Closing the Food Disparity Gap One Food Desert at a Time
As a child when you are hungry you just run to the table with excitement, ready to eat. You do not think about where dinner comes from, it just magically appears. As someone who grew up eating anything WIC and Food Stamps, or SNAP, could buy, I was intrigued to learn more about Chef Amber Williams’ book, Surviving the Food Desert. The book shares recipes meant for the everyday cook with access to limited fresh ingredients and pantry staples.
Raised on meals pulled together by her mom from local food drive boxes, Amber is a self-taught chef who you may know from Food Network’s Supermarket Stakeout. Coming from a lineage of chefs, restaurateurs, and entrepreneurs, cooking captivated Amber at an early age. She planted herself in front of the TV, “I was stuck to the TV since I was a child, watching public access TV…[then] when we did have cable, watching Food Network.” She stalked any cooking show she could find, “When people ask me what school did I go to, I’m like ‘Oh I graduated from Food Network University.’” By the time she reached college Amber became known as the go-to person on campus for sweet treats. Her sweet sensations were in such high demand that after school one of her college friends reached out and asked Amber to make her wedding cake.
Today, after a short stint in corporate America, Amber has her own culinary business, Le Rouge, “an elevated Creole Fusion brand specializing in providing professional, customizable and unique catering solutions”. Starting super lean in the early years, Amber maintained the fire to survive on her own. “I had to define what was and what was not important, and what was and was not a necessity.”
As Amber developed her culinary career she always remembered where she came from. While teaching a culinary class at the North Texas Food Bank she also listened and learned. Attendees of her cooking classes had questions, like “What is a butternut squash?” and “How do I cook that?” The more questions came, the more she began to recognize the need for education. Not only did people in food deserts need food, but they also needed education on ways to cook the food in nutritious ways.
When Amber set out to write Surviving the Food Desert we were all in the middle of a pandemic. This time in her life inspired her not only to include recipes in the book, but there are also moments of motivation sprinkled throughout the book. Some recipes in the book are staples from her childhood such as her mom’s “Full Pack Dinner”, which is a one-pot meal or a “gift on a plate” as Amber describes it.
For anyone struggling to make something out of nothing, or trying to decide what to do with the can of beans that has been in their pantry for months, Amber says to “Be creative, don’t be afraid to substitute, use what you have, and make it your own.”
The Surviving the Food Desert Project is about “bridging accessible resources to sustainable & approachable educational programming to improve and elevate the quality of life for citizens living in food-disparaged communities in order to further close the food & health disparity gap.” Accompanying the book is a resource guide, a directory for how people can be a part of the initiative in their community and find the closest organization near them.
For any up and coming chefs who grew up with a dream like Amber’s she shares some lessons learned. “Build a community, and get up under some people; be humble, work for people, even your peers. Envision what you want for your company and define your why, don’t rely on money. Find your signature brand or dish. There are tons of resources available like the Small Business Administration, chambers of commerce, and Google.”
Surviving the Food Desert is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, and more.
Discover more from Flights and Foods
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
16,317 Comments
novoline
At this time it looks like WordPress is the best blogging platform available right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you’re using on your blog?
painel smm
Great blog you have here but I was wondering if you knew of any user discussion forums that cover the same topics discussed here? I’d really love to be a part of group where I can get responses from other knowledgeable individuals that share the same interest. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Thanks!
Billionaire Brain Wave
I intended to draft you a little observation to be able to give many thanks over again with the stunning tips you’ve shown here. It was really tremendously open-handed with you in giving openly precisely what most of us would’ve distributed for an electronic book to generate some money for their own end, precisely now that you might well have done it in the event you wanted. Those pointers as well served as a fantastic way to fully grasp that the rest have similar eagerness similar to mine to see great deal more when it comes to this problem. I am certain there are lots of more fun situations in the future for individuals that looked at your blog.
Provadent
My brother recommended I might like this web site. He used to be entirely right. This publish truly made my day. You can not imagine just how a lot time I had spent for this info! Thank you!
Blowing Machine
I really appreciate this post. I¦ve been looking all over for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You have made my day! Thx again
carbon footprint
I’m impressed, I need to say. Actually rarely do I encounter a blog that’s each educative and entertaining, and let me tell you, you will have hit the nail on the head. Your idea is excellent; the problem is something that not sufficient persons are talking intelligently about. I’m very comfortable that I stumbled across this in my search for something relating to this.
festa aninversario
Decoração de Festa: Ideias Criativas para Aniversários Inesquecíveis
Organizar uma decoração de festa é uma das partes mais empolgantes do
planejamento de um evento, especialmente quando se
trata de celebrar um aniversário. Cada detalhe importa para tornar
o momento único e inesquecível. Desde a escolha do
tema até os itens personalizados, tudo contribui para criar uma atmosfera especial que encantará
os convidados.
bolsa de box
Its such as you learn my thoughts! You appear to understand a lot approximately this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you simply can do with some percent to power the message house a bit, but other than that, that is great blog. A fantastic read. I’ll definitely be back.
injection molding
I’ve been exploring for a bit for any high quality articles or blog posts on this sort of area . Exploring in Yahoo I at last stumbled upon this site. Reading this info So i am happy to convey that I’ve an incredibly good uncanny feeling I discovered just what I needed. I most certainly will make certain to do not forget this site and give it a look on a constant basis.
Skylar3558
http://wish-club.ru/forums/index.php?autocom=gallery&req=si&img=5342