park — all 622 acres of it — officially opened to the public.

The mayor, city council members, park leadership, students, artists, and community members gathered to commemorate the park’s opening on August 16 with a bell-ringing ceremony. Different stakeholders spoke to a large crowd about the history around, development of, and vision for the park. Each of them noted the ability of green space to bring people together and create community connections.

“With so many impressive tangible assets here, we find the greatest delight in using those assets to create intangible assets: things such as a healthier and safer outdoors, bringing a diverse group of people together, having a sense of unity and belonging in southeast Davidson County,” said Wesley Trigg, Friends of Mill Ridge Park board president. “It’s what we like to call at Friends of Mill Ridge Park a quality of life.”

“This is a place for our entire community,” added Joy Styles, the council member representing district 32, where Mill Ridge Park is located.

The morning included a brief history of the land, including an acknowledgement of the seven indigenous tribes native to the area and the vision of Mary Moore, whose family had run the property as a family livestock farm since 1919. In 2015, Metro Parks of Nashville purchased the Moore Farm and six other properties to create what is now Mill Ridge Park.

“It was incredibly important to Ms. Moore that the land we’re standing on today be returned to the public for community use,” said Darrell Hawks, executive director of Friends of Mill Ridge Park. “She wanted her family’s memories to be preserved, and future generations to have a place to make their own memories.”

After the remarks concluded, a group of students rang a bell placed in the center of the park, while guests of the ceremony chimed in and rang individual bells handed out at the entrance. The moment marked the opening of the park to the public! Folks dispersed to check out the space’s hiking trails, a musical art installation in partnership with the Cane Ridge High School marching band, and the park’s centerpiece: a playground with a five-story enclosed slide.

From the beginning, the park has truly been designed to meet the needs of its diverse community. An extensive community listening process, including several open houses and creative labs, allowed local residents opportunities to provide input and share ideas for what they wanted to see from the park. And the result has brought many of those ideas alive, including the implementation of the Community Farm at Mill Ridge as a response to wide interest in urban agriculture.

If you haven’t gotten the chance yet, we encourage you to go explore all that Mill Ridge Park has to offer — as the month winds down, they’re offering costume contests, trail clean-ups and more — and if you haven’t made it out yet, join us for a garden workday at the Community Farm!

FeedBack Nashville: Outlining Our Objective

On any given day, when you open a local newspaper or magazine, you’re likely to find a story about Nashville’s rapid changes and persistent challenges. From promises of a reimagined public transit system to demands for more affordable housing, we are well-aware that we have a long way to go before our city reaches its full potential as a vibrant place where all residents can thrive. 

But, what about food in our city? Everyone in our city eats, yet the challenges to food security are stubbornly persistent in specific communities for all-too-familiar reasons. Obstacles to achieving community food security in Nashville are the symptoms of deeper, systemic issues that go unaddressed as we seek to confront the challenges of hunger in the present.  At The Nashville Food Project, we want to bring people together more often, and more intentionally, to imagine how we might actually create a sustainable and just local food system for everyone. This food system would provide food security and food access for all, limit our food waste and environmental harm, and strengthen our local food and agricultural economy.

We often think simple solutions are all we need to address challenges like hunger. FeedBack Nashville uses a community-based, systems change approach because hunger is a wildly complex issue!

Alongside a network of partner organizations, we are excited to launch a new effort to bring food to the forefront of action in our city. FeedBack Nashville (FBN) is a new citywide initiative to describe the opportunities and limitations of Nashville’s current food system, and to identify pathways to build a more just and sustainable food system for the future. The initiative received its first round of funding support from Metro Nashville’s American Relief Plan Act Funds in May 2023. The first phase of the project focuses on three goals:

• Analyze Nashville’s current food system, including issues related to food access, land access, food waste, and local agricultural production

• Create a shared vision for a future Nashville food system that is just and sustainable for everyone, from farmers to consumers

• Identify pathways and partnerships that will help bring forth the changes we need and want to see in our food system in the short and long-term

Visual representation of the project goals of the first phase of FeedBack Nashville. Graphic created by Forum for the Future, FeedBack Nashville’s Convening Facilitator. 

FeedBack Nashville’s approach to achieving these goals is twofold: it aims to center community perspectives and disrupt the existing system that perpetuates persistent issues. FeedBack Nashville uses these two approaches because challenges like hunger in our city are complex and require each of us to understand how our unique relationships, behaviors, and experiences may be used to support meaningful, lasting change.

As a community-based project, FBN centers perspectives and lived experiences of community members. This is because community members who are most affected by food challenges possess knowledge and ideas about how we may change the food system so that it is more equitable for everyone. By engaging residents and collaborating with specific communities to design solutions for the future, we are more likely to achieve lasting change. 

As a systems change initiative, FeedBack Nashville moves our city beyond emergency response solutions to hunger and food access. Systems change approaches position us to better understand how different social, economic, and environmental circumstances interact to create hunger and other food-related challenges. They bring together individuals and organizations from the grassroots to the government to design creative solutions, from policy changes to mindset shifts. 

Iceberg models like this one above help illustrate why systems change approaches are useful for complex challenges like hunger. Systems change approaches understand that multiple interventions, working at different levels in society, are required to create lasting change. Graphic created by Forum for the Future, FeedBack Nashville’s Convening Facilitator.

The Nashville Food Project is honored to serve as FeedBack Nashville’s project coordinator. Our mission is to grow, cook, and share food with the goals of alleviating hunger and cultivating community. In 2023, inspired by this mission, we established a strategic priority to support systems change approaches that bring together diverse partners to fundamentally shift the way food access and hunger are addressed in our city. FeedBack Nashville offers a timely and meaningful opportunity for us to collaborate with partners and neighbors to build an alternative food future for Nashville that is just and sustainable for everyone. 

As the project coordinator, we are working to ensure that the project’s Steering Committee and convening facilitator, Forum for the Future, have access to the resources, administrative support, and coordinating logistics they need to achieve FeedBack Nashville’s intended outcomes. Currently, we are supporting the project’s Steering Committee and Forum for the Future to develop and launch FeedBack Nashville’s community engagement strategy. Stay tuned for our next FeedBack Nashville blog post, which will introduce the Steering Committee and Forum for the Future, and provide more information on how you can support the effort within your community!

Growing Multigenerational Community at McGruder Garden

In 2009, an advisory board for a community center in North Nashville formed, and one of the responses from the community was a desire for a space to grow. In addition to the garden being a gathering place for community and a sacred green space in a fast-growing city, it also proposed a solution to the neighborhood’s lack of access to fresh food — there was no grocery store in North Nashville.

14 years later, many of the garden’s original growers — including founders Rev. and Mrs. Beach — still come to McGruder Community Garden each week. It’s a space where people from all walks of life work together to grow whatever they want — be it okra, dill or marigolds — for themselves, their families and their community.

Check out this video and take a look at a typical morning at McGruder!