Podcast appearances and mentions of Nikki Henderson

Guest: Nikki Henderson, a world-class professional sailor. In 2018, Nikki became the youngest skipper to lead a team in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. At the age of 25, over the course of more than 40,000 miles of ocean racing, Nikki led a diverse team of mostly amateur sailors from 16 countries to an extraordinary second place finish. She's also skippered numerous transatlantic races and won the Race to Alaska. In a Nutshell: How do you define your job as a leader? Nikki Henderson says that what she does as a skipper is pull together disparate individuals, build them into high-performing amateur teams, and then compete in the most extreme sailing races in the world. I experienced Nikki's leadership first hand a few weeks ago when I sailed with her in the Caribbean 600 as part of her amateur crew. This was a grueling 600-mile race around 11 Caribbean islands. Despite long odds, we ended up finishing third and celebrated on stage with our prize: a big bottle of rum. On today's show, Nikki Henderson and I discuss making life transitions, paradoxes and polarities in leadership, and decision-making under pressure and uncertainty.

The Caribbean 600 is one of the great offshore races and in February we launched the 59 North offshore racing program with this as our debut event. The Whole Point? To try to open the door of offshore racing wider so that more people like you can get involved. In this episode Nikki has a chat with Alex to reminisce on trials and tribulations of the 2024 edition of the Caribbean 600.   -- If you liked this conversation you'll LOVE The QUARTERDECK, 59 North's 'deep dives on the art of seamanship.' Join our interactive community and get involved in the conversation at quarterdeck.59-north.com. First two weeks FREE, then multiple pricing options thereafter. 

For the last debate of this season, we take a big step back and ask the big question: The sights, sounds and cultural input of coastal cruising? Or the freedom, desolation and peace of offshore sailing? Nikki Henderson and August Sandberg randomly pick a side in this heated discussion, and tries to convince the other, and the audience, of which is the best version of sailing. Will they succeed? Will they stay on topic? Will the debate devolve into crying and name-calling? Click play to find out!

When the wind is light and abaft the beam, what you want is a spinnaker. But what type of spinnaker? Nikki Henderson and August  Sandberg randomly pick a side in this heated discussion, and tries to convince the other, and the audience, of which is the best version of sailing. Will they succeed? Will they stay on topic? Will the debate devolve into crying and name-calling? Click play to find out!

The more the merrier? Safer? Faster? Or just more expensive, crowded and annoying? Nikki Henderson the extrovert and August Sandberg the introvert randomly pick a side in this heated discussion, and tries to convince the other, and the audience, of which is the best version of sailing. Will they succeed? Will they stay on topic? Will the debate devolve into crying and name-calling? Click play to find out! -- Join us on The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's online platform, to add your own arguments and to continue the discussion First two weeks free! 

Are bananas the perfect food offshore, or are they inherently dangerous? Nikki Henderson and August Sandberg randomly pick a side in this heated discussion, and tries to convince the other, and the audience, of which is the best version of sailing. Will they succeed? Will they stay on topic? Will the debate devolve into crying and name-calling? Click play to find out! -- Join us on The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's online platform, to add your own arguments and to continue the discussion First two weeks free! 

Cruising or Racing - which is better? Nikki Henderson and August Sandberg randomly pick a side in this heated discussion, and tries to convince the other, and the audience, of which is the best version of sailing. Will they succeed? Will they stay on topic? Will the debate devolve into crying and name-calling? Click play to find out! -- Join us on The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's online platform, to add your own arguments and to continue the discussion First two weeks free! 

Monohulls or cats - which is better? Nikki Henderson and August Sandberg randomly pick a side in this heated discussion, and tries to convince the other, and the audience, of which is the ideal number of hulls. Will they succeed? Will they stay on topic? Will the debate devolve into crying and name-calling? Click play to find out! -- Join us on The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's online platform, to add your own arguments and to continue the discussion First two weeks free! 

Welcome back to the second debate of this season of the Quarterdeck Sailing Podcast! Nikki Henderson and August Sandberg will randomly pick a side in a contentious sailing topic, and then go toe to toe and see who can make the best case for or against! In this second episode, Nikki and August argue which is better: wheels, or tillers.  -- Join us on The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's online platform, to add your own arguments and to continue the discussion First two weeks free! 

Welcome back to a new season of the Quarterdeck Sailing Podcast! This time around, we are doing debates! Nikki Henderson and August Sandberg will randomly pick a side in a contentious sailing topic, and then go toe to toe and see who can make the best case for or against! In this first one, Nikki and August argue whether they should go to the marina or drop the hook.  -- Join us on The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's online platform, to add your own arguments and to continue the discussion First two weeks free! 

Nikki Henderson is no stranger to the 59N family. She's a skipper, a podcaster, master of the Quarterdeck and a dear friend in the community. But when she signs off from these watches, she doesn't quit. You likely know that she's been on heaps of other seafaring adventures, including skippering the famed Whitbread machine, Maiden; the Clipper Round the World Race; and her first attempt the The Race To Alaska with team Sail Like a Girl. I sat down to talk with Nikki about her second, most recent attempt at the R2AK, it's challenges, and what made this one such a successful campaign in what I think is one of the greatest adventure races on earth. -- If you liked this conversation you'll LOVE The QUARTERDECK, 59 North's 'deep dives on the art of seamanship.' Join our interactive community and get involved in the conversation at quarterdeck.59-north.com. First two weeks FREE, then multiple pricing options thereafter.  -- ON THE WIND is presented by Forbes Horton Yachts. Get in touch with Forbes today about buying or selling a boat. The show is also presented by Blu3, makers of compact shallow-water tankless diving systems. 

Crammed with history, boats and sailing culture, the south coast of England is a perfect cruising destination. Nikki Henderson grew up in the area, and shares her vast knowledge about tides, weather and navigation, as well as favourite events and marinas. -- Join us on The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's online platform, to continue the conversation, and to access the resources mentioned in this podcast! First two weeks free! 

Grab a drink and a handhold, and join Mia Karlsson and Nikki Henderson for a chat on heeling! Unless you sail a multi-hull, 'life-on-a-heel' is an unavoidable fact of life. Heeling is a love//hate type thing: some think heeling contributes to the 'romance' of sailing; others find being heeled over a gut wrenching and deeply uncomfortable aspect of sailing. Through our various careers, we have all learnt the hard way about what works well and what doesn't when living on the North Face.  BUT the whole point of the Quarterdeck is that you don't all have to go through this same painful learning process. So join us and we will share of all things that we have learnt about how to make living on a heel more bearable, more safe, and even - we know it's hard to believe - fun! Why is mastering life on a heel important? Because we all want our loved ones to come sailing again! And if life onboard is miserable, so is the crew, and then sailing quickly loses its charm.  -- Join us on The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's online platform where we dive deep on the art of seamanship. First two weeks free! This podcast is recorded LIVE on video on the Quarterdeck, so members can watch the show as it happens, ask questions and suggest future topics.

Andy Schell and Nikki Henderson talks MOB this week! This is the first half of the discussion on the bigger topic of people falling overboard. So before we discuss how to rescue anyone, it seems sensible to first discuss how to stop them from falling in in the first place. Of course we have not got full control onboard of anyone or anything so cannot claim to have a foolproof way for ensuring the crew stay on the boat. Saying that though, there are lots of means at our disposal --> standing orders, safety harnesses, crew culture, jackstays, D-rings -- to influence how likely or not it is that they fall in the water. So join us to discuss what we have learnt works and doesn't work for keeping your crew onboard - with of course a fair share of stories to add colour to the session.  -- Join us on The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's online platform where we dive deep on the art of seamanship. First two weeks free! This podcast is recorded LIVE on video on the Quarterdeck, so members can watch the show as it happens, ask questions and suggest future topics.

This Farm Yarn we talk with Nikki Henderson from Henderson Livestock consulting. She just featured in the Optiweigh series as one of the early adopters of the piece of technology on their farm and also now on her clients operations. But after all of the farming chat and business elements to it all it's great to find out who Nikki is, what motivates her and who she looks to for inspiration. Listen to this episode and her other episode finding the opportunities on-farm. For more episodes and to see what we get up to visit FarmsAdvice.com.au --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/farmsadviceau/message

Nikki Henderson and 59 North's Bosun Adam Browne discuss the challenges of time management during an extensive refit, highlighting how we're handling it on FALKEN. -- Join us on The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's new online platform where we dive deep on the art of seamanship. First two weeks free! This podcast is recorded LIVE on video on the Quarterdeck, so members can watch the show as it happens, ask questions and suggest future topics.

Andy & Nikki talk about how they got to know each other and what Nikki's new full-time role will be with 59 North! -- Join us on The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's new online platform where we dive deep on the art of seamanship. First two weeks free! -- This podcast is recorded LIVE on the Quarterdeck, so members can watch the show as it happens, ask questions and suggest future topics.

This week's episode we're with Optiweigh for an 8 episode series talking all things agtech and how it is working with Australian cattle producers. Nikki Henderson who runs their farm with her partner but her main role is consulting with other farmers with Henderson Livestock. From nutrition to in paddock weighing and how the appetite for her clients to turn to agtech is allowing them to find the opportunities on their own farms. Listen into the Optiweigh series on FarmsAdvice.com.au --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/farmsadviceau/message

Leaders from across government are turning to strong DevSecOps strategies to shake up the status quo and increase the speed of software development. Our Digital Services: Disruptive DevSecOps virtual event brought together many of these innovators to talk agile methodology, infrastructure support and security, and more. Staff writers Sarah Sybert and Nikki Henderson join Flywheel Fridays to break down the highlights and key takeaways from the virtual event.

(#321 Replay). We're dipping into the archives for the next six weeks. ON THE WIND is on a new-episode hiatus until August 23, but we didn't want to leave you hanging for so long! So OTW host and founder Andy Schell has put together new intros for some of his favorite interviews of the past. Furthermore, all of these archive episodes have some kind of relevance in the present-tense. If you're new to the show, these are some of the best...if you're an old-hand, you'll love listening again! -- We've also announced 5 new passages on FALKEN for 2023 - two in February in the UK, the very first trips on the new boat; one cruising the west coast of Iceland; and two more in October 2023 sailing Portugal to the Azores and back again! Those are open for booking now at 59-north.com/2023. Join us at the Annapolis Boat Show for the SEAMANSHIP FOR OFFSHORE SAILING SEMINAR, hosted by Andy Schell & Nikki Henderson. And join The QUARTERDECK! Check out our seamanship community platform at quarterdeck.59-north.com.

Nikki Henderson, sailing instructor, team leader and Clipper Race skipper, shares advice for couples about how to work better as a team and set a positive culture on the boat. I was able to spend time with Nikki during Outremer Week in her classes and during the regatta days and her advice was remarkable!!! Thank you Nikki for sharing your experience and being a great source of inspiration. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to becoming sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we make mistakes, celebrate victories and transition to the sailing life to explore the world.  

Author and speaker and fellow single mom, Nikki Henderson talks about being a joyful single parent. How can we maintain our joy when parenting alone? What does this look like in our day-to-day lives? Show Notes HERE. Where to Find Nikki: Instagram Website Nikki's books: My Greatest Blessings: Memoirs of a Single Mom Storm Clouds Are Passing: Hold on Until Change Comes Moments with God: Stories for the Soul of a Woman If you're a single parent, grab my FREE guide to Parenting Alone HERE. Support my single-parent ministry HERE.

Nicole "Nikki" Henderson can be described as “a woman after God's own heart”. Nikki is a speaker and author who has written 3 books. Her first book entitled “Moments with God: Short Stories for the Soul of a Woman” was released in 2014 and she released her second book “Storm Clouds are Passing: Hold On Until Change Comes” in August 2017. Her most recent book was released in 2020, entitled “My Greatest Blessings: Memoirs of a Single Mom”. Nikki has over 18 years of leadership experience in Corporate America. Nikki Henderson is a Motivational Speaker, Corporate Leader. Her heart's desire is to empower everyone that she encounters to live to their fullest and pursue life's purpose. Nikki enjoys reading, exploring nature and spending time with her two sons --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theo-free/support

Nikki Henderson joins the Quarterdeck membership for a brief discussion on seamanship, followed by a Q&A. Members on the QDeck submitted their questions, which Nikki answered here! If you missed Nikki's interview with Andy for ON THE WIND, catch that here! -- Join the discussion on The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's new online platform where we dive deep on the art of seamanship. Open now, first two weeks free!

#321. Nikki Henderson is the youngest person ever to have skippered a yacht in the Clipper Round the World race, coming second in the 2017/18 edition of the race at 25 years old. Since the age of 18 Nikki has pursued a career in professional sailing, and has earned worldwide respect for her accomplishments. She has been a guest-skipper for MAIDEN, raced on an all-women's team in the Race 2 Alaska, been through the Suez Canal and many times across the Atlantic. Nikki recently sailed on ICEBEAR with Andy in Antigua, where they recorded this long and inspirational chat about Nikki's career and philosophy. -- ON THE WIND is exclusively sponsored by Dakota Lithium, an American company building tough, long-lasting lithium-iron-phosphate batteries for a variety of applications. We just installed 200 aH of Dakota Lithium on SPICA in Sweden, and are preparing for a major lithium conversion on ICEBEAR, our Swan 59. Check them out at dakotalithium.com. -- Join us on the 59º North QUARTERDECK, our online platform where members and the 'Admiralty' dive deep on the art of seamanship. New for 2021 is a monthly, members-only newsletter called THE SKIPPER'S BRIEFING, straight to your inbox with exclusive content, commentary, and a recap of the best of the past month on the Quarterdeck. There is nothing like it in sailing - join us at quarterdeck.59-north.com to become a better thinker, leader & sailor.

How can a grocery store lift a community out of poverty? The People’s Grocery provides creative solutions to community health problems that stem from a lack of access to and knowledge about healthy, fresh foods. The personal journey of former Executive Director and home-grown food justice leader Nikki Henderson-Silvestri brings heart, soul and love to community health and wealth for the low-income community of West Oakland, California.

Meet Nikki, this year's incredible Keynote Speaker! Single mom of two amazing boys, founder of  Mending Hearts Outreach Ministries  and author of 3 books, her latest book, "My Greatest Blessings, Memoirs of a Single Mom," is heartwarming, honest and inspiring! Listen to our interview where we discuss single motherhood, her keynote at the conference and more! Nikki's Sessions: "Passion for Purpose: Your Time is Now," December 5th "Co-parenting Panel," December 5th --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/faithcoffeandakid/message

Nikki Henderson can be described as “a woman after God's own heart.” Since her teenage years, Nikki has served in ministry in praise and worship, youth ministry, women's ministry, and beyond. Nikki believes that God has called her to the brokenhearted and to share a message of God's love and restoration. This call to ministry and her life journey inspired her to publish her first book entitled Moments with God: Short Stories for the Soul of a Woman in 2014, and she released her second book, Storm Clouds are Passing: Hold On Until Change Comes in August 2017. Nikki recently released her third book in June 2020, entitled My Greatest Blessings: Memoirs of a Single Mom. Nikki is also the founder of Mending Hearts Outreach Ministries with a mission of “Restoration - One Heart at a Time.” Through this ministry, Nikki seeks to graciously serve all those she encounters and empower them to walk in their purpose, even in difficult times. Nikki earned her Bachelor of Business Administration at Thomas Edison University and has also completed a master's degree in Business Administration (MBA) at the University of Mount Olive. To further her understanding of God's Word, Nikki has taken biblical courses at Nyack College and the Zarephath Bible Institute. Nikki has over 17 years of leadership experience in Corporate America, including coaching and strategy development and implementation. Nikki currently resides in North Carolina with her two sons, Joshua, and Jeremiah. Born at 27 and 30 weeks, Nikki has personally experienced the grace of God on her journey through the premature birth of her sons. Nikki's heart desire is to be all that God has called her to be and serve in love, humility, and gratitude. Guest Contact: Facebook: Nikki Henderson Book is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble Book Website: https://www.westbowpress.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/811780-my-greatest-blessings Host Contact: Facebook: Dear Single Mom Podcast Instagram: @dearsinglemompodcast --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

In the latest episode of My Adventure Series I talk to Nikki Henderson; sailor, speaker, storyteller.  In this interview we look at a snapshot of her life and what drives her to change attitudes and inspire generations.  Find out what she learnt from her recent Atlantic voyage with Greta Thunberg, how she deals with self doubt, and what it takes to be the youngest ever woman to skipper a round the world yacht race. 

In this episode Abby Ehler chats with Nikki Henderson, a British professional yachtswoman. In 2018, Nikki became the youngest ever skipper to lead a team in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race at the age of 25, finishing in second place overall in the 2017/2018 edition of the Race. That same race saw Wendy Tuck become the first woman to win a round the world race. Nikki went onto be a guest skipper on Maiden's global voyage in 2018 in support of The Maiden Factor Foundation. And most recently Nikki accompanied the environmental activist Greta Thunberg on her return voyage to Europe aboard the catamaran La Vagabonde.  For show notes and related links for this episode click HERE. For more conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s Largest Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 20 hosts, 1000+ episodes across 30+ shows and a global audience of over 3 million. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.

Growing Growers and Seeding Leaders for a Real Food Future What happens when green turns to grey? Fewer than 5 percent of 2 million American farmers are under 45 years old. Bucking that trend is the next generation of unstoppable young farmers Severine von Tscharner Fleming, Tyler Webb, and Sarita Role Schaffer, along with renowned urban food innovator Nikki Henderson and real food advocate Amin Steele. With dirt under their nails and laptops at their fingertips, theyre reinventing a radical patriotism founded in a return to local agriculture and community. It runs on clean energy and knows how to move markets. It seeks greater self-sufficiency, self-determination and food justice, and the checkout line is the pulpit.

We chat about being a writer/actor and new writing. We also discuss Gretel! The Other Palace. Charlie Turner. ‪Anomoly. Old Red Lion Theatre. National Theatre.‬ Wild Child. Adam Smal. Soho Theatre. Fieabag. Bitch Boxer. Charlotte Josephine. Fury. Phoebe Eclair Powell. Arcola Theatre. Royal Court. Galop. Bitter Wheat. John Malkovich. David Mamet. Vicky Featherstone. Morgan Lloyd Malcolm. Meryl Streep Featuring the cast of Gretel! A New Musical. Ellen MacAllen. Mikey Wooster. Tom Duern. Nikki Henderson. Mina Dahle. Roxanne Applebee. Charles Camrose. Joely Barbour. Georgia Burnell. Rebecca Lauren. Aoife Clesham.

Getting lost in your mind drama, believing you’re either on track or off track or judging yourself for what you didn’t do or didn’t get done what gets you stuck. Nikki Henderson joins as we talk about getting unstuck and the different ways self care can look.

In June 2019, Boldly Went followed along with with the Race to Alaska, a 750 mile non-motorized boat race between Port Townsend, WA and Ketchikan, AK. It was hardcore, hilarious, ridiculous and strangely moving. This is the story. Adventure Storytellers: Daniel Evans, Jake Beattie, John Guider, Chris and Marty Fagan, JT Hammill, Thor Belle, Pax Templeton, Nikki Henderson, Laurie Anna Kaplan, Spencer Weber Music: The Unexpected Brass Band, Maricz, the Soviet National anthem, Hyde, Alexander Nakarada, Mixaund Field Notes: https://www.boldlywentadventures.com/114-r2ak.html Get episodes delivered to your inbox as soon as they’re released: http://eepurl.com/cx_BMb Boldly Went Show Schedule/Tickets: https://www.boldlywentadventures.com/buy-tickets.html This Podcast is supported by YOU, our faithful listeners! Help keep the show going and be a supporter at www.patreon.com/boldlywent

Nikki is an everyday gal who has used running to have time for herself and clear her head. All that running led to her qualifying for the Boston Marathon after her first race. Over the past 10+ years she’s trained for 12 marathons and ran 8. But balancing out the 1,000 miles needed to run a race, work, life, and kids all takes a strong mindset. Join us and learn how to she’s been able to keep it all together these many years.

Nikki Henderson (now Nikki Silvestri), founder of People's Grocery in Oakland, CA, explains how we can use food to create conversation and community. "One of the things I love about food is that it is grounding. It calls for presence." Since 1990, Bioneers has acted as a fertile hub of social and scientific innovators with practical and visionary solutions for the world's most pressing environmental and social challenges. To experience talks like this, please join us at the Bioneers National Conference each October, and regional Bioneers Resilient Community Network gatherings held nationwide throughout the year. For more information on Bioneers, please visit http://www.bioneers.org and stay in touch via Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Bioneers.org) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/bioneers).

Nikki Henderson begins her deeply personal story by sharing the inspiration of her forefathers and foremothers, captivating the audience with her uninhibited warmth and radiance. She recalls her childhood aspiration to become an environmental activist, and reveals her genuine hope to be as effective personally as professionally in using food as a catalyst for environmental and social justice. This speech was given at the 2012 Bioneers National Conference and is featured on the Food Justice Vol. 1 and Nature, Culture and Spirit Vol. 1 Collections. Since 1990, Bioneers has acted as a fertile hub of social and scientific innovators with practical and visionary solutions for the world's most pressing environmental and social challenges. To experience talks like this, please join us at the Bioneers National Conference each October, and regional Bioneers Resilient Community Network gatherings held nationwide throughout the year.

How can a grocery store lift a community out of poverty? The People’s Grocery provides creative solutions to community health problems that stem from a lack of access to and knowledge about healthy, fresh foods. The personal journey of Executive Director and home-grown food justice leader Nikki Henderson brings heart, soul and love to community health and wealth for the low-income community of West Oakland, California.

Discuss Mr. Ahmadi’s attempt to open a grocery store in West OaklandTRANSCRIPTSpeaker 1:Okay. Okay. Okay. Speaker 2:Listen to KLX Berkeley 90.7 a fan and this is method to the madness, the show about the innovative spirit of the bay area. I'm your host Tallinn Huizar and today we have Brahma Matti with us, the founder of people's community market. Welcome. Brahm good to be here. What is the problem you're trying to solve? Sure. Well, I've been working in the community food movements, so to speak [00:00:30] for about the last 10 years. And the majority of my work has been in West Oakland right here in San Francisco Bay area, low income neighborhood, about 25,000 residents, predominantly African American and Latino. And that community has faced for a long time a real problem of having access to good quality, uh, groceries and food products, um, immediately in the neighborhood in a convenient and affordable way. Um, in fact, the neighborhood has not had a full service grocery store [00:01:00] for quite some time and has really suffered on and off over a number of decades, uh, having a consistent grocery, uh, available. Speaker 2:And the real issue with this is not just that it's a complete hassle for residents because what it means is that, uh, they have to leave the neighborhood by and large to shop. And for a lot of residents, they don't own their own vehicle, so they're relying on public transportation or walking. Uh, so it's really hard to do that on a consistent basis. [00:01:30] Um, and so they tend to rely on what is locally available and, and, uh, that tends to be predominantly corner stores or liquor stores, uh, which of course are not really focused on fresh food or healthy food options per say, or even a, a a satisfactory range of products that residents can really rely on. Um, but nonetheless, people are somewhat depending on the options that are conveniently available, again, because there's someone bound to that neighborhood or at least a good portion of residents are. Speaker 2:And [00:02:00] so this is having pretty substantial health impacts in, in West Oakland. Uh, of course our countries at this point, you know, sees with it with a public health crisis, particularly on obesity and diabetes and what have you. Communities, like West Oakland have disproportionately higher rates of all of these problems. So West Oakland, uh, is in the 67th percentile for diabetes, which is very, very high. Uh, and uh, almost half of the residents are overweight or, or considered obese. Um, and [00:02:30] diabetes is very prevalent through the neighborhood. And of course there are a lot of different factors that contribute to, uh, health or ill health. Uh, but certainly diet is one of the most important factors, uh, that, um, really matters. And so 10 years ago, uh, I, and a number of my colleagues I was doing community organizing work at the time, really began to look at this problem specifically in West Oakland. Speaker 2:Uh, and the way that came about for was [00:03:00] that we were having meetings with community residents around environmental justice campaigns, which is looking at other sort of issues of social and economic equity and land use and policy and health. Um, and in those meetings where we're talking about campaigns and what do residents want in terms of, uh, what they're demanding from, for example, a polluter in the neighborhood or from, from a city. Um, the city government, uh, we were often getting this feedback that a big problem in the neighborhood [00:03:30] was just not being able to get access to good foods, um, affordable, particularly fresh and particularly in the perishable product categories. Uh, and, and we just kept hearing it again and again and again. Um, and residents, even at that time, 10 years ago now, we're already making the connections between their diets and their health. Speaker 2:You know, it's all the rage now to be talking about the connections between, uh, you know, eating and prevention and health outcomes. Uh, and it's often assumed that low income people aren't making those connections, [00:04:00] but, but that's completely wrong. They very much are. And so they were really communicating that with us and I think felt that as organizers, you know, we should do something about it. Okay. So, and you know, historically there's always been low income communities. Is it always been the, they haven't been serviced or has there been a change over times or kind of as supermarkets came into vogue, they just couldn't service those communities and there used to be like a neighborhood grocery store everywhere, right? There did. Yeah. I think that the beginning of this problem, [00:04:30] uh, really began, uh, sort of post World War II, uh, moving into, uh, a development pattern really across the United States, um, where you've started to see fairly substantial shifts in population from urban cores to new suburbs. Speaker 2:So, you know, a lot of Gis came back and they were able to get a home and what have you. Uh, so you saw essentially a flight of capital, uh, as people moved. Uh, and as [00:05:00] a result of that, one of the results of that was a concentration of lower income people in the remaining urban core. Um, and so the economies sort of lost their foundation. Um, so that was a key factor. The spending power just dropped to the point where for a lot of grocers, they just couldn't sustain themselves in, in that kind of a neighborhood anymore because of the demographic changes. Uh, the same time, the reality was that the supermarkets were following the shift, so [00:05:30] they wanted to move to the suburbs as well, partly because that's where the spending power was going. [inaudible] and secondly, because there was an important development in industry around that time around 1950s, uh, which is the dominant retail model today, which is towards larger footprint store formats, uh, you know, the economies of scale and efficiencies that can come from that. Speaker 2:That sort of consolidation of the larger market range and what have you and, and the volume that could be derived all was more attractive and sort of the New Paradigm in [00:06:00] the supermarket and grocery business. The other important piece to that is the availability of large land for parking lots and of course in the 50s was the real rise of the home ownership for the single family in the United States. So I think we saw both, uh, interesting trends in, uh, urban development and policy and planning and sort of overall shifts in population. And we also saw some interesting changes in the industry itself towards consolidation towards larger footprint formats. And as a [00:06:30] result, the shutting down of both smaller stores, uh, and, and, and stores particularly in these urban cores, which had been somewhat decimated as a result of this, this trend. Okay. Yeah. Interesting. This is, this is where listening to problem id here on method to the madness on KALX Berkeley. Speaker 2:And so tell us a little bit about how your background and how you kind of, you got it. You said you were community organizing. How did you get there? I got into community organizing really when I was a kid. So I grew up in [00:07:00] a far eastern La County and southern California. And, um, my early teens I kinda got turned on by some community issues, particularly around environmental justice. The neighbor I lived in was predominantly Latino and there were a number of environmental problems. They're polluting sites and factories that were, you know, emitting carcinogens into the air or, you know, that particular neighborhood had a higher rate of asthma or cancer or whatever. Um, and so I got pretty into that really early [00:07:30] on, um, you know, like 16, 17 years old. And, um, just started volunteering and getting involved in these different campaigns. And then I went to college, I went to Santa Cruz, um, and I started coming up to the bay area on the weekends and volunteering with environmental justice organizations here, like communities for a better environment and green action and literacy for environmental justice, um, helping out with different, uh, campaigns around the bay area. Speaker 2:And then eventually, uh, got a job as an organizer for one of those organizations, uh, and did the mindful justice [00:08:00] work for several years. And it was also doing youth development work as well, primarily with urban youth, low income youth. Um, and then, you know, this, this food access problem emerged and kept coming up. And, and I and my colleagues who eventually went on to found people's Grocery, the nonprofit organization, um, really wanted to make a a shift personally in the work we were doing and creating change and, and social justice in the world. I think we were getting a little bit tired, uh, of [00:08:30] the organizing model that we were working in, um, long hours, not regretting buying. Um, and really hard frankly to feel a sense of accomplishment outside of the objective of shutting something down. That was Kinda the, the measure of success at the time and the Environment Justice Movement of course to its credit, its changed since, has very different kind of objectives these days. Speaker 2:But back then your call was a shut somebody down and get rid of them altogether. Um, and while that was absolutely essential, uh, and PR, you know, very [00:09:00] likely is contributing to better health in the community or at a minimum preventing more sickness. It was really hard to feel a sense of a real impact in terms of advancing progress, especially in low income neighborhoods. And so we were at the same time beginning to get turned on around this whole idea of social entrepreneurship, which 10 years ago, you know, 2001, 2002 was really starting to emerge as this very popular thing here in the United States. And, uh, we attended the social enterprise alliance conference and then eventually a social [00:09:30] venture network conference and were like, this is really neat. We could create a business in the neighborhood that creates jobs and creates economic value while at the same time having an impact on some social health need. Speaker 2:In our case, we were interested in this food issue. Um, and so we initially thought that the best way to go actually was to open a grocery store. I think we had the, the sense, even though we had no experience in that business, that a grocery store was going to provide the most convenience to the neighborhood. Um, in terms of a fixed location [00:10:00] and regular operating hours and abroad selection and what have you. Um, but we also knew that we didn't have the know how to do that. We had no business background whatsoever. None of us. Um, and so we decided to sort of keep that vision in that goal of opening a community grocery store that had, you know, be a goals beyond just retailing quality foods really w could provide a means of engaging the community and, and offering additional value where it was needed in the neighborhood. Speaker 2:Um, [00:10:30] but in the short term we would develop smaller food projects that could on the one hand, begin to address the immediate local need in West Oakland. And on the other hand could begin to give us that first hand experience and sort of knowledge and track records, so to speak, of marketing fresh foods and healthy foods in the low income neighborhood, uh, and providing education and providing job training to that population. Uh, with this sort of sense that eventually we could come full circle [00:11:00] to pursuing the opening of a grocery store and that we would have a stronger foundation to do that with. So people's grocery was the, you're the main attempt to realize this vision, right? Exactly. Was sort of solution 1.0 so to speak. For us it was a, it was a nonprofit organization still exists and it's doing very well today. Um, and it's, it's um, it became a mix of these various projects. Speaker 2:Um, we worked a lot in creating and experimenting with smaller scale food [00:11:30] projects that could distribute food to the neighborhood. So for example, uh, we are very first project was called the mobile market. We literally took an old postal truck and we tricked it out, uh, into a small grocery store on wheels. And this is back before food trucks were their age. Um, and we drove around the neighborhood on a fixed route and schedule three or four days a week stopping central locations and carried a mix of fresh and packaged goods, um, and learned a lot and engaged a lot of people in that process. This truck was [00:12:00] bright purple and orange. It had an 800 watt sound system. It smelled like French fries cause they ran on biodiesel until we caught a lot of attention. And that was really our goal as can be organizers. Speaker 2:That's what we knew how to do, was interact with, with the neighborhood and, and start conversations and what have you. Um, and so we developed a number of different small projects over the years, a little like the mobile market. We also did a lot in urban agriculture developing a variety of food production projects, whether they were school gardens [00:12:30] or community gardens or, uh, greenhouse projects. Uh, and we even ran a four and a half Acre farm for a number of years. And we also, and I think increasingly, uh, continue to go deeper and deeper into education as well. Health Education, food education. Um, because we saw that as really a fundamental piece to the whole equation, uh, not only a, of solving the access problem in the sense that, uh, encouraging people to try out and purchase healthier [00:13:00] foods that are better for, you know, their health needs. Um, but they could also in the longterm create the kind of market conditions to succeed at a retail effort. Speaker 2:Um, by having some sort of critical mass of residents that we were really wanting to support a local independent grocer and really having an understanding on what that was and why it was great for the neighborhood in terms of the economic multiplier and the job creation and what have you. So people's grocery really developed many, many different projects. [00:13:30] And part of our approach was just to experiment kind of wildly with ideas. We were the first to do a mobile market in the country, um, and learned a lot from that. And since many, many other groups around the u s uh, have developed and are even today running mobile markets, uh, and we've been able to share our learning and sort of what we documented and learn from it with those, those projects. Um, and then I think round about 2008 or so, we sort of assessed, [00:14:00] uh, that we, we had come to that place in the organizational life cycle, uh, where we were well positioned to return back to pursuing this original goal of opening a grocery store. Speaker 2:We had built this huge base in the neighborhood. We had all of this firsthand experience in street creds, so to speak. The organization was locally and nationally recognized for its efforts. So people's grocery didn't, wasn't actually a storefront. It was never was a store. It was the mobile truck. It was a bunch of other, exactly. Yeah. [00:14:30] And the name is a little confusing. It came out of our original idea of opening your groceries. Gotcha. Um, and when we decided to put that on hold, we still liked the name, so we kept the name and call it the nonprofit people's grocery. And, um, so at that point in 2008, we said, okay, I think, I think we're ready for this. And the nonprofit can provide the strong foundation, uh, for going forward and bringing all of our insights and sort of knowledge from [00:15:00] all these different projects and experiments and all of the feedback that we had gathered from residents, um, to, to implement a business model. Speaker 2:Um, and, and a really important piece behind all of this wasn't just that we felt ready organizationally, but we were seeing that these small scale projects ultimately were not effective at closing the gap and meeting the need at the scale at which that gap in need exists. So West Oakland, uh, is a, a really a larger [00:15:30] food market than people might automatically assume. It's about a $60 million annual market for groceries. And of that, about 70% of those expenditures are leaking out of the neighborhood every single year, uh, presently. Uh, and so that's substantially kitchen substantial losses to the local economy. But what it really represents, probably more important is just the total hassle and headache for these residents that have to leave West Oakland every time they want to shop at a full service grocery store. [00:16:00] So let me ask a question about the, the business of this because you know, it's really interesting how you talked about your evolution of coming from breaking down barriers or breaking down organizations that you thought were, you know, were were socially injustice or are going to building and being a socially entrepreneur, social entrepreneur, but you didn't know anything about groceries. Speaker 2:You didn't know anything about this business. So you know, you think that the Safeways of the world, they've got a lot of numbers behind their [00:16:30] decisions to, to where they're going to open their markets. So if it's such a big market there, how are you able to come in and actually create an organization that is able to, you know, be sustainable from an economic perspective? Yeah. Well I think there are few few points to the answering that I think the, the most immediate one is that frankly, the majority of established operators have not been interested in low income neighborhoods for a long time. Almost irrespective of the market demand and spending power. It's there. That has [00:17:00] a lot to do with I think a related in secondary point, which is the, again, the dominant business model today in the grocery and supermarket business, uh, is a very large footprint format. Speaker 2:And in a neighborhood like West Oakland where you have high density in development, uh, it's very cost prohibitive to be able to build a store of that size. So for example, there was a recent attempt by the city of Oakland to bring in a large operator. The plan was to build a 70,000 [00:17:30] square foot store in West Oakland, which the numbers, again the market numbers would support. The problem was to do this, they had to acquire an assemble four or five different properties together. Um, and all these other levels of complexity around contamination costs and clean up costs and what have you. And so at the end of the day, the project didn't pencil and yet these operators, I like Safeway only. No. At this point I would wager any anyway only know how to operate at the larger footprint. They [00:18:00] no longer really know how to go back to a smaller neighborhood scale format or are not really interested in doing that anymore. Speaker 2:They've got a good thing going and as long as they can continue to penetrate new markets where that format can operate, there's not a lot of incentive for them to really change their business model or spin off different ones. So your advantage is the scale you're looking at. You're, you're okay with being a smaller operator. In fact, that's exactly, I think what is needed to appropriately serve this neighborhood. So I'm very, [00:18:30] very biased in favor of independent grocers, partly because a, I actually think that they face less barriers to entry in these type of markets situations. Uh, the cost of entry can be lower because they're tending to operate at a smaller footprint, but also because they conserve a specific local community in a much more customized, even intimate way that grocer knows exactly what that set of residents and families wants [00:19:00] and can very quickly cater to those preferences versus a centralized, you know, buying chain in a large corporation, the chain of command to make a small decision around a product shift on a particular shelf can take weeks or months if it ever happens. Speaker 2:Uh, and the, the service isn't nearly as good. Um, not only in terms of, for example, the knowledge and the friendliness of the staff, uh, but the relationship, knowing [00:19:30] people's names, their families, uh, what's going on in their lives, there's really being able to have that rapport. Um, you know, I may be a little bit romantic in this area, but I really think that people still very much desire that quality. In fact, I think there's a resurgence in a lot of neighborhoods, not just low income neighborhoods or in many neighborhoods to have connection, uh, with their local community, their local economy, the businesses that are there then that serve them, uh, and go beyond just an informal transaction to actually having [00:20:00] some degree of a relationship. And I think all of that gives independent grocers a, a competitive advantage in these marketplaces where they can adapt and be much more nimble, they can serve much more effectively. Speaker 2:Uh, and the data really proves that, that they tend to outperform larger format operations that operate in similar demographic market places. Uh, and they most certainly out innovate because again, they're not infringed by a large central decision making process. So if they want to partner with a church [00:20:30] or nonprofit or bring in a farmer and they can do all of that with a very little fanfare, whereas larger chains have to go through a lot to kind of bring those kinds of changes into the way they do business. Very interesting. Yeah, bureaucracy is bad. So I think in this case it the, um, nimbleness. It's necessary to succeed in what is already in you. A fairly challenging demographic area. Sure. Speaker 3:Okay. Well, we are listening to method to the madness on KALX Berkeley 90.7 FM. My name is Ali Nasar [00:21:00] and today we have Brahma Mati on with us. He is the founder of peoples community markets. So let's talk about your latest manifestation of the vision. Yeah. People's community market. So you said about 2008 you realize that you had enough street cred to start actually building the vision of an actual market. So where are we with that now? So I left the nonprofit Speaker 2:in 2010 we hired a great executive director, Nikki Henderson, who took my place. And then I went and actually finished getting my MBA and took some time off after 10 [00:21:30] plus years of nonprofit burnout and what have you. Ah, and then I, it sort of late 2010, fall of 2010 jumped into the process of planning and design, uh, around, you know, the premise that, uh, there needed to be, uh, some real, uh, customization, uh, and adaptation of the retail business model to the specific neighborhood, whether that was in format and footprint, uh, whether that was in product mix, uh, and sort of targeting the cultural desires [00:22:00] of the particular neighborhood, whether that was in the way that we partnered with nonprofit or healthcare organizations to be able to support our offerings with the education and the community engagement pieces. Uh, and so we spent about nine months going through pretty intensive planning process ranging from, you know, architectural design, uh, to really thinking about personnel structure and ownership structure and all these, you know, typical questions that are, that are business, uh, is going to go through [00:22:30] a, and then a roundabout, I suppose, Spring of 2011, uh, we came to a place where we felt ready to begin pursuing financing. Speaker 2:Um, and where we began to get our, our momentum was through an interaction with a have fun that launched in July of 2011 called the California FreshWorks fund. This is a fund that was spearheaded by the California endowment, [00:23:00] uh, which brought in a number of other philanthropic and health partners. Uh, Kaiser for example, is a partner in this, uh, Calvert Foundation and eventually brought in a number of private banking institutions to contribute capital as well. It's a very large fund and it is solely dedicated to financing grocery stores and underserved communities in the state of California. And as a certain degree of commitment to independent grocers, I think with a similar analysis that independent groceries tend to serve these better, these communities [00:23:30] better or can at least customize more appropriately. And, um, also a certain commitment to grocers that are themselves committed to healthy food propositions, whether that's the core of their brand and their offering or they're willing to, uh, make changes, um, and, and make that a more central feature of their business model. Speaker 2:Uh, so the California fresh works fund, um, expressed an interest in providing a loan to us. And of course we were a startup. And so they [00:24:00] said, you know, you guys are a perfect fit in terms of your business plan and value proposition and brand and positioning. Uh, and we would definitely consider a fairly substantial loan, potentially up to 70% of your overall financing needs. However you got to go raise your equity capital first. Um, that's just an underwriting requirement for them. And so we said, wow, okay. You know, that sounds like an opportunity that we can utilize as leverage when we talk to private capital sources that we have this potential loan opportunity, fairly significant one. Speaker 3:What's the total [00:24:30] amount you need to tell him? Speaker 2:It's a bit of a moving target, but it's basically at this point it's somewhere between 3.4 and three point $6 million. Speaker 3:So you need, for the listeners, you need about a million bucks of cash, but an investor and the rest of that money will be made up via a loan from the fund. You're talking about, ideally, something like that. Speaker 2:Trying to, uh, be optimistic that they will continue that commitment with this. Speaker 3:Great. So, um, it's a, it's a beautiful vision. You're in the throws of the entrepreneurship right now, which this show is very much about innovation. [00:25:00] And I've talked to people in different parts of their innovative cycle right now. It's kind of a really important time for you guys cause you're doing the financing part, but let's say that that happens and let's say that I always like the end of the show to talk about the vision. Let's say five, 10 years from now poo people's community market. It exists to vision comes full. Yeah. What's it gonna look like? Well, in your wildest dreams, what kind of impact would it have on West Oakland? Speaker 2:Well, there are three, minimally three there probably really four [00:25:30] needs that, that we're hoping to have some impact on. The first and foremost obviously is, is just improving the community's access to good foods, fresh perishable products in particular. That's the, the largest gap in the neighborhood. Um, and, and also prepared foods is one of the other big gaps in the community. West Oakland on in lacks grocery stores. It lacks any kind of quality sit down, family oriented eatery or restaurant and there's no cafes or anything like that at all. Um, so prepare for [00:26:00] these programs, a fairly substantial part of this and we would love to have a really interesting fun and somewhat targeted menu, uh, to the cultural, uh, neighborhood. Um, particularly the African American and Latino community. Um, the other, another really big need in the neighborhood is, is sort of a safe, positive places for social interaction. Speaker 2:Again, no cafes, no real community venues where people can just sort of show up and hang out and socialize or attend an event or check [00:26:30] out a performance or anything like that. Again, residents pretty much have to leave the neighborhood to be able to participate in those kinds of things. Um, and you know, they're doing it and so we know that if there was a local option, they would likely participate in that. So interesting. Part of our plan vision for this is that in addition to the retail store, the retail format and footprint where we're selling product a, there is an additional space that we're calling the front porch. And the front porch is basically, uh, a semi-open [00:27:00] aired, uh, community venue and, and Patio in courtyard. So it has a, a stage and seating and or private plans actually have a children's play area, a little rip off from the McDonald's playbook and have a little children's space where so parents can bring their kids and hang out, um, and really be able to provide a positive venue. Speaker 2:So the basic idea is that what can we do to enhance both the attributes of our store as a destination in the neighborhood beyond just quality food retailing. Uh, and what additional value can we provide to our customers [00:27:30] if they're coming to shop already. What else can we do in a cost effective way that serves them better and meet some additional need? And ideally for us, has a, uh, an upside in terms of our, our business. Um, so I think, you know, what I would love to see is obviously a thriving retail business that, uh, is linked into sort of regional economy of food economy in terms of we work with a lot of great vendors and producers and bringing great foods that are available [00:28:00] in this region to this neighborhood. Um, but there's also just a lot of, it's a hub. It's a lot of interaction and hanging out and conversation taking place. Speaker 2:So it's not necessarily purely about sales and moving product out the door. It's really being able to provide a positive space where people feel like they can come to and hang out and socialize fairly often. I think another really important need, uh, is, is, uh, residents want a lot more knowledge and information around, uh, health [00:28:30] and prevention and, and, uh, eating healthier and how to do that. Uh, and so we'd like to be able to provide resources to the neighborhood and for people's community market to be a resource to the neighborhood, uh, for that type of information. The way we're thinking about doing that is mostly through partnerships with nonprofit and healthcare organizations because for one, they have the expertise already. Uh, so we don't need to build that expertise to provide those services. And secondly, to be honest, [00:29:00] we won't have the margins to be able to afford these sort of enhanced programs, nutritionists on staff or cooking classes that'd be beyond our budget, especially if a, we wanna make sure we're priced affordably to the neighborhood. And B, we want to pay good wages to our employees, but we have 10 years of history of working with nonprofit and healthcare organizations in this immediate area already. And so we're really excited to bring them all into the fold as partners and sort of figure out a working model where they're very much integrated into [00:29:30] it and we're coordinating and providing space and promotions for those sort of non product based offerings. Okay, great. Well, wonderful vision. You've listened to [inaudible] uh, Speaker 3:who's the founder of people's community market and this is method to the madness on k Alex Berkeley at any 0.7 FM and to learn more about people's community market Brahm how should they, how should our listeners get involved? Our website, Speaker 2:the people's community, market.com one word, people's community, market.com we have a blog and all [00:30:00] kinds of information about our project, its current status generally what the plan is and where we're heading. Of course we're on Facebook and we're on Twitter as well and you can find this there and please pay close attention. We will, I expect get approval fairly soon for this public offering and we are really going to want to be getting the word out for people who want to make a local investment and want to make a community investment or interested in doing something different than this sort of, you know, mutual fund on Wall Street. Speaker 3:Well Great. Thanks for being here rob and thank you for listening. This is method man. It's on KLX Berkeley. [00:30:30] You can learn more about us in method to the madness.org have a great Friday. Everybody. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Growing Growers and Seeding Leaders for a Real Food Future What happens when green turns to grey? Fewer than 5 percent of 2 million American farmers are under 45 years old. Bucking that trend is the next generation of unstoppable young farmers Severine von Tscharner Fleming, Tyler Webb, and Sarita Role Schaffer, along with renowned urban food innovator Nikki Henderson and real food advocate Amin Steele. With dirt under their nails and laptops at their fingertips, theyre reinventing a radical patriotism founded in a return to local agriculture and community. It runs on clean energy and knows how to move markets. It seeks greater self-sufficiency, self-determination and food justice, and the checkout line is the pulpit.

When American psychologist Abraham Maslow introduced the Hierarchy of Needs in his seminal work A Theory of Human Motivation, he presented a pyramid that listed the most important, fundamental needs of humans toward the bottom. Food, Water, Breathing, and Sleep were among the needs supporting the base of the pyramid. Only one level up was "Safety" including security of body, health, resources and family. If one's safety is threatened by war, disaster or family violence - a peaceful life is not possible. Anxiety, PTSD and trauma passed down through generations can follow. There are communities around the world that don't have their basic physiological and safety needs adequately met. Nearly a billion people on the planet are undernourished according to 2010 figures- roughly 14% of the worlds population. And some of these communities in deficit are here in the U.S., in places you normally wouldn't think of as being at risk, neighborhoods in or near large urban centers where access to nutritious affordable food has disappeared and in some cases. What has followed is an over-arching blight - communities with gang problems, mistrust and fear among residents. Some social scientists see a link between food insecurity and a lack of peace in these neighborhoods, so experimental programs have been launched in some places with, so far, encouraging results. We'll hear about a couple of them on this edition of Peace Talks Radio - one in Albuquerque, New Mexico and one in West Oakland, CA - where Nikki Henderson directs the work of The People's Grocery. She talked with our Carol Boss, as did Jacqueline Thomas. She's been a West Oakland resident for many years who now works for People's Grocery too. Meantime, in Santa Barbara/Martineztown near downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico an NIH grant has funded a program called Fiestas that will bring together women in the community over food and interview them to help understand food access problems. Then a board of the women will brainstorm some solutions. It's a kind of peacemaking in that it brings people together who normally wouldn't come together to identify community problems and propose solutions. While this brainstorming begins, some gardening programs already underway seem to be having a noticeable impact in the neighborhood according to Veronica Apodaca, who lives in Martineztown and visits with Carol Boss. Also we talk to Amy Annexter Scott who is helping to coordinate the Fiestas program.

When American psychologist Abraham Maslow introduced the Hierarchy of Needs in his seminal work A Theory of Human Motivation, he presented a pyramid that listed the most important, fundamental needs of humans toward the bottom. Food, Water, Breathing, and Sleep were among the needs supporting the base of the pyramid. Only one level up was "Safety" including security of body, health, resources and family. If one's safety is threatened by war, disaster or family violence - a peaceful life is not possible. Anxiety, PTSD and trauma passed down through generations can follow. There are communities around the world that don't have their basic physiological and safety needs adequately met. Nearly a billion people on the planet are undernourished according to 2010 figures- roughly 14% of the worlds population. And some of these communities in deficit are here in the U.S., in places you normally wouldn't think of as being at risk, neighborhoods in or near large urban centers where access to nutritious affordable food has disappeared and in some cases. What has followed is an over-arching blight - communities with gang problems, mistrust and fear among residents. Some social scientists see a link between food insecurity and a lack of peace in these neighborhoods, so experimental programs have been launched in some places with, so far, encouraging results. We'll hear about a couple of them on this edition of Peace Talks Radio - one in Albuquerque, New Mexico and one in West Oakland, CA - where Nikki Henderson directs the work of The People's Grocery. She talked with our Carol Boss, as did Jacqueline Thomas. She's been a West Oakland resident for many years who now works for People's Grocery too. Meantime, in Santa Barbara/Martineztown near downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico an NIH grant has funded a program called Fiestas that will bring together women in the community over food and interview them to help understand food access problems. Then a board of the women will brainstorm some solutions. It's a kind of peacemaking in that it brings people together who normally wouldn't come together to identify community problems and propose solutions. While this brainstorming begins, some gardening programs already underway seem to be having a noticeable impact in the neighborhood according to Veronica Apodaca, who lives in Martineztown and visits with Carol Boss. Also we talk to Amy Annexter Scott who is helping to coordinate the Fiestas program.

Nikki Henderson is the Executive Director of People’s Grocery in West Oakland, CA. Under Nikki’s leadership, the organization has launched a new strategic campaign strongly focusing on: revitalizing the economy of West Oakland through all aspects of the food system, from production to distribution, and leveraging the power of local nutrition, education ,and major health […] The post Nikki Henderson appeared first on Future Primitive Podcasts.