I live and breathe food. When I worked as a teacher in Spain, I learned about agriculture by working on a farm and growing my own food. I became so passionate about my discoveries and growth that I started a food blog, Mission Nutrition, where I documented and shared stories and recipes. No food was off bounds. Snails? Sure! Pig ear? Bring it on!
My love of food has spread from my personal life to my professional life. I recently co-founded NomNom Foods, a nonprofit whose mission is to ensure every child has nutritious food. We will partner with local food producers, create a menu of nutritious and local meals to be crafted in a food commissary and supplied to public schools. My partner and I are deeply committed to combating childhood obesity and food insecurity by instilling in youth the power of locally grown, fairly produced food. We were recently semifinalists in Harvard Education Innovation’s Pitch Competition and are excited to begin our first pilot this fall.
This trip will serve to inform the growth and strategy of our new culinary social enterprise. How might I transfer lessons of Oxfam’s successes to NomNom Foods? How might I learn from the successes and failures of organizations whose missions are similar to mine? A comparative perspective through firsthand exposure is invaluable. Furthermore, engaging with local producers, from farmers to fishermen, will reinforce my commitment, serve as inspiration, and perhaps offer opportunities to find mentors.
