Cultivating the Organic Experience
By Akello Stone, MYDF Board Member/CULTIV8 Creator
Whenever I am serious about something I always begin by educating myself with information from reputable sources before I make any tangible decisions or move towards some new lifestyle or behavioral change. This strategy is definitely a positive by-product of years of formal education that often serves me well; at least I know my student loan payments are not completely in vain. My greatest ongoing and most daunting “quest” has been the search for viable ways to improve my health and improve the outcomes for my longevity, as well as share this information with others.
I recently read an article from Harvard Medical School’s Health Blog that convinced me of the health benefits that be derived from growing your own food. It stated the following benefits (of which I am sure this list is not exhaustive):
While this information is clear, concise and logical, I have come to realize that one of the greatest obstacles to sustained changes in diet and exercise is the feeling of isolation that people often feel when they are living their lives in a very different way from their family and friends. One of the best ways of changing behaviors, particularly in this case when we are changing eating behaviors/our relationship to food, is to bring others along with us. Why not include the youth in MYDF’s program along for the journey with me?
To determine a “starting point”, I asked a couple of 14-year-olds enrolled in the program why they thought Americans were so unhealthy. One replied candidly, without hesitation, “Fast food.” Another chimed in, adding that “sometimes we eat too much, and sometimes we eat too little.” These statements demonstrated to me that young people already know what some of the problems and challenges are as it relates to poor health and diet. Furthermore, these brief statements convinced me that people are, indeed. hungry for change, thirsty for knowledge and waiting for answers and solutions to these problems for themselves, their families, friends and their entire communities.
Over the last four years of MYDF’s direct services with youth through Empowerment Academies, we have always maintained a core value around health as a programming goal for the participants involved. As best practices of these efforts evolved, it became clear to us that these powerful and positive messages should not be contained to the confines of just the youth in the program, but could have much broader implications if transformed into a television series – still the main conduit where people receive information.
At a time when information moves at the speed of light, and we are bombarded with hundreds, if not thousands of messages each day about the choices we should make to improve or health, it seems that this seemingly helpful information still is not reaching people on a cerebral level. People in general, and especially young people, need more than just information – they need experiences where they this knowledge is applied regularly. They need to activate their senses. They need to get their hands dirty and thus, CULTIV8 was born, with the idea that knowledge transforms beliefs and manifests itself in sustained behaviors.
The series follows youth cast members along the journey of learning how to grow, purchase and prepare healthy food for themselves and their families. The show will document their interaction with mentors who are content experts in the areas of landscaping and building, planting and cultivating, nutrition, food preparation and ecology/environmental activism. Through exciting and entertaining weekly challenges, cast members will apply the skills and knowledge they gain and a culminating “ultimate challenge” will test their ability to ‘put it all together’ – growing preparing and serving their dishes to chefs and food critic judges and educating their families and communities about what they have learned from the experience.
Because the show is very much centered around food preparation, Chef Darrell “Das “Smith recently joined the project as the resident chef. He is trained in the culinary arts at Atlanta Technical College, and specializes in new American cuisine. Originally from Detroit, he made his way to Beverly Hills to work as a chef, caterer and consultant. He instituted a new culinary program at Beverly Hills High School, where he now teaches. Darrell believes that good food has the power to heal the body and soul, and he wants to show children in urban areas that cooking professionally is an attainable goal. His soon to be released book, Now Look Who’s Cooking: A Culinary Lifestyle Guide for Young Adults, is perfectly aligned with CULTIV8’s mission.
Cultiv8 will bring together experts who operate along the “continuum” of healthy eating – from planting and growing to harvesting and preparing, the cast members, all youth from Los Angeles, will learn how to make healthy food for themselves, their families and their communities. Furthermore, the show format is also instructional, as it will develop skills and motivations of the viewing audience to take steps to grow their own food and move towards adopting a healthy lifestyle, with eating healthy foods as part of the overall “holistic” strategy. The show could easily be used in the classroom, with plans for an online site that will provide detailed information pertinent to the topics explored.
Through this experience, the youth will be guided towards examining their own unhealthy eating habits, and the habits of their family members and friends will also be challenged. The ultimate transformation: personal choices influencing the choices and behaviors of others (family, friends) and ultimately the community. CULTIV8 is a dish that every American table will want to serve!
By Akello Stone, MYDF Board Member/CULTIV8 Creator
Whenever I am serious about something I always begin by educating myself with information from reputable sources before I make any tangible decisions or move towards some new lifestyle or behavioral change. This strategy is definitely a positive by-product of years of formal education that often serves me well; at least I know my student loan payments are not completely in vain. My greatest ongoing and most daunting “quest” has been the search for viable ways to improve my health and improve the outcomes for my longevity, as well as share this information with others.
I recently read an article from Harvard Medical School’s Health Blog that convinced me of the health benefits that be derived from growing your own food. It stated the following benefits (of which I am sure this list is not exhaustive):
- It helps you eat more fresh fruits and vegetables.
- You decide what kinds of fertilizers and pesticides come in contact with your food.
- It lets you control when to harvest your food. Vegetables that ripen in the garden have more nutrients than some store-bought vegetables that must be picked early.
While this information is clear, concise and logical, I have come to realize that one of the greatest obstacles to sustained changes in diet and exercise is the feeling of isolation that people often feel when they are living their lives in a very different way from their family and friends. One of the best ways of changing behaviors, particularly in this case when we are changing eating behaviors/our relationship to food, is to bring others along with us. Why not include the youth in MYDF’s program along for the journey with me?
To determine a “starting point”, I asked a couple of 14-year-olds enrolled in the program why they thought Americans were so unhealthy. One replied candidly, without hesitation, “Fast food.” Another chimed in, adding that “sometimes we eat too much, and sometimes we eat too little.” These statements demonstrated to me that young people already know what some of the problems and challenges are as it relates to poor health and diet. Furthermore, these brief statements convinced me that people are, indeed. hungry for change, thirsty for knowledge and waiting for answers and solutions to these problems for themselves, their families, friends and their entire communities.
Over the last four years of MYDF’s direct services with youth through Empowerment Academies, we have always maintained a core value around health as a programming goal for the participants involved. As best practices of these efforts evolved, it became clear to us that these powerful and positive messages should not be contained to the confines of just the youth in the program, but could have much broader implications if transformed into a television series – still the main conduit where people receive information.
At a time when information moves at the speed of light, and we are bombarded with hundreds, if not thousands of messages each day about the choices we should make to improve or health, it seems that this seemingly helpful information still is not reaching people on a cerebral level. People in general, and especially young people, need more than just information – they need experiences where they this knowledge is applied regularly. They need to activate their senses. They need to get their hands dirty and thus, CULTIV8 was born, with the idea that knowledge transforms beliefs and manifests itself in sustained behaviors.
The series follows youth cast members along the journey of learning how to grow, purchase and prepare healthy food for themselves and their families. The show will document their interaction with mentors who are content experts in the areas of landscaping and building, planting and cultivating, nutrition, food preparation and ecology/environmental activism. Through exciting and entertaining weekly challenges, cast members will apply the skills and knowledge they gain and a culminating “ultimate challenge” will test their ability to ‘put it all together’ – growing preparing and serving their dishes to chefs and food critic judges and educating their families and communities about what they have learned from the experience.
Because the show is very much centered around food preparation, Chef Darrell “Das “Smith recently joined the project as the resident chef. He is trained in the culinary arts at Atlanta Technical College, and specializes in new American cuisine. Originally from Detroit, he made his way to Beverly Hills to work as a chef, caterer and consultant. He instituted a new culinary program at Beverly Hills High School, where he now teaches. Darrell believes that good food has the power to heal the body and soul, and he wants to show children in urban areas that cooking professionally is an attainable goal. His soon to be released book, Now Look Who’s Cooking: A Culinary Lifestyle Guide for Young Adults, is perfectly aligned with CULTIV8’s mission.
Cultiv8 will bring together experts who operate along the “continuum” of healthy eating – from planting and growing to harvesting and preparing, the cast members, all youth from Los Angeles, will learn how to make healthy food for themselves, their families and their communities. Furthermore, the show format is also instructional, as it will develop skills and motivations of the viewing audience to take steps to grow their own food and move towards adopting a healthy lifestyle, with eating healthy foods as part of the overall “holistic” strategy. The show could easily be used in the classroom, with plans for an online site that will provide detailed information pertinent to the topics explored.
Through this experience, the youth will be guided towards examining their own unhealthy eating habits, and the habits of their family members and friends will also be challenged. The ultimate transformation: personal choices influencing the choices and behaviors of others (family, friends) and ultimately the community. CULTIV8 is a dish that every American table will want to serve!