Dole Sunshine for All culinary program plans in Jackson, Mississippi
A program aimed at combating hunger in Jackson by teaching kids how to grow and cook healthy food is expanding.
The Dole Sunshine for All program, started a year ago and hosted by Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Mississippi, has plans to create a learning kitchen in downtown Jackson. The space at the Old Farmers Market on East Woodrow Wilson Avenue will help children expand their cooking fundamentals expertise, provide hands-on commercial cooking experience and teach them how to run a business, officials said.
Skills like growing their own food and learning to cook healthier meals are vital for young people in Mississippi, which in 2015 was designated the largest food desert in the nation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Recent research suggests seven Mississippi counties are among the top 25 in the country most likely this year to be heavily impacted by food scarcity due to the pandemic.
Penney Ainsworth, president and CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs, said while the COVID-19 pandemic has presented challenges with providing in-person programming over the past 18 months, the program’s results with teaching kids everything from botany to food science have been more impactful than they could have hoped.
“It’s been a very productive and wonderful year, but at the same time, the scariest year of all of our lives,” Ainsworth said. “It’s almost an oxymoron because it was a tough time and a scary time, but at the same time, our kids were eating and our kids were learning.”
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Through the program, kids ages 7-17 have started their own community garden and use the fruits and vegetables they’ve grown to prepare meals during culinary classes.
Barbara Cocks, president of Huerta Quorum, a marketing company who has partnered with Dole, said she never expected the kids to be so excited to learn more about the culinary arts and possibly pursue careers in the kitchen.
“They’re on the basketball court and then they’re done with … practice and they’re running off to get their chef’s coats on and they’re making salmon,” Cocks said. “So it’s pretty cool, actually.”
The program also teaches students how to shop on a budget and leave a grocery store with enough food to make a balanced meal. Ainsworth said the skills the program has imparted to the children have been worthwhile.
“When I tell you that impact is happening … and it’s something that will carry them into the future, it’s amazing,” she said.
Lack of food access still pervasive in Mississippi
Food insecurity has been a longstanding issue in Mississippi with no simple solution.
The latest data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Access Research Atlas show that while a few areas have seen improved access to grocery stores since 2015, new pockets of food scarcity, mostly in central and southern Mississippi, have appeared.
In Jackson alone, much of the western and southern portions of the city are considered low income and have little access to food options, even if the household has a vehicle, according to USDA research.
Research from Feeding America found that access to food options in Mississippi — especially for children and communities of color — have shown minor improvements since 2017, but still exist. In 2019, roughly 15% of the Hinds County population was determined to be food insecure, according to standards set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Of the 15%, almost one quarter are children.
According to projections from Feeding America, Issaquena, Holmes, Wilkinson, Humphreys, Jefferson, Washington and Claiborne counties are predicted to have at least 20% of their total populations unable to put enough food on the table due to poverty and access to grocery stores. All of the counties are made up of mostly Black residents.
JC Dalto, president and managing director of Dole Sunshine Company Americas, said the company wants to put more resources into the Jackson program because there are areas in other countries that have few opportunities to teach kids similar skills.
“There are people that are born and raised in a setting that if you don’t act on their minds and their teachings … it’s hard for them to imagine that there’s another option than being poor,” he said. “But in a country like the (United States) … it’s not the case.”
Dalto said fast-food restaurants make up the majority of access to food in areas where food insecurity is an issue like Mississippi, making programs that teach kids life skills like budgeting and cooking healthy food vital to their development.
“If we can change the awareness that with the same money or less (than the cost of fast food) you can have a completely different diet, which can set you up for … development and give you a different life, we felt that could have an impact,” he said.
Program expanding in Jackson and nationally
More opportunities for growing Sunshine for All, and not just for youth in Jackson, are on the horizon.
Ainsworth said plans are underway to create the Dole Culinary Arts Center at the site of the Old Farmers Market in downtown Jackson. The space would be converted into a new learning mega-kitchen, Ainsworth said, but will also have rental space available for entrepreneurs to set up their own pop-up restaurants and other businesses.
Dalto said the young people enrolled in the Boys and Girls Clubs workforce development program will also run and manage a smoothie stand at the complex. The opportunity will help them learn business skills, he said, and also provide low-cost healthy food options to the community.
The program also has plans to expand nationally. Dalto said the program will begin hosting its second program in Baltimore, Maryland, beginning this fall, using Jackson as a blueprint. There are more plans to invest in the Jackson program in the future and the program could ultimately spread to more cities across the country, Dalto said.
Have an education-related news tip? Contact Keisha Rowe at [email protected], on Twitter or at (601) 760-2483.
