Addressing Food Deserts in South Dallas

WEBVTT

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There are some people that make their
work just another thing they have to do,

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and there are those that make their
work something that they want to do.

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Welcome to Working on Purpose with your
host Elise Cortez. In our program,

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we provide guidance and inspiration from those
people who have found deeper meaning and

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personal connection to their work life.
It's beyond nine to five. It's working

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on purpose. Now Here is your
host, Elise Cortez. Welcome back to

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Working on Purpose. Thanks for tuning
in again this week. I'm your host,

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Elise Cortez, joining you from Dallas, Texas, which is home base

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for me. This program is all
about helping people more meaningfully and productively connect

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with their work and equipping organizations to
do the same for their employees. So

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I bring on guests to a particular
perspective or experience that I think expands the

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conversation about meaningful or productive work,
and I often draw on the meeting and

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work research I've been conducting over the
last fifteen years, as well as my

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own experience consulting, including the work
that I do at in CNIM, which

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is a global management consulting firm.
I'll get to my program and guest in

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just a moment, but first at
big thank you and shout out to my

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media partner and sponsor, jobbing dot
com. Jobbing dot com is the leading

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locally focused job board in the nation
and they are dedicated to helping employers find

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quality talent in their own backyard while
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they can find work close to home. Great partnership. Thank you jobbing dot

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Com. Last week, if you
miss the show, you can always catch

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the podcast. We were live on
air with Kirk Bowman, who is the

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founder of Art of Value, a
value pricing consultancy here in Dallas, Texas,

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and a practicing fellow at the Very
Sage Institute. We talked about the

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movement Kirk and others are behind to
get away from charging by the hour for

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a project in professional services and instead
charging for the value received by the client.

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Kirk talked about how value price consulting
actually allows service provider to stay true

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to his or her why or purpose
and how the client ultimately wins by getting

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the best focus of the service provider. With a this week is doctor Owen

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Lynch, who is an associate professor
in the Meadow School of the Arts at

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Southern Methodist University and the director of
the Organizational Communications Track within the Corporate Communications

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and Public Affairs Department. Outside of
the Communications Department, he holds the positions

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of Senior Research Fellow and Director of
Community Research and Engagement for the Hunt Institute

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of Engineering and Humanity within the Lyle
School of Engineering at SMU. He also

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serves as the director of Get Healthy
Dallas, a nonprofit organization he helped form

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that is dedicated to addressing the lack
of healthy food options, adequate education,

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and economic development opportunities in Dallas,
with special focus on the South Dallas and

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the Fair Park area. Doctor Lynch
is a friend of mine and a co

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author in tandem with our meeting and
work research. He joins it today right

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here from my office studio, Doctor
Owen Lynch, Welcome to Working on Purpose.

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Thank you for having me. It's
great to have you back. We've

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done this a couple of times before
on various topics, but there's a ton

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of one no extract from you.
You are a man who wears many,

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many hats. So let's just start
first if we can, by the work

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that you're doing at Get Healthy Dallas. So first help us understand how was

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the organization formed who was involved?
Okay, so Get Healthy Dallas is a

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nonprofit and it was actually formed by
two of students at SMU who are PhD

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students, and they were doing research
in this new thing that was being discovered

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called food deserts. And this was
quite a while ago, obviously, is

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about nine years ago. And they
two doctoral students in the Divinity School and

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they were studying food deserts and food
equity and why do some regions have lack

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of access to health fresh food.
So they came to me as a qualitative

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researcher and they asked me if they
were interested in doing to study, how

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could they best understand what a food
desert is as it was a new concept,

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and how people who live in the
food desert how they're experiencing it.

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And that's I think a really important
question that Robert Foster and Stacy Sharon has

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first asked me. Because what a
food does it is is a geographical economic

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indicator. In other words, it
says people living in one square mile in

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a densely popular urban population who don't
have access to health fresh food. So

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many people may not realize this,
but the southern sector of Dallas for example,

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from thirty down is about as large
as the city of Atlanta, and

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it only has a couple of grocery
stores in the entire region. So two

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to three out of every five children
are food and secure in South Dallas,

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and there's only one grocery store in
all South Dallas Fair Park that serves adequate,

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fresh, healthy vegetables, and even
then the price is a little higher.

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So when you have a with a
bedwood call and isolated population that doesn't

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have access to fresh, healthy food, and then you have lack of transportation

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within that same area, what you
have is generations of people now who've grown

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up. And there may be some
fast food restaurant chains a couple, but

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there's not very many options for people
to eat healthy. There's not many options

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for people to buy or even develop
food habits around healthy food. And when

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they buy gross whoes, it's typically
a three hour round trip on public transport

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if they don't have a private personal
car and so, and they can only

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do that in frequently, and so
you don't buy fresh food because it goes

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bad. And if you're working,
like most of these families are working exorbitant

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hours. So my students wanted to
understand this phenomenon. And so we came

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up with the idea of going to
a local high school and I'm sorry,

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going to a local high school and
equipping the high school students, the seniors

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they called the turn or twelve at
Lincoln High School in South Dallas with cameras

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and we asked them the simple question, take a picture and tell us what

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is healthy to you and it could
be and the students went offense hook pictures

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and it's called photo voice ethnography.
They took pictures of their of their local

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environment, and then they coded those
pictures on either healthy or unhealthy, and

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then they asked their piers and they
did fos groups with their peers and how

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they sold the pictures, and a
pattern emerged that was quite odd. We

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think of food deserts as something that
we can map, and the USDA first

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notice that they've mapped the entire United
States. If you go in the USDA's

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website type and food desert type in
your zip code, you can see how

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your zip code for examples classified.
But what's really important is recognize is that

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yes, we can classify what a
food does it is, but people live

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in the food desert and to them, it's a very different experience. It's

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actually lived the experience. It's an
individual, household level challenge. It's not

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just something that we map in an
extract or macro economic term. So we

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wanted to capture that a little bit. And what we found was the students

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looked at something like McDonald's, which
for myself, someone who has access to

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lots of fresh, healthy food in
my community and someone who's who used to

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be a chief so used to eating
and healthy, fresh food from Europe,

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the students classified as healthy and unhealthy
Willy and when they said, you only

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have five dollars and that's what you
have to stretch to eat for that for

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that day, you actually can get
a lot of food for that five dollars

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and McDonalds, and so they equated
being full, not feeling hungry, as

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healthy, which is totally understandable from
those kids perspective, especially when the school

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sessions weren't in. And so we
had students also say, you know,

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my neighborhood is it's the trash,
and it's the quality of the water spills

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off and the fact that there's other
issues in their community that they weren't that

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they felt we're bringing their neighborhood down. They declimb. They were saying,

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I'm less worried abot broccoli when I've
seen a dead persson on my way to

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school. One students set So it's
understandable, but at the same time,

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they wanted the option to understand where
vegetables were. They recognized they didn't know

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how to prepare many vegetable foods,
and that's played out in lots of literature

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and research, and so they came
up with a solution, which was they

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wanted something they could have pride in
for that community. They wanted something that

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was giving back to the community.
They wanted to learn how to do something

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for jobs because they felt that the
lack of ability to have access to healthy

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and equitable jobs was just as important
to them as learning about fruits and vegetables.

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So what the students knew implicitly,
which is something that's difficult for many

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people to understand. If food desert
is not just about hate given vegetables,

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and then there's not a food desert. A food desert is a health desert,

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it's an infrastructure desert, it's a
job desert, it's a knowledge desert.

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Practices and food ways that have happened
for a long period of time that

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have developed in the communities that haven't
had access to those vegetables. So it's

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lots of things. It's systemic and
they saw it, and so Get Healthy

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Dallas was created at first to address
on a systemic level working with the schools

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on the food desert issue, and
then it's kind of transformed a little bit

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since then and had lots of iterations, but now it's kind of the practical

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arm if you wanted to do,
or the applied arm of my research side,

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which is at the Hunt Institute.
So I research food deserts, I

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work with partners all over the food
deserts landscape, and I work in concentrated

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urban poverty. But if I have
a project that I think is particularly important,

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I'll use the structure of GHD to
enact that project. And so in

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some ways, what we're doing at
the Hunt Institute is we're looking at foot

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systems and how that all works,
and we're looking at how do all these

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pieces fit together, and why isn't
there a healthy food system in South Dallas

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because it's a market failure. How
can we address that? What are the

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barriers? Are the pieces that are
missing, how do we make sure these

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pieces connect better? And then if
there's a piece that's not there that I

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feel it is necessary to create a
healthier food system emerging, then I'll actually

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try and start raise funds, find
the talent, leverage assets to enact that

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solution. So that's kind of what
I'm doing now. It's called asset based

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community development. Okay, there's a
lot I could say in response to that.

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Beautiful, and let me just call
it from from my listeners. And

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we do happen to enjoy listeners all
over the globe, which is a wonderful

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thing. And I appreciate very much
that we're one big globe talking about this

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particular issue. Part of the reason
I wanted to have you on the show,

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as you know, is that you
certainly are a man working on purpose,

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and you do it on many different
fronts. And I appreciate too that

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what you're doing in this particular initiative
is addressing on a systemic level a variety

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of things that are are problematic in
these communities. It's really really impressive.

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I understand too that part of what
you're doing is you've been able to find

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ways to leverage other communities and organizations
to help you, and one of them

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is restorative farms. So would just
say more about who's restorative farms and how

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are they helping. So restorative Farms
actually isn't a who, it's more of

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a watch. Okay. So what
we realize was in many cities to have,

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for example, funds that will help
create agricultural hubs or grow for food

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system growth. Let me step back
a little bit talk about Dallas, Texas

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landscape and why Restorative Forms was formed. Great. So Dallas is really a

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tale of two cities. You have
a city that's divided by the highway thirty

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half of the land masses below thirty
and half of the land mass is above

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it. Ninety percent of the jobs
some estimate even higher actually are above thirty.

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Seven hundred thousand people about third to
forty percent of the population are below

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thirty. Most of the tax generation
obviously happens where the higher property and jobs

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are a lot of the services unfortunately
needed in a area of poverty. So

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you have one of the highest growing
cities in American economic development. You have

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more millionaires created in Dallas in any
city United States. We've been in the

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Forbes Top ten list for fastest growing
cities for the last ten years. So

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we are we are part of the
Texas Miracle they call it. Simultaneously,

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though we've had a stagnant pop that
was recognized by the FAD in two thousand

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and four. They said that if
the isolated poverty in Dallas, Texas isn't

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addressed, they won't enjoy the prosperity
the rest of the region will have because

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there's no inroad for those communities to
connect to this job training, job sourcing

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growth. And so we have I
live and you live less than a mile

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away from South Dallas, and we
live in a neighborhood that's got good schools,

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excellent water, good infrastructure, nice
stores, access through the whole city.

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And yet a mile from our house
is literally if you go down Lindsay

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Avenue, for example, you go
from a million and a half White Rock

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Lake, a million in the c
streets to average now to then you go

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into them, then you go into
Heights, and then you which are about

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six hundred seventy seven thirty. Then
you get into lots of seventy thousand.

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Jubilee Park, which has done amazing
work with their community, and that's their

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model. People should look at and
then you move a little south further in

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South Daspear Park, and you're looking
at houses with the lot values are about

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five thousand dollars, and so you
have and one third of those lots are

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empty, and you have lots of
the houses are boarded up. And so

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we go in that one road,
you see, we go from so the

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wealthiest town in America and best access
with unemployment rate of three to four percent,

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to a part of town that has
twenty eight percent unemployment. And that's

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people who are actively looking for work
in South Dallasbear Park, in South Dallas

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in general. So that's part of
the that's part of the issue. So

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in that strange thing when we look
at what's called asset based development, I'm

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not answering your question. I'll get
to it. Sorry, I know you

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have a lot to talk about.
Keep going. So in that part of

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town, then we have a lot
of assets though right We have land,

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we have people who are actively looking
for work. We have people and growing

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vegetables as a labor intensive, hands
on process, and we have communities so

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actually really interested in local entrepreneurialism and
helping each other and working with each other.

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In fact, if you poll,
and we do lots of household surveys,

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they're much more connected to their neighbors
and working with their neighbors and leveraging

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their strengths and personal entrepreneurial habits to
make their community more sustainable and make their

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own lives. They're focused and so
there's lots of these there's real interests and

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being able to have this entrepreneurial spirit
there, but there's lack of resources.

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People don't know what to do in
terms of what to grow, what types

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of soil mixes to have, and
obviously growing in Texas because the climate change

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is really challenging. So you have
this strange part of town that's been neglected.

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We have lots of land masks,
but we live in one of the

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most resilient cities in America. That
we are. Foods brought in from from

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in countries from Mexico are primarily our
fresh vegetables. It's actually warehouse is South

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Dallas and then brought into North Dallas
into our grocery stores. The food.

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If that system lock closes up for
some reason, Let's say, for example,

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if somebody puts up a wall and
charges hard protects the price of vegetables

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will go dramatically up, which means
people will become much more judicious and the

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amount they buy, the amount of
leftover in that system will go down,

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and that's what's currently used to distribute
to the food banks, to other food

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programs. So it's a very it's
a less stable system than we really hope,

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and it's really going to hold Dallas
back from fully developing over time.

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So how can we create more resilient
neighborhoods? And one of those ways is

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creating what we call an agrahub or
a food system. And that's when every

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aspect of the food chain is actually
located and done locally, which makes a

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city much more resilient obviously, and
it creates the nice thing of organic or

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healthy, fresh available food, and
it creates by proximity, healthier food habits.

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Especially young children. If they see
things growing and they watch things growing

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come a habit, they're much more
likely to eat it. And there's lots

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of studies that show that. And
then it has natural health implications. So

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a foot hub a boot system is
simple says that all of the food system,

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in terms of it goes from pre
production to food production which is growing

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to harvesting to packaging, to aggregating, to distribution to retail to selling,

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and then the consumption and then the
waste of that food goes back in the

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creating soil. That circle every aspect
of that as a job or lots of

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jobs. And in the connecting to
each one of those stages is transportation,

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and it's highly costly and it's high
labor intensive, but there are ways to

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do that more efficiently if everyone works
together, but it requires a large amount

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of production aggregation for that to happen, and it requires systematic coordination. Otherwise,

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growing in your backyard is you'll never
make money usually unless you're unless you're

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really good at growing something has high
cash value. Growing in your backyard is

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really difficult to make ends to me, even though it's necessary for your neighborhood.

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So there isn't the price point available
to provide the thing that's needed in

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that community most and the only way
we can do that is by creating a

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system that starts to work and network
with each other to reduce their cost points

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and also dramatically increased collective productivity.
So we can start aggregating and having the

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local distribution system. That's kind of
technical stuff. I'm sorry, that's fantastic.

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Restorative farmstconds if you can so.
Restorative Farms is an umbrella okay,

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00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:45.839
company that's owned by nobody, but
like I fit my project in coal and

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underneath that because I'm working within a
system, so it's actually anybody who's in

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that system, who has a farm, can connect through it. So it

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becomes an umbrella term to foster that
connections. Okay, and it's a brain

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child of many people. So okay, fantastic. As you can tell listeners,

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the man has a ton to share. You can see why I want

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to have him on the show.
It's time for our first break. I'm

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Elice Cortez, your host. We've
been on the air with doctor Owen Lynch,

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who is an associate professor in the
Medal School of Arts at Southern Methodist

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University. He also serves as the
director of Get Healthy Dallas, a nonprofit

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organization he helped form that is dedicated
to addressing the lack of healthy food options,

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adequate education, and economic development opportunities
in Dallas, with special focus on

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the South Dallas and Fair Park area. He joins us today right here with

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me in my Dallas office, studio. We've been talking a bit about his

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interest and why this is an issue
and why he cares so much to help

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address it. Stay with us,
we'll be right back. Friend us on

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00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:11.559
Facebook to keep up with what's empowering
the world. Voice America Empowerments. Elise

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00:19:11.640 --> 00:19:18.079
Cortez is a speaker and engagement and
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To reach our program today, please
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i Se at Elise Cortez dot com. Now back to Working on Purpose.

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00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:56.119
Thanks for staying with us, and
welcome back to Working on Purpose if you're

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00:20:56.160 --> 00:20:59.400
just joining us. My guest is
doctor Owen Lynch, who's an Associate professor

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in the Meadows School of Arts at
the Southern Methods University here in Dallas.

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Outside of the Communications Department, he
holds the positions of Senior Research Fellow and

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Director of Community Research and Engagement for
the Hunt Institute and Engineering and Humanity within

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00:21:11.799 --> 00:21:15.440
the Lyles School of Engineering at SMU. He also serves as the director of

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Get Healthy Dallas, which is a
nonprofit organization he helped form that is dedicated

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to addressing the lack of healthy food
options adequate education and economic development opportunities in

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Dallas, with special focus on the
South Dallas and the Fara Park area.

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I'm your host Elie cortez Ko,
and so before the break, you gave

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00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:36.359
us a plethora of information to help
us really understand and presence the problem you're

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trying to address. And it's incredibly
impressive the work that you and your team

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are doing. And I know that
you fold in an awful lot of organizations

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to try to leverage their expertise.
I don't even know how you manage all

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that. But one of the things
that I want to make sure that we

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talk about, because it's something that's
just happened here in Dallas is the seedling

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farm opened up November. Tell us
about the seedling farm. So the saving

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farm is what I call an input
solution. So the problem was is we

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have lots of people who doing amazing
work, who are growing locally to feed

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their own communities. Some of them
in churches, some of them in homeless

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shelters, some of them in schools, and some of them are stand alone,

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small little farms that are just trying
to produce to make the neighborhood better.

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But one of the problems of barries
that many of them faced is what

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do I grow? When do I
grow it? And how do I get

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access to healthy small plants because most
of the most vulnerable time for a plant

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is from ceiling to the actual they
call a plug or I mean a seed

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to a plug, and that's when
you really and you can buy them from

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home depot for example as a three
inch plant, but they may not be

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designed for this region. They may
have been on a truck for two weeks

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and over water. They may have
diseases from other plants they've been around,

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and they as you notice when many
of us are plants it outside from nothing

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wrong with those, but they many
times can die. And if you have

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limited resources and you want you want
to make sure that you're really feeding your

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community. Well, what I realized
was people needed access to see and seedlings.

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They needed access to an expert so
that they could coordinate the right plant

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for their garden and their community.
So where do you put that because it

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wasn't currently in the system. So
everyone needs this. It's a barrier or

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will help lots of people, even
if they want to start from their own

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little pot guard in their backyard.
So in a couple of pots on their

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back porch. So I was lucky
enough. I was working at the MLK

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Center, working with the group called
Miles of Freedom and working with the MLK

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Center City Hall of Dallas, City
of Dallas, and they had a small

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garden called Freedom Garden that was started
by the community, but like many community

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gardens, was very difficult to maintain
without an expert there or someone helping or

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knowing what to do. And they
also met a man named Tyrowne Day,

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and Tyrone Day has now become a
really good friend of mine and also a

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partner in the Ceiling Farm. He
was an exonerated prisoner, so he did

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twenty five years in prison for a
crime and didn't commit. Now, most

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people would be furious, are angry, and I guess he was tempered through

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that period to realize he came out
he wanted to help the community where he

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was from and helped people have better
choices. And he was in prison,

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he managed prison greenhouse systems for twenty
years. In fact lived in the prison

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greenhouse and I work with tex m
Agrilife. They're part of my partners as

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well, and Big Text Urban Farms, and those expert farmers met Tyrone,

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and both of them turned to me
and said, this guy probably knows more

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than we do because of his experience, and he was cutting lawns at the

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time and managing the lawn service care
service. So Tyrone and I realized that

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here was a resource for the communities
from the community. He was working out

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of the community Center that is the
center of South Dallas Fair Park community that's

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on city land, so it's accessible, has it's a nice and it's really

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doing. Pam Jones, who's the
director there, is doing amazing work of

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bringing the center back. So I
put a seedling farm there, which is

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just a small greenhouse that pumps out
seasonally appropriate seedlings for the community. Right,

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00:24:56.319 --> 00:25:00.359
we were already put out six thousand
into the community, so let me

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00:25:00.359 --> 00:25:03.640
say that number again. We put
six thousand small plants out into community farms

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00:25:03.640 --> 00:25:07.839
in South Dallas Bear Park that are
turning into vegetable producing plants to feed their

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community. We put them out in
bonds on farms. We put them out

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to our partners at Jubilee, We
put them out with our partners in Sunny

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South who puts them out our partners, and in many other gardens at Saint

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Philips school and what that was enabled
people to do. Then anyone can go.

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00:25:25.319 --> 00:25:27.960
He's open usually every afternoon and during
the week for students just to walk

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00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:32.240
by and people just walk in.
He talks him about healthy eating, he

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gives him a plant to go home
to try and grow, so he's got

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a real passion for it. But
we're on target. We're going to produce

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about twenty thousand plants that will go
out into the community over the next year.

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And if you're a community member,
we have that we can give you

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plants to get you started for a
very low price, much cheaper than you

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can buy locally, so we can
also reduce that price point down, provide

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experts and also then make sure that
you're getting a product that's going to dramatically

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increase your chance to grow better.
And that's really what we're trying to do,

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00:26:03.480 --> 00:26:07.480
is we're trying to help the system
and help the individual grow is do

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what they want to do better.
So that's one of the roles of Get

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00:26:11.039 --> 00:26:15.640
Healthy Dallas and they Hunt Institute primarily
is to how can we look systemically where

359
00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:21.000
the weakest link is or where the
barrier, and how can we remove that

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to enable others to alleviate themselves out
of poverty. So that's what the Seedling

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Farm is designed to do. And
if you go on their online you know

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Owen Lynch Seedling Farm, you'll see
pictures from it. But it was a

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00:26:30.519 --> 00:26:34.920
really amazing event to happen and it's
already having great impacts. So it's one

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of those projects that until it was
built, nobody really needed and realized how

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much we need it. But it's
quick adoption. You could already see how

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it's filling a really valuable role in
creating a local food system which is currently

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is totally underdeveloped in Dallas. So
I'm really proud of that that local achievement

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00:26:55.119 --> 00:26:57.319
and my partner's what tire On Day
and to Vincent Martin have been able to

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00:26:57.319 --> 00:27:02.839
do. And we're working with the
Dallas Seedling Library who are actually sourcing our

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seeds and you can go and go
on their websites and see that great work.

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And we'll work with many other people
who are now linking using that as

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a as a starting club to teach, encourage and provide plants for people so

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they can grow better for their communities. What I like about that, I

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want to chime into that, and
I hate to interrupt it because there's so

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00:27:21.119 --> 00:27:22.640
much I just want to get out
of you. But when I want to

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make sure that a presence for our
listeners. That I like about that because

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I am one of those weirdos who
loves vegetables. They're the first thing that

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00:27:29.279 --> 00:27:32.440
I eat on my plate, and
I know that I'm weird in that way

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for a lot of people. What
I really like about the seedling program is

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that when people bring home those seedlings
and they then as a family can watch

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00:27:38.799 --> 00:27:42.599
that plant grow. As you say, they get connected to how their food

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00:27:42.680 --> 00:27:48.559
is actually grown. That creates a
connection to healthy food that people don't understand

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00:27:48.599 --> 00:27:52.839
because what you and I have talked
about before is if what's available for groceries

384
00:27:52.960 --> 00:27:59.160
is your local convenience store which has
largely processed foods, you'll never get access

385
00:27:59.200 --> 00:28:02.319
to and see and appreciate the fact
that your food actually is a natural thing

386
00:28:02.359 --> 00:28:04.319
that grows from the ground, doesn't
come in a can or a package.

387
00:28:04.359 --> 00:28:08.680
I had a student who at local
high school, student who was walking by

388
00:28:08.720 --> 00:28:11.400
because we're right next to a high
school, right into a headstart program,

389
00:28:11.640 --> 00:28:15.200
right next an old people's home at
where we put that and we have a

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00:28:15.240 --> 00:28:19.839
pick and take so we have gardens
set outside where we grow plants and the

391
00:28:19.920 --> 00:28:22.640
neighbors come and just take one or
two that they want, and you know,

392
00:28:22.799 --> 00:28:26.839
it's been it's been a real success. And this girl walked by and

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00:28:26.880 --> 00:28:29.279
I said, here, take a
pepper. Try it's not hot, it's

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00:28:27.920 --> 00:28:32.240
it's it's it's a sweet pepper.
And she's like, that's and she said,

395
00:28:32.240 --> 00:28:33.640
but it's got dirt on it.
I'm like, yeah, it's got

396
00:28:33.640 --> 00:28:34.279
a dirt. Dis grab the ground
and said, you wipe it off,

397
00:28:34.279 --> 00:28:37.400
you use the water. And she
said, I've never eaten and he said,

398
00:28:37.559 --> 00:28:42.359
plants come from dirt. And I
literally had no idea what a fresh

399
00:28:42.440 --> 00:28:45.759
vegetable came from dirt. And she
tried it. She said it was good.

400
00:28:45.559 --> 00:28:48.200
She you know, so it was
one of those things that we take

401
00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:52.640
it for grant. And sometimes you're
right when you're when you peel your when

402
00:28:52.680 --> 00:28:55.880
you open a can, and that's
how you have food all the time.

403
00:28:56.640 --> 00:28:59.079
You sometimes miss those connections. So
I think you're yeah, I think you're

404
00:28:59.119 --> 00:29:00.880
spot one. I just want to
make sure that our listeners really are making

405
00:29:00.960 --> 00:29:07.200
these really these intricate connections, because
you're talking about things on such an intricate

406
00:29:07.240 --> 00:29:11.039
systemic level. There's so many inputs
and outputs that you're talking about, and

407
00:29:11.160 --> 00:29:12.279
part of what I wanted to make
sure that they get is that we're at

408
00:29:12.279 --> 00:29:15.160
the end of the day, we're
really starting to talk about how people actually

409
00:29:15.240 --> 00:29:18.839
feed themselves and what does that mean, how do they choose the food that

410
00:29:18.880 --> 00:29:22.000
they eat, where does it come
from? And the fact that you're involved

411
00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:29.880
in such an endeavor that really impacts
social, economic, all really infamilial and

412
00:29:29.920 --> 00:29:33.400
cultural aspects, to me is phenomenal. Yeah. No one should live in

413
00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:36.599
a food doesn't I mean, nobody
should, right, And you may not

414
00:29:36.680 --> 00:29:38.680
want to eat vegetables, especially if
you're not growing up eating them, but

415
00:29:38.680 --> 00:29:41.480
you should really have the option to
have them if you wish to. That's

416
00:29:41.519 --> 00:29:45.440
right, that's right. I'm with
you on that. And to that end,

417
00:29:45.440 --> 00:29:47.440
one of the things you and I
talked about on the break is this

418
00:29:47.640 --> 00:29:51.799
whole need for agrahubs, and so
I'm interested. That's a new term for

419
00:29:51.839 --> 00:29:53.640
me. So if you can first
tell us what is an agrahub and then

420
00:29:53.799 --> 00:29:57.839
what are what are others doing across
the world that's where they're doing that,

421
00:29:57.880 --> 00:30:03.480
Well, I'll give you two quick
examples because maybe that will explain it best.

422
00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:07.279
So what an agrahub is, it's
like it's a concentrated farm that tries

423
00:30:07.319 --> 00:30:11.400
to put as much of the food
system into one place as possible so that

424
00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:17.240
you can launch many different types of
agricultural engineers. So someone who makes salsa

425
00:30:17.400 --> 00:30:21.680
in a kitchen next to the farm
that's growing it, right those some there's

426
00:30:21.680 --> 00:30:25.200
a synergy between those two companies and
they both do better. The salsa person

427
00:30:25.559 --> 00:30:29.319
buys directly from there, from the
person right next door. They also know

428
00:30:29.400 --> 00:30:32.599
there's a direct market to their product
and it will lasts longer by making So

429
00:30:32.599 --> 00:30:37.119
there's a lot that's just an example. But there's in Detroit they have now

430
00:30:37.160 --> 00:30:41.880
of these things called agrahoods where they're
actually taking parts of the city that have

431
00:30:41.039 --> 00:30:45.640
been decimated by poverty and they're putting
farms in the center of them and putting

432
00:30:45.680 --> 00:30:49.200
houses around them. And they're finding
that people who want to live next to

433
00:30:49.200 --> 00:30:53.640
the farm and that it increases the
value of the property, that makes it

434
00:30:53.680 --> 00:30:56.920
more beautiful, it makes it greener, and then actually the hot farms become

435
00:30:56.960 --> 00:31:03.880
connected to that agricultural center. So
we're looking and right now at how do

436
00:31:03.960 --> 00:31:07.720
we concept at the Hunt Institute,
is it possible to link with partners of

437
00:31:07.720 --> 00:31:11.319
housing programs and create working farms where
the people who are farming live on those

438
00:31:11.319 --> 00:31:18.400
farms in communities of poverty, evangelizing
the community around them, creating an on

439
00:31:18.640 --> 00:31:22.079
ramp for people who are coming in. Say, for example, you have

440
00:31:22.079 --> 00:31:25.440
someone who's coming out from prison,
you teach them to farm, you get

441
00:31:25.440 --> 00:31:27.279
them a job in the farm,
and you also provide housing for them.

442
00:31:27.400 --> 00:31:30.880
Right, you also have a way
for them to access a trade. These

443
00:31:30.920 --> 00:31:36.279
things can get connected. So agra
hubs are really about parts of the foods

444
00:31:36.279 --> 00:31:41.160
is being concentrated in the agricultural area. I'll give you another crazy example to

445
00:31:41.200 --> 00:31:45.559
go far as extreme, and this
is in the Netherlands called Regen Village,

446
00:31:45.839 --> 00:31:48.240
and that's in what they call it
closed the loop village. What a closed

447
00:31:48.279 --> 00:31:53.839
loop village is is every aspect of
that of that town is an input for

448
00:31:53.880 --> 00:31:57.119
another system. So, for example, the water from your house, the

449
00:31:57.240 --> 00:32:04.359
gray water goes into the fields toward
the plants. The round water goes and

450
00:32:04.599 --> 00:32:08.000
gets recycled through black soldier larvae and
gets converted into energy and gets and then

451
00:32:08.039 --> 00:32:13.799
the slack soldier larvae converts it into
compost and that goes to feed the fish.

452
00:32:13.920 --> 00:32:16.319
The fish waste goes to feed the
acuponic system. The vegetables from the

453
00:32:16.319 --> 00:32:21.079
acroponic system feed the fish, but
also then feed the cattle and feed the

454
00:32:21.119 --> 00:32:23.839
people. The cattle from news manure
which creates soil, as well as the

455
00:32:23.880 --> 00:32:30.200
household waste creating soil which creates urban
agriculture. The urban agriculture then feeds and

456
00:32:30.359 --> 00:32:32.960
you can see how the whole cycle. But they have entire closed communities that

457
00:32:34.000 --> 00:32:38.880
have no waste and create their own
energy from their outputs. And that's another

458
00:32:38.920 --> 00:32:45.960
whole level. And that's very concentrated
using techniques called aeroponics and hydroponics and acuponics,

459
00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:52.200
super high concentrated urban production and many
techniques. But these things are available

460
00:32:52.200 --> 00:32:54.559
to us now. And the nice
thing about being coupled with the research center

461
00:32:54.640 --> 00:33:00.279
like SMU Lile School of Engineering is
that we have the engineers who you know.

462
00:33:00.319 --> 00:33:02.920
You say to a senior students,
say I need you to take a

463
00:33:02.920 --> 00:33:08.200
shipping container and turn this into a
refrigerate refrigerations system for a farm. They'll

464
00:33:08.240 --> 00:33:10.559
figure a way how to do that. And I need to be closed system.

465
00:33:10.599 --> 00:33:14.079
In other words, I need to
be net zero, and energy drain

466
00:33:14.119 --> 00:33:16.480
needs you to generate the energy that
you need to cool the cool the container.

467
00:33:17.000 --> 00:33:21.559
Those students will find a way and
they'll get it done if we can

468
00:33:21.640 --> 00:33:23.119
resource them, and we can and
we can encourage them, and that's a

469
00:33:23.160 --> 00:33:27.720
great way for them to use their
knowledge, connect to the community and provide

470
00:33:27.720 --> 00:33:31.039
a really needed asset. So the
Hunt Institute and the Heart Center at SMU

471
00:33:31.119 --> 00:33:37.319
and the Law School Engineering are really
interested in working and what my role is

472
00:33:37.359 --> 00:33:39.400
to be a conduit to help them
connect to these projects so they can use

473
00:33:39.440 --> 00:33:44.839
their engineering knowledge to have real connection
into these systems. So, for example,

474
00:33:45.039 --> 00:33:49.319
Heart Engineering students next semester are going
to build a cooling system for the

475
00:33:49.359 --> 00:33:52.640
seedling farm so that the seedlings survived
in the summer, and then we'll drive

476
00:33:52.799 --> 00:33:57.279
we'll do a water catchment systems and
train community members and how those stuff works.

477
00:33:57.680 --> 00:34:00.240
But those are the kind of things
that nice synergy, having a world

478
00:34:00.279 --> 00:34:07.960
class university can link into food production
systems. And then you add housing components

479
00:34:07.000 --> 00:34:12.440
and other nonprofits who are doing great
work and realize what your housing program can

480
00:34:12.480 --> 00:34:17.960
synergistically fit right into this farming program
and then we can double its impact.

481
00:34:20.760 --> 00:34:24.639
I want to comment at what you
said about the egg hood in Detroit and

482
00:34:24.679 --> 00:34:27.840
what I think is fascinating about that. And I don't know if you have

483
00:34:28.239 --> 00:34:30.840
about this, I'm sure you probably
do, knowing you is it strikes me

484
00:34:30.920 --> 00:34:36.599
that whoever was behind that has done
an incredible job of being able to literally

485
00:34:36.639 --> 00:34:42.159
repurpose a problem city, right,
And I think that that solution is incredibly

486
00:34:42.159 --> 00:34:45.320
elegant, incredibly smart when talk about
taking something that people would say, well,

487
00:34:45.320 --> 00:34:50.320
we should just start over and making
it an elegant, beautiful attraction,

488
00:34:50.719 --> 00:34:53.519
right. And that's really what asset
based community development is, okay, right,

489
00:34:53.519 --> 00:34:58.039
And that's where the philosophy just stumps
from a participatory action where you look

490
00:34:58.039 --> 00:35:00.480
at an area and instead of defining
five what it doesn't have, Oh it's

491
00:35:00.480 --> 00:35:04.960
poor, Oh it has no skills. Oh it does have skills, it's

492
00:35:04.960 --> 00:35:07.840
just unseen. And it isn't just
poor. There are people living there and

493
00:35:07.559 --> 00:35:12.239
working. So you don't define from
the outside what you don't see. You

494
00:35:12.320 --> 00:35:15.280
go into the communities and talk to
the communities and find out what skills are

495
00:35:15.280 --> 00:35:19.119
present, what assets are present,
and how can you leverage those assets in

496
00:35:19.159 --> 00:35:23.639
a unique way to create growth up
Because charities are wonderful, we need them,

497
00:35:23.719 --> 00:35:27.239
and especially when people are hungry,
you need to feed them, But

498
00:35:27.280 --> 00:35:29.639
then we need to ask the next
question is how do we stop them from

499
00:35:29.679 --> 00:35:31.480
being hungry? And how do we
do it in a way that provides dignity

500
00:35:31.519 --> 00:35:35.519
to people? And the only way
you can really do that is by saying,

501
00:35:35.519 --> 00:35:37.440
what skills do you have that we
can leverage or what assets do you

502
00:35:37.440 --> 00:35:45.119
have locally that we can leverage to
create bottom up sustainable self growth. That's

503
00:35:45.159 --> 00:35:46.920
that whole teacher, man the fish, give the man a fish model.

504
00:35:47.960 --> 00:35:52.599
But you have to if you recognize
that this this is a part of town

505
00:35:52.960 --> 00:35:58.800
that has been systematically underdeveloped for a
long period of time. It is an

506
00:35:58.800 --> 00:36:04.519
investment desert, so there's a lot
of things that are currently not present that

507
00:36:04.679 --> 00:36:07.199
you may have to come in.
And if you can find people like Tyrone

508
00:36:07.280 --> 00:36:13.719
day right, you find somebody with
that skill set sitting there right waiting to

509
00:36:13.760 --> 00:36:17.159
be connected in and connecting something like
that in and what he can produce is

510
00:36:17.159 --> 00:36:22.039
what he's already reducing and the impact
that has when he manages now the farm

511
00:36:22.119 --> 00:36:24.960
at the Ulster Street shelter, So
the Ulcra Street shelter has a hope garden

512
00:36:25.360 --> 00:36:30.280
paid for by leadership Dallas. That
is a beautiful example of and Tyrone manages

513
00:36:30.320 --> 00:36:34.360
that and provides frest vegetables to the
homeless community and they learn how to farm

514
00:36:34.400 --> 00:36:37.760
too. It's one of those things
that a little tiny Hey, wait,

515
00:36:37.800 --> 00:36:40.079
there's an asset that you can leverage. Here's a place you can connect it,

516
00:36:40.320 --> 00:36:44.440
here's a resource place where you can
connect outside resources to make sure that

517
00:36:44.480 --> 00:36:47.159
works, and then you know,
watch it grow. That's the way,

518
00:36:47.400 --> 00:36:52.239
and I agree that's the way Detroit
recognize this issue. That's what Dallas can

519
00:36:52.239 --> 00:36:55.679
do that too. Any city in
America, any say in the world can

520
00:36:55.800 --> 00:37:02.800
recognize that. That's the way I
believe that smart systematic approaches can can help

521
00:37:02.800 --> 00:37:10.199
the city go from a have have
not mindset charity need to a developed code

522
00:37:10.199 --> 00:37:15.280
developed together. But recognize it's the
person who's living in those communities, whose

523
00:37:15.280 --> 00:37:20.239
perspective is the most important, whose
skills are the most important. Design around

524
00:37:20.280 --> 00:37:23.559
them with them, not on them. Will come in with superheroes, I

525
00:37:23.599 --> 00:37:27.920
really want to acknowledge, O when
the beautiful role that you're playing and being

526
00:37:27.960 --> 00:37:30.360
able to look for that talent in
a community and then find a way to

527
00:37:30.519 --> 00:37:36.800
leverage and then connect those different talents
into and really make them into a fabric

528
00:37:36.920 --> 00:37:39.440
that you have and something that's really
positively impact in the community. I really

529
00:37:39.440 --> 00:37:43.079
want to acknowledge you for that.
It is such a privilege to get to

530
00:37:43.119 --> 00:37:45.880
know you and have you encount you
as my friend. That's uncomfortable. I

531
00:37:46.000 --> 00:37:47.920
know it is. I know it
is, but I have to say it

532
00:37:47.960 --> 00:37:52.719
because it's amazing to hear what you're
doing and with that you can still stay

533
00:37:52.800 --> 00:37:55.480
uncomfortable. And we're going to go
in a break. How's that I've all

534
00:37:55.519 --> 00:37:58.960
these? Cortez your host. We've
been on the year with doctor Owen Lynch,

535
00:37:58.960 --> 00:38:01.079
who is an associate professor in the
Meadow School of Arts at Southern Methodist

536
00:38:01.159 --> 00:38:05.880
University here in Dallas. He also
serves as the director of Get Healthy Dallas,

537
00:38:05.920 --> 00:38:08.599
a nonprofit organization he helped form that
is dedicated to addressing the lack of

538
00:38:08.639 --> 00:38:14.239
healthy food options, adequate education,
and economic development opportunities in Dallas, with

539
00:38:14.360 --> 00:38:17.199
special focus on the South Dallas and
Fair Park area. He joins us today

540
00:38:17.280 --> 00:38:21.360
right here with me my Dallas office
studio. Stay with us, We'll be

541
00:38:21.480 --> 00:38:38.199
right back. Friend us on Facebook
to keep up with what's empowering the world.

542
00:38:38.679 --> 00:38:45.760
Voice America Empowerment. Alice Cortez is
a speaker and engagement and development Catalyst.

543
00:38:45.920 --> 00:38:52.199
She designs and delivers professional development,
leadership and engagement workshops and can bring

544
00:38:52.239 --> 00:38:57.320
her expertise to your organization. She
will help ignite meaningful development within your workforce

545
00:38:57.440 --> 00:39:01.119
that will increase employee engagement, performance
and retention. To learn more or to

546
00:39:01.199 --> 00:39:07.239
invite Elise to speak to your organization, please visit her at www dot Elise

547
00:39:07.360 --> 00:39:12.400
Cortez dot com. She would welcome
the opportunity to help get your employees working

548
00:39:12.559 --> 00:39:16.559
on purpose. We're making it easier
to listen to the Voice America Talk Radio

549
00:39:16.599 --> 00:39:21.360
Network wherever you go. In addition
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550
00:39:21.360 --> 00:39:24.719
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00:39:24.719 --> 00:39:30.119
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552
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00:39:34.960 --> 00:39:39.360
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554
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Mold Last powered by Aircast, Look
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555
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556
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Be the star you are with host
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557
00:40:07.159 --> 00:40:10.360
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558
00:40:10.400 --> 00:40:15.199
Party for positive, uplifting, life
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559
00:40:15.280 --> 00:40:32.440
dot com. You follow us on
Twitter for more great ideas at Voice America

560
00:40:32.519 --> 00:40:45.760
Empowerment. This is Working on Purpose
with Elise Cortez. To reach our program

561
00:40:45.800 --> 00:40:51.239
today, please call into one triple
eight three four six nine one four one.

562
00:40:51.599 --> 00:40:54.920
Again that's one triple eight three four
six nine one four one. You

563
00:40:54.960 --> 00:41:00.119
may also send an email to Elise
A. L I s E at Elise

564
00:41:00.239 --> 00:41:08.880
Cortez dot com. Now back to
Working on Purpose. Thanks for staying with

565
00:41:08.960 --> 00:41:12.760
us, and welcome back to Working
on Purpose if you're just tuning in.

566
00:41:12.800 --> 00:41:15.719
My guest is doctor Owen Lynch,
who is an Associate professor in the Meadow

567
00:41:15.719 --> 00:41:20.039
School of Arts at Southern Methodist University
here in Dallas. Outside of the Communications

568
00:41:20.079 --> 00:41:23.079
Department, he holds the positions of
Senior Research Fellow and Director of Community Research

569
00:41:23.079 --> 00:41:28.079
and Engagement for the Hunt Institute of
Engineering and Humanity within the Lyle School of

570
00:41:28.079 --> 00:41:31.119
Engineering at SMU. He also serves
as a director of Get Healthy Dallas,

571
00:41:31.280 --> 00:41:36.480
a nonprofit organization he helped form that
is dedicated to addressing the lack of healthy

572
00:41:36.480 --> 00:41:40.639
food options, adequate education, and
economic development opportunities in Dallas, with special

573
00:41:40.679 --> 00:41:44.840
focus on the South Dallas in the
Fair Park area. I'm your host,

574
00:41:44.880 --> 00:41:49.679
Elise Cortes so Owen. In this
last little bit here, what I want

575
00:41:49.679 --> 00:41:52.480
to start talking about is what you
can tell us about local farms, why

576
00:41:52.480 --> 00:41:59.239
they're important, what function do they
serve? Thanks, Because what's really important

577
00:41:59.239 --> 00:42:01.800
to recognizes it that I'm one person
talking, but there's a hundred people who

578
00:42:01.800 --> 00:42:07.480
are also working with me or way
beyond me, doing great works in their

579
00:42:07.519 --> 00:42:12.880
community. Local farms are important because
or even local gardens, they are places

580
00:42:12.880 --> 00:42:17.440
where people are growing locally for their
communities or issue growing locally to provide jobs

581
00:42:17.880 --> 00:42:22.119
and selling to the local restaurant industry, which we don't have enough of quite

582
00:42:22.159 --> 00:42:27.920
yet. But there are a couple
of shining examples, and I think the

583
00:42:28.000 --> 00:42:30.760
probably the best examples that I can
think of are three different models. Ones

584
00:42:30.800 --> 00:42:34.440
at poul Quinn, which is probably
one of the oldest, and they have

585
00:42:34.559 --> 00:42:37.519
the We over Me Farm where they
took one of their football fields and they

586
00:42:37.559 --> 00:42:43.079
turned their football field into an actual
farm that the students work on to work

587
00:42:43.400 --> 00:42:46.239
as part of their college to pay
for college and then they produce vegetables for

588
00:42:46.719 --> 00:42:52.679
the students for actually for the Dallas
Cowboys Stadium for the spinach and then they

589
00:42:52.760 --> 00:42:57.000
also produce with their local community as
well. So that's a model that's very

590
00:42:57.039 --> 00:43:00.519
tight and they're very well run farm
and that's the place that that would be

591
00:43:00.559 --> 00:43:04.920
a great place to give and to
serve if you want to do volunteer hours.

592
00:43:05.239 --> 00:43:07.480
Another one is Bombton Farms, which
has gotten a lot of press recently

593
00:43:07.559 --> 00:43:13.320
and deservedly. So that's why men
founded by man Darren Babcock, who went

594
00:43:13.360 --> 00:43:15.800
to Bonton, which at that time
was considered one of the one of the

595
00:43:15.840 --> 00:43:21.599
most blighted neighborhoods in South Dallas,
and he moved there to live, and

596
00:43:21.639 --> 00:43:25.039
he moved there to change hearts and
bring people closer to God. And he

597
00:43:25.159 --> 00:43:29.239
found by living there that many of
his neighbors didn't have access to food.

598
00:43:29.239 --> 00:43:31.440
So he started growing vegetables and then
he found people coming and not knowing what

599
00:43:31.440 --> 00:43:34.960
they were and coming and picking eating, and then it had turned into a

600
00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:37.280
small little acre farm and now he's
got an all site farm too that supplies

601
00:43:37.280 --> 00:43:42.039
it. And he'll be the first
person to tell you that Bombton's a great

602
00:43:42.079 --> 00:43:45.360
success. It's employing people, it's
evangelizing, it's bringing food into the community.

603
00:43:45.599 --> 00:43:49.519
But we need twenty thirty Bonton farms. We want to get the mass

604
00:43:49.519 --> 00:43:52.480
production to make a viable market.
And also really changed his community landscape.

605
00:43:52.719 --> 00:43:55.679
The last one is one I worked
with a lot and a partner with his

606
00:43:57.000 --> 00:44:00.880
Big Text Farms, and this is
probably the most innovative, interesting one in

607
00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:06.880
terms of out of the box thinking. And it was actually the State Bear

608
00:44:06.920 --> 00:44:08.840
of Texas. As many of us
know, is the only time when many

609
00:44:08.840 --> 00:44:13.559
people in Dallas go to South Dallas, particularly South Dallas Bear Park. But

610
00:44:13.719 --> 00:44:16.599
you may not realize is that it's
there as a as a landscape for the

611
00:44:16.599 --> 00:44:20.079
whole rest of the year, and
it sits there as a heat island.

612
00:44:20.400 --> 00:44:23.119
The tarmacs there at the parking lots
of there, and it doesn't get fully

613
00:44:23.239 --> 00:44:29.360
as used. It's actually a city
park. So the State Fair of Texas

614
00:44:29.400 --> 00:44:34.599
as an organization, and a man
named Jason Hayes and his farmer now Drew,

615
00:44:36.559 --> 00:44:38.039
realized that this was a parking lot
that they could play with because they

616
00:44:38.039 --> 00:44:40.119
were living in the they were working
in the middle of the food desert,

617
00:44:40.159 --> 00:44:44.159
and they had this asset that wasn't
being used for nine months of the year.

618
00:44:44.679 --> 00:44:46.920
What could they do with it?
And they started farming using palette boxes

619
00:44:46.960 --> 00:44:52.119
that are movable on their parking lots, and they went from a hundred boxes

620
00:44:52.599 --> 00:44:55.000
two years ago to a five hundred
and eighty boxes this last year, and

621
00:44:55.039 --> 00:45:00.280
they're actually going to expand that number. And they converted the whole greenhousing system

622
00:45:00.280 --> 00:45:02.280
into an acuponic system, which is
going to produce massive amounts of food.

623
00:45:02.719 --> 00:45:07.199
They don't sell the food. They
actually give the food to local diabetes centers

624
00:45:07.719 --> 00:45:10.880
and other churches to give food to
the community or the homeless shelters. But

625
00:45:10.960 --> 00:45:15.199
they're producing an incredible amount of food
out of those centers. But what's really

626
00:45:15.199 --> 00:45:22.400
incredible is they have these mobile farm
boxes and they were connecting with me and

627
00:45:22.440 --> 00:45:24.320
working with them with their mission and
goal. We said, well, during

628
00:45:24.360 --> 00:45:28.159
the fair, these have to move
because the fairs needed for parking lots,

629
00:45:28.199 --> 00:45:30.119
as needed for vendors, is needed
for what runs the state fare, what

630
00:45:30.199 --> 00:45:34.400
runs their ability to do this farm
is that that's what pays for it.

631
00:45:34.840 --> 00:45:37.760
So now what they're doing is a
program they're called Farming Farms, and this

632
00:45:37.840 --> 00:45:42.199
was co developed with the Hunt Institute
and State Fair of Texas, and so

633
00:45:43.599 --> 00:45:46.559
they're taking the boxes during the fair
time and then moving them into the community,

634
00:45:47.000 --> 00:45:51.320
training people on those boxes, and
if the community and members are able

635
00:45:51.320 --> 00:45:53.320
to sustain them and use them and
grow vegetables, they keep them. So

636
00:45:53.480 --> 00:45:58.280
literally, at the end, while
the fair is going on and you're paying

637
00:45:58.400 --> 00:46:00.559
your money into the fair, realize
that some of that funding will go to

638
00:46:00.559 --> 00:46:05.719
support these farming programs that will feed
the community all year round. But even

639
00:46:05.760 --> 00:46:08.480
more importantly, some of that money
will go into actually farming farms to other

640
00:46:08.480 --> 00:46:13.119
community members. The first woman is
at Cornerstone Baptist Church, which has a

641
00:46:13.239 --> 00:46:16.960
hundred boxes and is managing those for
their homeless community right now. So those

642
00:46:17.000 --> 00:46:22.599
are really interesting through very different models. Ones the like an agrahub in a

643
00:46:22.840 --> 00:46:27.800
college, and one is a person
who just said I'm going to start an

644
00:46:27.880 --> 00:46:30.679
urban farm here that I'm going to
use and now he's putting a yoga studio

645
00:46:30.760 --> 00:46:35.519
in in a wellness center and all
many many things, and please go visit

646
00:46:35.840 --> 00:46:40.280
their website and to see the amazing
work that's spinning from that project. And

647
00:46:40.320 --> 00:46:44.639
then the other is one that's looking
at an asset, looking at what isn't

648
00:46:44.679 --> 00:46:46.639
it at what people most people saw
as a detriment, saying that's an asset,

649
00:46:47.039 --> 00:46:51.000
flipping that and now thinking about how
can they use that the service the

650
00:46:51.039 --> 00:46:54.639
community around them and do good work. And Drew the farmer there is a

651
00:46:54.760 --> 00:46:59.079
gem. He's one of the most
generous people I've ever met in my life.

652
00:46:59.079 --> 00:47:04.159
And he's a wealth of college and
he's constantly out in the community helping

653
00:47:04.199 --> 00:47:07.960
people do their job and reach their
farm and goes better. For example,

654
00:47:07.079 --> 00:47:10.519
last Saturday, he just helped me
put up a hoop house in a homeless

655
00:47:10.519 --> 00:47:15.320
shelter, even though I know he
worked seventy hours that week probably helping others.

656
00:47:15.519 --> 00:47:20.519
So there's people like that who are
real. One of the things that

657
00:47:20.639 --> 00:47:24.360
my goal for Restoration Farm is to
say they are real heroes out there really

658
00:47:24.719 --> 00:47:29.880
putting their back into their work for
their community and providing fresh food. And

659
00:47:29.920 --> 00:47:32.880
I want to start featuring them on
on the Restorative Farms website. Another man

660
00:47:34.000 --> 00:47:38.920
is a named Brad Boa, and
he's retired but has become He started a

661
00:47:38.920 --> 00:47:43.079
group just how i'man look at the
Food Desert and he's helping with the food

662
00:47:43.119 --> 00:47:46.440
film called WTF Where's the Food?
But it probably stands with something else,

663
00:47:47.639 --> 00:47:52.239
and he's looking at helping. He
is a connector, and he's a real

664
00:47:52.360 --> 00:47:57.000
one plus one equals three guy,
and he really has his vision. And

665
00:47:57.039 --> 00:48:00.679
he's one of the leading people behind
the Storative Farms as an umbrella organization to

666
00:48:00.800 --> 00:48:06.239
leverage everybody's strength and encourage everyone in
the Food Desert. Because he liked me,

667
00:48:06.599 --> 00:48:07.519
and this will come to your last
point, what can we do?

668
00:48:08.760 --> 00:48:12.760
I went down to the Food Desert
seven eight I can't even remember now,

669
00:48:13.119 --> 00:48:15.719
and I drove down I'd never been
there, into the heart of South Dallas,

670
00:48:15.840 --> 00:48:19.760
and I looked at it for this
project, and I got angry.

671
00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:22.360
I said, how can we live
in a community that is so close,

672
00:48:22.440 --> 00:48:28.760
that has so much growth, and
yet just across the highway we have chronic

673
00:48:28.840 --> 00:48:32.079
poverty, isolated poverty, and people
who don't have access to fresh, healthy

674
00:48:32.079 --> 00:48:37.679
food. That's wrong. And I
was lucky enough to just get tenure.

675
00:48:37.599 --> 00:48:44.119
So I'm a very religious driven person. So for me, I said,

676
00:48:44.239 --> 00:48:47.079
you know, what is a tenure
is my gift and it affords me the

677
00:48:47.119 --> 00:48:52.679
opportunity to have long term horizon points
where I can focus on a large project

678
00:48:52.159 --> 00:48:58.239
and have the job security to take
the time and think, what can I

679
00:48:58.280 --> 00:49:00.079
do with the next twenty years to
make a difference, and I can take

680
00:49:00.119 --> 00:49:04.519
that scope. That's a gift that
most people don't get in life. How

681
00:49:04.559 --> 00:49:07.119
can I use that gift to help
other people better? So for me,

682
00:49:07.199 --> 00:49:10.599
it was a natural. I got
tenure just the point when I became aware

683
00:49:10.639 --> 00:49:14.880
of food deserts and I said,
Okay, God, if this is where

684
00:49:14.920 --> 00:49:17.480
you want me to serve, then
this is where I'll serve. If this

685
00:49:17.519 --> 00:49:21.519
is where and if I can find
the place where the lions the thinnest,

686
00:49:21.559 --> 00:49:23.239
that's where I'm going to serve too. And I think a lot of people

687
00:49:23.719 --> 00:49:29.639
will want to come down and donations
to restorative farms, or donations to local

688
00:49:29.679 --> 00:49:32.159
farms, or buying local friends vegetables, all of that really helps. But

689
00:49:32.280 --> 00:49:37.480
also recognize if you're an accountant,
bind an organization and they may need some

690
00:49:37.519 --> 00:49:42.280
accounting help right or whatever your skill
set is. But there's lots of farms

691
00:49:42.280 --> 00:49:44.679
that you can get connected into.
Be it through a homeless shell to like

692
00:49:44.719 --> 00:49:47.679
Austin Street center, or be it
through Bonton farms, or be it through

693
00:49:47.719 --> 00:49:52.480
big text farms. There's lots of
places that you can get connected. Go

694
00:49:52.559 --> 00:49:58.519
to restorative farms and connect through and
you can be plugged into a world that's

695
00:49:58.559 --> 00:50:02.800
looking for solutions. There's also great
people who are looking at doing co op

696
00:50:02.960 --> 00:50:08.119
modeled grocery stores, and how do
we encourage those in the community that are

697
00:50:08.159 --> 00:50:14.159
owned by the community. Those are
going to need a lot of support and

698
00:50:14.639 --> 00:50:16.920
connections from the outside. Even if
you have building skills, how can you

699
00:50:19.000 --> 00:50:23.599
treat train people how to use construction
tools whatever it may be. What I

700
00:50:24.519 --> 00:50:29.559
typically like to think once again,
learn people, learn and talk to people

701
00:50:29.599 --> 00:50:31.199
where they are and fighting with their
interests are and how you can help them

702
00:50:31.320 --> 00:50:35.320
by learning what their skills and assets
are. But also don't just come and

703
00:50:35.360 --> 00:50:38.320
give or do a big community day
where you know you paint a house and

704
00:50:38.320 --> 00:50:43.800
feel good. If you have some
skills that really can leverage, train somebody

705
00:50:43.880 --> 00:50:46.719
or do something, I think that's
has the most impact. So that's where

706
00:50:46.960 --> 00:50:52.639
that's part of my goal is to
think about how can we utilize the great

707
00:50:52.639 --> 00:50:59.639
skill sets of North Dallas to help
South Dalls grow organically by itself and create

708
00:50:59.639 --> 00:51:01.159
a food up. I mean,
we have the opportunity of creating a food

709
00:51:01.159 --> 00:51:07.400
oasis in South Dallas, as so
much land that could grow for the whole

710
00:51:07.519 --> 00:51:12.079
Dallas local sustainable food. Why are
we getting ninety percent of our food from

711
00:51:12.280 --> 00:51:16.320
south of the border in terms of
vegetables, right, So let me let

712
00:51:16.320 --> 00:51:19.519
me, let me do this really
quick your own. We're getting close to

713
00:51:19.599 --> 00:51:22.000
running at a time for the show. But what I want to make sure

714
00:51:22.039 --> 00:51:24.480
that we presence is that for the
listeners. Boy, if you don't hear

715
00:51:24.519 --> 00:51:28.440
passion, if you don't hear a
purpose in this, I don't know how

716
00:51:28.480 --> 00:51:31.639
to presence it for you. But
I think you got that. So what

717
00:51:31.719 --> 00:51:35.199
I want to make sure that we
get too is that there are people here

718
00:51:35.239 --> 00:51:37.880
who are locally listening in Dallas,
and they understand Paul Quinn College, they

719
00:51:37.920 --> 00:51:42.639
understand Restorative Farms. Now, they
probably know where fair Park is. So

720
00:51:42.760 --> 00:51:45.239
you're suggesting that if somebody wants to
help, they go to Restorative Farms dot

721
00:51:45.280 --> 00:51:49.599
com. They go to Restorative Farms
dot com and get connected into the network.

722
00:51:49.920 --> 00:51:52.760
They can go to bonds on Farms. They can go to the Hunt

723
00:51:52.800 --> 00:52:00.800
Institute at SMU. They can email
me at oh Lynch at m dot ETU.

724
00:52:00.920 --> 00:52:05.360
So that's O L y n H
at SMU dot d U and I

725
00:52:05.400 --> 00:52:10.159
can connect them in. But those
are all really useful places to start there's

726
00:52:10.960 --> 00:52:15.920
community, so that's probably the easiest
access points. Then go on to get

727
00:52:15.920 --> 00:52:22.000
healthy Dallas dot Com as well.
But I would say restoring Farms is going

728
00:52:22.039 --> 00:52:24.960
to try to become the umbrella to
connect all these different projects that people can

729
00:52:24.960 --> 00:52:31.039
find their space that they're most interested
in. But Bonsan Farms is wonderful work

730
00:52:31.039 --> 00:52:36.159
and great volunteers. Me over Wee
Farm at poul Quinn. There's lots of

731
00:52:36.159 --> 00:52:40.360
places to get stuck in. What
if you're someone listening in New York.

732
00:52:40.719 --> 00:52:45.559
What if you're somebody listening in England, somebody listening in Africa, how would

733
00:52:45.559 --> 00:52:50.159
you direct them to try to be
part of this movement? I think that

734
00:52:50.559 --> 00:52:54.960
recognize that that's a great question,
and I think that to me, it

735
00:52:55.079 --> 00:53:00.480
is recognized that there's something interesting in
food. We have Thanksgiving. I've been

736
00:53:00.519 --> 00:53:05.119
to your house with Thanksgiving them and
one of the things and many religious ceremonies

737
00:53:05.119 --> 00:53:07.480
are about sitting down and breaking bread
or sitting and eating with each other.

738
00:53:07.920 --> 00:53:10.679
There's something that connects us to when
we eat with each other, and we

739
00:53:10.760 --> 00:53:16.199
recognize that human eating and community around
food, but also the nourishment of body

740
00:53:16.719 --> 00:53:22.079
and the wellness that provides even for
a young child to learn. There's lots

741
00:53:22.079 --> 00:53:28.519
of great organizations that focus on food
and food equity and access as their point

742
00:53:28.599 --> 00:53:30.880
to help others. And food is
also an industry. It creates jobs.

743
00:53:30.960 --> 00:53:36.079
You have people like Kafe Momentum and
Chad Howser who trains young pe men for

744
00:53:36.159 --> 00:53:39.760
prison to become chefs. You have
people like Jenny Airs who works at Children

745
00:53:39.760 --> 00:53:44.559
at Risk who makes our children have
really good food before they have school.

746
00:53:44.960 --> 00:53:46.880
You have people like Ryan Easton who
works with kids teaching kids, who works

747
00:53:46.880 --> 00:53:52.599
with a restaurant associations and health industry
to use the kid culinary schools to teach

748
00:53:52.639 --> 00:53:59.079
healthy habits. Search food and charity
or food and programs and look food access

749
00:53:59.079 --> 00:54:04.679
and equity locally you'll find some really
interesting directly connected because food is perishable,

750
00:54:05.079 --> 00:54:08.079
right, you can't and so the
nonprofits that are centering in that world,

751
00:54:08.119 --> 00:54:13.280
they're going to connect jobs, people
and the thing that is most physically needed

752
00:54:13.320 --> 00:54:16.800
for communities and recognize what's a food
does it, there's a job, there's

753
00:54:16.800 --> 00:54:22.199
a health does it, there's an
infrastructure desert and sometimes unfortunately the AXMBA hope

754
00:54:22.239 --> 00:54:25.199
does it. And so it's a
it's a place to plug in. But

755
00:54:25.239 --> 00:54:29.800
once you plug in, you'll realize
it's the biggest systematic problem. It's really

756
00:54:29.800 --> 00:54:34.079
about chronic poverty that is isolated from
the growth of the current supply chain.

757
00:54:35.360 --> 00:54:37.960
Doctor Owen Lynch, it is a
pleasure to call you a friend and a

758
00:54:37.000 --> 00:54:39.719
colleague and is so applaud what you're
up to. I thank you for joining

759
00:54:39.719 --> 00:54:43.199
me as my guest, and we
sat back and I listened so you could

760
00:54:43.199 --> 00:54:45.000
say as much as you could to
our listeners. Thank you so much.

761
00:54:45.760 --> 00:54:49.199
If you want to learn more about
doctor Owen Lynch, he's already told you

762
00:54:49.239 --> 00:54:53.079
that you can go to Restorative Farms
dot com. You could go to Healthy

763
00:54:53.119 --> 00:54:58.039
What does it get Healthy Dallas dot
com. Definitely send him an email if

764
00:54:58.079 --> 00:55:00.639
you like what he's up to,
you want to support him anyway and his

765
00:55:00.719 --> 00:55:04.679
team, send him an email at
O. Lynch at SMU dot edu.

766
00:55:04.880 --> 00:55:09.519
That's O. L y n h
at SMU dot du. Join us next

767
00:55:09.519 --> 00:55:14.159
week when when we're on the air
with Greg Pike, who is actually a

768
00:55:14.159 --> 00:55:16.840
man with mini hats a lot like
doctor Owen Lynch and his case. Greg

769
00:55:16.880 --> 00:55:22.199
is a CPA and accounting professional and
also a comedian. And here's where it

770
00:55:22.199 --> 00:55:24.920
gets ironic. We'll be talking about
the importance of incorporating meaning in our work,

771
00:55:24.960 --> 00:55:28.559
and the way that he's discovered how
to do that in playful ways.

772
00:55:29.079 --> 00:55:30.679
See you then, remember that work
is at least one third of our life,

773
00:55:30.679 --> 00:55:42.400
So let's work on purpose. We
hope you've enjoyed this week's program.

774
00:55:42.440 --> 00:55:45.480
Be sure to tune into Working on
Purpose, featuring your host Alis Cortez,

775
00:55:45.880 --> 00:55:52.199
every Wednesday at six pm Eastern time
freepm Pacific time on the Voice America Empowerment

776
00:55:52.320 --> 00:55:54.719
Channel. This week, find your
life's purpose at work