Hello

Growing up I have grappled with all of the ways that our system fails its residents, even in spite of its best efforts, and where I am supposed to fit in all of that. During the past two years, I am sure that we have all looked at the world and all of its shortcomings and have felt overwhelmed by how much there is to fix and to change. We’ve watched our loved ones lose their jobs and possibly become ill, we’ve seen more stories of police brutality than there should ever be, the streets continue to be filled with people experiencing homelessness, for profit prisons still exist, and families still go hungry. There is so much that needs to change, and trying to tackle it on our own seems impossible. 

 

I don’t know how or when, but at some point in my life I came to the decision that I was going to put my efforts towards feeding those who do not have enough to eat. I first moved to Louisville when I was 19 with the goal of establishing community gardens to combat food-scarcity in the West-End and downtown area of Louisville. During my first year here, I experienced a fair amount of food-insecurity and quickly learned that people who are faced with an unreliable access to food rarely have the time or resources required to travel to and maintain a garden. 

 

For the next two years, I considered all of the ways people fall through the cracks when it comes to creating a reliable access to fresh, affordable food for individuals. I learned that the West-End of Louisville has one of the lowest vehicle-to-grocery ratios in the city and that 47% of our residents who are faced with food scarcity do not qualify for SNAP benefits. I believe that by creating a system in which families have donor-funded produce delivered directly to their door we can better care for each other as a community. We may not be able to change the world as individuals, but I believe that as a community we can.