Providing high-quality meals for members of a historically Black and Latino neighborhood in Dallas was surprisingly difficult for the organization, For Oak Cliff. Director of Food Justice Julianna Yeefoon said that many of the low-cost or free meals that were offered by local food charities were of such low quality that the young people whom her organization serves weren’t interested in eating them. After she started providing nutritious meals from The Cook’s Nook, young people in the neighborhood started requesting the meals more and more, and shared them with their parents, helping fill a critical gap in food access in families where the adults are working second jobs or taking night classes.
Impact by the numbers
By selecting high-quality meals from our Cultura Cuisine for Community Health solution, the Dallas-based nonprofit For Oak Cliff is able to better serve young people in the neighborhood who utilize their services.
*Half of parents surveyed said they needed more fresh food, such as fruits and vegetables.
Full Story
Oak Cliff is a neighborhood just south of downtown Dallas that is cut off from much of the city, thanks to an urban design that places major thoroughfare because of major thoroughfares that were designed to segregate one of the country’s largest cities.
“We don’t like to call it a food desert,” said Julianna Yeefoon, the Director Of Food Justice at For Oak Cliff, a nonprofit that provides culturally responsive programming in South Oak Cliff, including classes and other education services, as well as prepared meals.
“The term desert implies a naturally-occurring phenomenon. Instead, we use the term ‘food apartheid’ to illuminate the policy and social realities of racism, classism, and redlining that shaped our city and continue to shape Oak Cliff’s food crisis.”
Thanks to a partnership with The Cook’s Nook, For Oak Cliff has been able to provide more than 600 meals to residents in the community over the past year.
Using grant money and donations, For Oak Cliff buys meals at a cost that Yeefoon says “is not as such a high cost that is becomes unaffordable to organizations like ours.”
Yeefoon said that the cost of producing these meals in a local kitchen is $12 per meal, while the Cook’s Nook meals are more affordable and accessible.
Over the years, For Oak Cliff has had several food initiatives, including a farmers market that is open twice a month, but this is the first time that they’ve been able to offer prepared meals in such a consistent manner.
The organization has given away more than 600 meals, mostly to young people in the neighborhood, including staffers who work at the nonprofit.
“Having these meals on-hand for our members normalizes eating well … The kids can pick between the options and then they end up eating the whole thing – even the green beans and broccoli.”
– Julianna Yeefoon, For Oak Cliff Director of Food Justice
“Considering a quarter of the meals were consumed by staff, it is likely that our evening staff were going hungry or eating less healthy foods regularly but had not said anything. Having the meals is a great added benefit for them, and it adds to our ability to feed and retain these young people and, hopefully, to aid in our succession planning as an organization.”
A meal like this isn’t just about filling a nutritional need, Yeefoon said. Many parents work late, take night classes and/or are finishing their GEDs until 8 or 9 p.m.
“Having these meals on-hand for our members normalizes eating well,” Yeefoon said. “The kids can pick between the options and then they end up eating the whole thing – even the green beans and broccoli.”
Yeefoon said that the mostly Black and Latino community has faced exclusion for generations. “That means the food quality we receive is often below what kids need to thrive,” she said.
“We experienced that firsthand for several years. We tried utilizing programs that are free, but unfortunately, time after time, the quality of that food was different from what we wanted for our students,” she said.
“Love is one of our core values, and given the crisis we are in as a community when it comes to access to healthy food, this partnership with The Cook’s Nook is giving us the ability to provide love in the form of food to the people we love the most.”
– Julianna Yeefoon, For Oak Cliff Director of Food Justice
A fruit snack or juice would be considered a fruit or vegetable, and the kids would use words like “horrible” to describe the meal.
“The quality of the meals was bad enough that most students were choosing to go hungry rather than eat them daily.. One parent said, “The food was something you wouldn’t even feed your pet so why give it to children.”
Yeefoon said that, however cheesy it might sound, feeding people healthy, delicious food is a way to say, “I love you.”
“Love is one of our core values, and given the crisis we are in as a community when it comes to access to healthy food, this partnership with The Cook’s Nook is giving us the ability to provide love in the form of food to the people we love the most.”
For Oak Cliff continues its partnership with The Cook’s Nook and provides Cultura Cuisine’s nutrition to local residents and families.